Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Diners at Tao were treated to metal detectors and a slew of armed security guards when Israeli President Shimon Peres came in Sunday night with a table of six. Hours before denouncing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN General Assembly yesterday, Peres took over the Midtown restaurant, blocking off East 58th Street. A source told us: 'The entire block was sealed off. Security used a metal detector when guests walked in, and all were extremely cooperative. Peres took over one table with his guests, while security took over six other tables surrounding him.' Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and four family members went to the Flamboyan Theater on Suffolk Street to see 'The Bcam/Macbeth,' a production of 'Macbeth' so blood-soaked that his security tried to stand backstage to check if the guns used as props were real. Meanwhile, the presence of the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, has stopped traffic on East 72nd Street between Madison and Fifth with his fleet of cars. One angry resident told us: 'His new residence has no less than 10 to 12 double-parked cars, 24 hours a day, every day for the past two weeks.' Security on the scene told us the Moroccan ambassador to the United Nations, Ahmed Snoussi, lives next door to Al Thani and is also in town to attend the General Assembly. Meanwhile, French First Lady Carla Bruni stopped traffic by turning up at the United Nations yesterday to listen to her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, speak -- a day after she reportedly met with Sarkozy's ex-wife, Cecilia Attias, for brunch at the Carlyle Hotel." (PageSix)



"Last week, the Obama administration unveiled a massive new US-Saudi arms deal. In the days since, the proposed package--which still needs congressional approval--has received relatively little attention from the press and foreign policy pundits (one exception, I should note, is my boss at Eurasia Group, Ian Bremmer). That in itself is surprising, as the deal is striking on at least three counts. The first is its sheer size. At $60 billion, the sale--which would include 84 F-15 fighter planes, 70 Apache attack helicopters, 72 Blackhawk troop-transport helicopters, and 36 Little Bird surveillance copters--would dwarf any previous US arms deal ever. It's particularly striking in a year when US weapons sales worldwide are down 9 percent. Second is the fact that, so far at least, the Israeli government--which has often and understandably sought to block arms transactions with Arab states in the past (and just this weekend objected to a new Russian sale of cruise missiles to Syria), has yet to utter a peep of protest." (TheAtlantic)



"THAT secretive money manager Jeffrey Epstein -- who is past his legal problems with teenage masseuses -- is said to be handling the billions of some oil-rich emirs in Arabia, plus Naomi Campbell's boyfriend, Vlad Doronin." (PageSix)



"This weekend, Sarah Palin again played footsie with a 2012 presidential run. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t. But either way, the GOP nomination battle will take place in her shadow. It’s her party now. And as Delaware’s Mike Castle can attest, Republicans who don’t understand that increasingly find themselves out of a job. George McGovern would understand. When parties lose power, pundits generally expect them to move to the center. But they don’t, at least not at first. Instead, recent history suggests that defeated parties become more extreme. The Republicans nominated a relative moderate, Richard Nixon, in 1960, and lost a squeaker; four years later, they nominated the arch-conservative Barry Goldwater. In 1980, the voters turned out a moderate Democrat, President Jimmy Carter, and four years later, Democrats nominated his more liberal vice president, Walter Mondale. And most significant of all, for the purposes of analogy, is what happened between 1968 and 1972, when a centrist, Hubert Humphrey, lost a close race, and Democrats responded by nominating McGovern, the most left-leaning candidate ever to seek the presidency." (PeterBeinert/TheDailybeast)



"Last night I went over to the New York Public Library in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue for the President’s Council Fall Dinner. Invitations to Library dinners and luncheons are at the top of my list. They draw a specific cross section of the city’s cultural, philanthropic and business leaders, and at the events, the writers do the talking. These gatherings are, in a very real way, catering to the elite of the city, and therefore have an elitist quality to them. Somehow, however, this is how elitism can be a strength and a blessing. The guests last night were treated to a discussion, really a Q&A, between Jon Meacham and Ron Chernow. Mr Meacham is the former editor-in-chief of Newsweek and has written several books including a biography of Andrew Jackson, and is currently working on a biography of Thomas Jefferson." (NySocialDiary)



"After the surge, which I compared to Hitler’s Battle of the Bulge – good headlines, lousy results – I sold my equity in (The American Conservative magazine) to the editors for one dollar and became an elder statesman. (An elderly figure wandering the world like the Flying Dutchman on my yacht, looking for a woman willing to die for me. Just kidding.) Looking back, it was a brave if expensive effort to make Americans see reason, but we got nowhere. Many friends disagreed with what we were trying to do. I have remained on good terms with them because although results show that I was right to try, the game isn’t over yet. But the forecast is not good. For example: Did the French efforts in Indochina end up in disaster or not? What about the Dutch in Indonesia? The British and the Russians in Afghanistan? Or the Americans in Vietnam? Military power in foreign, hostile lands simply does not work. Military power used in self defense, however, always does. Think 1776 in a certain British colony in the new world, think of Greece in 1821, and even world war two. So to recapitulate. When I looked at the first edition of the magazine I launched, I read my first column. It was all about Ayn Rand. I quoted her saying that 'One man’s need is not another man’s obligation.' Bush believed that Iraqis wanted freedom from Saddam. He obliged and they got chaos, death and destruction instead. Rand I, Bush 0." (Taki Theodoracopulos)



(Mr. Mickey, Fernando Santangelo, Angelo Pitillo and Jeremy Scott via Caroline Torem Craig)

"Mr. Mickey and his fabulous philanthropic friends got together at Screaming Mimi's this weekend for the Celebrity Sidewalk Sale, a vintage designer clothing sale we'll be holding regularly with all of the proceeds going to Citta. In the past, we've rebuilt a school destroyed by a cyclone, built a library, a women's health center, and, with this latest sale, we're working on building a school in Jaisalmer, India. Well, Mrs. Ricardo, we raised 5,150 clams and we're planning another sale in December in a second fund-raising push to reach our final goal of $13,000." (Papermag)



"Can Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who was denied renomination by Alaska Republicans, win as a write-in candidate in November? Obviously, it’s a long shot, as is any write-in campaign, but is it impossible? I start off skeptical, but I’m not sure. For anyone who doesn’t know about Alaska politics, let’s just say that at one time it was mind-bogglingly weird. Partisan attachment in the state was remarkably weak, with voters even electing the Alaska Independence Party nominee, former Republican Gov. Walter Hickel, as governor in 1990. n some levels, Alaska is your archetypically Republican state. It hasn’t voted for a Democrat for president since 1964, hasn’t sent a Democrat to the House since 1972 and, until Mark Begich was elected narrowly in 2008, hadn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1974. Gov. Sean Parnell (R), who was elected lieutenant governor but ascended to the state’s top job when Sarah Palin (R) resigned, is a clear favorite to win in November. But in other ways, Alaska can still surprise you." (Stuart Rothenberg/CQPolitics)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"The United Nations General Assembly kicks off today, bringing together leaders of 192 countries. But just west of it, a competing summit will bring together thought-leaders from across the globe to tackle many of the same problems that are on the table at Turtle Bay. And even President Obama will make an appearance. The Clinton Global Initiative, now in its sixth year, will feature Nobel laureates, CEOs, presidents, and a trio of first ladies—making it seem like a 21st century initiative that could ultimately eclipse the older institution. CGI is fast building a track record that has some wondering if its leaner model may be the better way to address the multitude of problems facing the global community. All it needs is a standing army. 'Most U.N. organizations concern themselves with setting global policy,' says Paul Farmer, the celebrated activist and director of Partners in Health who has been involved with CGI since its inception. 'But what happens at CGI is the nitty-gritty of deal-making between philanthropists and the people who get it done.' The U.N. may have the advantages of age (it's almost 65 years old,) a charter, a 120,000-member army, a $4.2 billion budget (excluding peace-keeping operations,) a secretariat with about 40,000 employees, and stylishly appointed headquarters with to-die-for river views. But it is also littered with problems, both real and perceived." (TheDailybeast)



(image via NYSD)

"Well, now that Fashion Week is behind and Lincoln Center can return to the business of being a destination for the arts, New Yorkers now have UN Week to look forward to (or dread, depending). It’s a week long traffic gridlock (especially if you live on the same side of town as the UN). All week long will be black official limousines and big black official SUVs with their darkly tinted windows traveling in caravan, filled with men in dark suits and wires connected to their ears. They move swiftly through the streets and up and down the avenues, often with the red and blue twirling lights on their roofs or in their rear windows ... Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Ahmadinejad, Obama, Mrs. Obama, Prince Albert of Monaco, Ashton Kutcher (??!!!) and even Carla Bruni. The beautiful and sexy Mme. Sarkozy and her husband, the President of France, were lunching alone (without security, zut alors!) Saturday at Amaranth on East 62nd Street between Madison and Fifth. No closing down the blocks. In fact, no attention from even the lunch crowd. Amaranth is a favorite of the Sarkozys; they’ve been several times before. You can see what the attraction is in the picture. The Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden evidently likes it too: he has been seen lunching there more than once recently." (NYSocialDiary)



"Senate Democrats certainly got a boost this week with Rep. Michael N. Castle’s stunning defeat in Delaware’s GOP primary. But once the party’s euphoria wears off in the First State, Democrats still have to face the reality that the national political environment is still tilted decidedly against them and several races around the country continue to shift in favor of Republicans. After moving the rating of the Delaware contest to reflect Democrats’ much improved prospects of holding the Senate seat, CQ Politics is moving the race ratings in a handful of other Senate contests in favor of the GOP. Three races — in Florida, Kentucky and New Hampshire — are being moved from Tossup to Leans Republican. The Arkansas Senate contest is being moved from Leans Republican to the less competitive category of Likely Republican and the West Virginia race is moving from Likely Democratic to the more competitive category of Leans Democratic. Florida’s race rating had been considered a Tossup due to what appeared to be the unexpected strength of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s Independent bid over the summer. But following the state’s Aug. 24 primaries, public polls have shown former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) steadily pulling away from Crist and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D)." (CQPolitics)



"Buyers and sellers of acquisition titles walked away from the Toronto International Film Festival exhausted from the all-night haggling sessions, but energized and cautiously optimistic. They feel the prolific deal making is a sign the specialty film biz has righted a course of drunken deal making by studios that raised stakes to unreasonable levels before retreating. The Toronto's fest's primary role will always be as an awards season platform, and a cost-efficient way to fly in junket journalists and Golden Globe voters for screenings and marathon press conferences. This year, Toronto re-established itself alongside Sundance as the two most important festivals to secure distribution for finished films." (Deadline)



"A little dose of anticipated controversy always helps boost TV ratings, as it surely did for MTV’s Video Music Awards telecast last Sunday. And that translated to higher mobile activity for MTV’s iPhone and Android apps, as well as more users going to its mobile WAP site. Alongside the 11.4 million viewers—up 27 percent from last year’s VMA’s—MTV counted 1.2 million mobile views on Sunday and mobile traffic hitting its all time peak on Monday with 1.7 million mobile views, nearly quadruple and triple, respectively, for the same categories last year." (David Kaplan/PaidContent)

Book Review: Susan Shapiro's Overexposed



"I spent years cutting myself out of photographs," is how Susan Shapiro's wonderful new novel Overexposed begins. It is the story of young photographer Rachel Solomon, her family, her friends, and her attempts at navigating a career in the big, cold city.

In Chapter One we are introduced to WASPy Elizabeth Mann, whose life Rachel is about to inhabit. Mann is "seen" exiting Vision magazine just as Rachel arrives on her first day as an art assistant. The two lives intersect.

Mann, in all the ways that matter, had the childhood that Rachel craved. Elizabeth grew up in the Village surrounded by artists. Rachel could only wish that her father was a world famous photographer that spent a decade at Life. Curiously, Rachel's father, a doctor, at one point also wanted to be a photographer before switching majors in college to chemistry in deference to his family's wishes.

Things have a way of coming full circle in the families that Susan Shapiro carefully creates. Mann, curiously, wishes she had the stability of Rachel's upbringing in the Midwest suburbs. She grew up in a broken home. Her own father, William Mann, was alcoholic manic depressive who met a sad end. "Nothing wrong with being a Midwest Jewish doctor's daughter," is one of the first exchanges between Mann and Solomon. "Wish I had two older brothers."

The degree to which Elizabeth wishes to have had Rachel's childhood doesn't immediately register. "Sharp edges, hungry, fiercely candid" is the psychological type that Rachel is drawn to in people. Elizabeth, with her backhanded compliments, her independent manner and her edgy personal life is exciting -- everything Rachel has left the suburbs to ultimately become.

Then Elizabeth starts dating Rachel's brother. And going to nursing school at Columbia. And getting herself invited to Rachel's childhood home in Illinois. And -- can you see where this is headed? -- finally, marrying her brother Benjamin and moving to the Midwest. Very "Freaky Friday." As Rachel becomes ensconced in the New York art scene, Elizabeth is becoming the daughter Rachel's mother always wanted.

Because the main protagonist this time around is about a photographer, it allows the author Susan Shapiro to present vivid pictures to the reader, like:

"Reaching under the desk, I pulled out the grad school portfolio I carried with me everywhere and turned to the last photo. It was a close-up of an innocent looking girl in an NYU T-shirt, afternoon light falling across her face, the Delancey Street sign in the background. I'd caught the girl locking eyes with a six-foot Marilyn Monroe impersonator just as Marilyn winked at her. My parents met on Delancey Street."

And, my favorite:

"Sitting at the Village Den this rainy Saturday, I chain smoked and held my camera up to the window. Everybody was carrying something odd. An old man with a gray beard lugged a tuba. A woman with a purple scarf held an easel with both arms, like a dance partner. Two teenagers transported a stuffed antique chair they'd probably found on a street corner. They all seemed to be checking each other out. I liked the idea of watching people who were people watching."

There is also a real love of New York City rendered in this novel, as well as a keen eye for the quirky. This is new for Shapiro, who usually deals with the New York literary world.

The apparent conflict between two different styles of womanhood -- the suburban Midwest mother on the one hand, and urbane sophisticate on the other -- moves, powerfully, through the book. This conflict is essentially shorthand for the relationship between Rachel and her mother. The book begins with the thesis that these two styles are somehow incompatible (Rachel literally cutting herself out of family photographs).

Rachel and her mother are two women in a house full of doctors. As much as Rachel loves her mom, she does not want to become a balabusta (an overfeeding Jewish mother defined by the men in her life). Rachel's father and two brothers, Ben and Danny, are all politically conservative, country music listening, right brained types. Can you say: switched at birth?

There is a charged, hyper-competitive male dominated element in the Illinois suburbs of Rachel's beginnings, but Shapiro, who shared a lot with her creation, expresses it with humor. For example, witness the "disease game," which comes on the heels of Rachel's big announcement that she had just landed a real job in the big city and was staying:

"'Disease'?' asked my brother Ben, sitting across from me, trying to initiate the stick game they'd shoved in my face my entire life.

"'Do it later,' I insisted. I was the firstborn of the Solomon kids, fourteen months Ben's senior. I had just flown six hundred miles. I was ready to make my announcement.

"'Okay,' my father cleared his throat. 'Sixty year old fat lady with mitral endocarditis, blood growing strep bovis.'

"'Colon cancer,' Ben jumped in.

"'You're faster than your old man already,' My father forked string beans onto his plate."

How else are hypercompetetive doctors supposed to have fun? The theme of transformation, of switched personas is vividly described in this sharp scene involving a red silk Donna Karan blazer:

"She went to the closet, stepping inside. 'Hey! A walk-in! How many jackets do you have?' Was she counting? 'Fourteen!' she called. I went to the closet with her, pulled down a red silk Donna Karan blazer my mother had sent me, though I never wore red.

"'This would look good on you,' I said. 'Try it on.'

"She put it on and went to the bathroom mirror. Coming up behind her I caught us together. We were cut from the same mold: tall sturdy girls with big shoulders and dark hair. We could almost be sisters. I sat on the counter. She took Rose Petal blush from my makeup bag.

"'Show me how to do blush. Yours looks so natural,' she said, inspecting my cheeks carefully. 'I think I put mine on too low.'"

Though there are several minor sub-themes running through the course of the book -- will Rachel find a husband? will Rachel find an apartment? -- Overexposed is essentially a book about relations between women. Many of Susan Shapiro's previous books -- Five Men Who Broke My Heart, Speed Shrinking -- have dealt with the complicated relationships between women and their lovers and their fathers and their shrinks. This book, however, is mostly about the relationships between mothers and daughters and their girlfriends.

Discussing this wonderful novel further risks revealing too much of the plot. Can Rachel accept Elizabeth as a sister-in-law? Will Rachel get her dream apartment? Will Rachel make it in the Manhattan art scene or will she return, tail between her legs, back to Illinois?

"I spent years cutting myself out of photographs," is how Susan Shapiro's new novel Overexposed begins. And it ends, appropriately, "'Now she's driving me crazy to get into the picture,' my mother said, smiling as the shutter clicked."

Susan Shapiro's Overexposed is available on Amazon.

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Administration officials present the package as an 'intensification' of existing diplomacy, but that is slightly disingenuous. After long, and reportedly heated, arguments inside the White House over the proper balance between carrot and stick, officials have produced a document that is highly specific about inducements and carefully vague about threats. Despite veiled references to 'accountability,' the statement is silent on the ICC indictments. And after much discussion over whether it's acceptable, or effective, to address the North-South conflict separately from Darfur, the administration plan will allow Khartoum to profit from compliance on North-South issues, though Bashir wins the jackpot only for restoring peace to Darfur. Some, though not all, members of the advocacy community are appalled at the decision to, quite literally, let the regime get away with murder. John Norris, a Sudan expert at the Center for American Progress and former head of the Enough Project, calls the package 'unseemly.' Norris points out that in 2005 Western diplomats made a calculated decision to bless the North-South peace agreement even as the regime perpetrated mass slaughter in Darfur. Indeed, from the very beginnings of the killings in Darfur, in 2003, Bashir responded to pressure from the West by threatening to scuttle negotiations over ending the civil war." (ForeignPolicy)



"I was invited to a Christian Dior party in Paris, and I got drugged there. It was a big party on Avenue Montaigne, and there were a lot of people. I thought, 'Oh my gosh, John Galliano is going to see me.' It was a small bar, really crowded and the line was like ten miles long. So some guy just handed me a bottle of champagne. I drank some and he disappeared. Soon after I felt really sick and had to run for the door. I ran out into Avenue Montaigne and cars were coming at me, but all I could see were flashing lights. I just knew I needed to get into a cab and out of there. Luckily someone who was working the door pulled me onto the sidewalk." (Gawker)



"Black Milk celebrated Album of The Year (stream it) with a headlining show at a packed out Southpaw on Tuesday (9/14). In addition to a Besides a bouncy and big-bang performance from Black Milk (one of the few hip hoppers that understands the art of the live show), there was a killer lineup of supporting characters that included the pure hilarity/unstoppable rhymes of Sean Price, a super energetic Elzhi, Guilty Simpson, and a surprise appearance from Roc Marciano (his first since the release of his incredible LP Marcberg on Fat Beats in April)." (BrooklynVegan)



"As Kyrgyzstan descended into chaos after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in April 2010, most observers were focused on the fate of the key U.S. airbase there. They feared that Moscow had orchestrated the unrest as revenge for Bakiyev reneging on his alleged promise to shut down the base and would now demand that the new government follow through on that pledge. But instead of indulging in geopolitical gamesmanship as usual, Russia and the United States actually worked together, pursuing back-channel talks that facilitated Bakiyev's safe escape into exile. Periodic consultations since April have thus far managed to prevent conflict between the Cold War adversaries in the one country where both have military outposts. This marked a tectonic shift in the geopolitics of Eurasia. For the first time in over a decade, what Russia calls its 'near abroad' was a locus of cooperation, not confrontation, between Russia and the United States. This shift has opened a window of opportunity to fundamentally rethink U.S. foreign policy in Eurasia -- a term used here to refer to the countries of the greater Black Sea region and Central Asia -- a strategically situated area with massive natural resource wealth and great economic potential." (ForeignAffairs)



"Fashion keeps many bedfellows, and on Thursday night at parties that ranged from the intimate to the excessive, designers mingled with artists and athletes — rappers, hoops stars, rockers, boxers and even an Olympic ice skater. As a storm galloped across the city, it seemed that Cynthia Rowley’s poolside party at her home in honor of the performance artist Nick Cave’s eight-page spread in Vogue magazine was a wash. But the party just moved indoors. The only people around her sapphire backyard pool on Perry Street in the West Village were a pair of bongo players who patted out a beat (under an umbrella) to a projection of Mr. Cave flouncing and dancing, like a costumed monster from 'Where the Wild Things Are.' There were few fashion-worlders at Ms. Rowley’s town house, where her children Kit, 11, and Gigi, 5, ran among the guests. True to her roots as a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she had met Mr. Cave, the guests were sculptors, photographers and painters like Will Cotton, who painted Katy Perry’s portrait for her 'American Dream' album. Ms. Rowley had originally set out to be an artist, but 'I thought it would be easier to make a living if I did fashion,' she said. 'Ha.'" (NYTimes)



"Nelson Mandela's wife Graca Machel will be the keynote speaker at the Important Dinner for Women on Monday at the Mandarin Oriental, hosted by Queen Rania al Abdullah, Wendi Murdoch and Indra Nooyi. Guests will include African first ladies Ida Odinga of Kenya and Chantal Biya of Cameroon, Britain's former first lady Sarah Brown, Diane von Furstenberg, Barbara Walters, Diana Taylor, Tyra Banks, Tina Brown and Ivanka Trump." (PageSix)



"After a furious eight Fashion Week days, those who could summon the energy to party headed to Meatpacking last night for the final bashes. First up, ARC’s Lorenzo Martone and Ryan Brown helped put together Gwen Stefani’s after party for L.A.M.B which played out like a colossal gallery show thanks to Thierry Guetta, aka Mr. Brainwash. 'I’ve been taking a lot of pictures with my camera tonight,' said Stefani. 'It’s just so cool. Anywhere you look, is like a brilliant background' ...
A few blocks away, Evan Lysacek, Vera Wang, Baz Luhrmann, Lennox Lewis, Graziano DiBoni, and a very tall Danilo Gallinari were just a few of the eclectic assortment of A-listers who came out for the Dom Pérignon party at the new Villa Pacri restaurant. Champagne naturally flowed, and the space was decorated with all sorts of Warhol themed memorabilia: Brillo boxes, Campbell soups, and Polaroid cameras galore. Courtney Love settled in to a back table, a spot which she occupied until the wee hours of the morning. 'It’s just nice to end Fashion Week with good bubbly and good company,' she smiled." (Fashionweekdaily)



"That rehabbed rocker Courtney Love will perform next Saturday at the New York Recovery Rally on Randalls Island, a day of festivities to celebrate sobriety." (PageSix)



"I recently had a delightful evening out on the town with a friend of mine. Things got a little out of hand and both of us drank a small amount of a female bartender’s urine. I would say it was about one ounce each. We were pretty drunk, and I’m not quite sure what led up to it. I think I was trying to prove something. I think we were trying to show how 'badass' we were. It sounds really goddamn stupid when I type it out. The urine was clear and it had little taste, but now I am concerned about the health risks." (SavageLove)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"In the family box in front of the TV cameras, the Palins were assembled, looking inhumanly gorgeous and well-groomed. The media frenzy around them was astonishing—they were rock stars, from Bristol and Levi down to little Trig. I wish I could have been a better sport about the fact that Sarah and her family now seemed to dominate the entire convention. Everyone was so excited by the Palins’ newness and real-life dramas, their exotic Alaskan lifestyle and their cohesiveness. The campaign’s focus, as well as the world’s, was suddenly completely on them. But it was starting to seem like reality TV to me. I kept wondering, why are these people taking over our lives? Later that night, I happened to be sitting in the hotel lobby bar with Shannon and Heather when Sarah (Palin) walked by—and the campaign staff and journalists in the room exploded in spontaneous applause, and then charged at her. A rope line formed, almost magically, as people began waiting their turn to talk to her, ask for an autograph, or to have their picture taken with her. I mean, even journalists were waiting to be photographed with her." (MeghanMcCain)



"Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) may not be ready to announce whether he will run for Chicago mayor, but he is already talking tough about taking on another potential candidate -- Rahm Emanuel. 'I know what it takes to compete against Rahm,' Jackson said Thursday of President Barack Obama's chief of staff. Jackson said he knows Emanuel, the former House Democratic Caucus chairman, 'very well' and ran through a laundry list of past campaigns that he has watched Emanuel run. These included Congressional campaigns -- 'some with positive messages, some with negative messages' -- and presidential campaigns for both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Clinton, Jackson said. 'I saw these guys dissect people and then reinvent them and then take people who woke up one day thinking they were this way and went to bed knowing they were something else. So these guys are professionals,' Jackson said. The Illinois lawmaker said Emanuel would 'obviously be very formidable opposition for anyone contemplating the race.' He speculated that if Emanuel runs, he 'would bring an A game to Chicago mayoral politics unlike anything we've seen in a generation.'" (CQPolitics)



"North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has recently gone from man of mystery to international fashion icon. While the North Korean media frequently spit out unintentionally comedic headlines, it seemed oddly appropriate when the country's state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun boasted in April that Kim's trademark khaki jumpsuit was now 'chic.' Could it be his look -- 'two-piece army suit, bouffant hairdo, Ray-ban sunglasses, and platform shoes,' as one ABC reporter put it -- offers some inspiration during these austere times? In any case, his fashion sense has more to do with function than form. Apparently, the often paunchy-looking ecru garment conceals a bullet-proof vest, while the hairdo and the shoes are height enhancers for the diminutive dictator." (ForeignPolicy)



"(Oscar de la Renta) had what looked like the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen there. That may be because they’ve perfected the optimal use of the space. There was one show for the press which preceded this by an hour. Many of the guests (there were some press too) are industry people as well as many of the de la Rentas; friends. Mrs. de la Renta was there, as was her friends Nancy Kissinger, and Mercedes Bass, Barbara Walters, Carolina Herrera, Donna Acquavella, Mica Ertegun. Catie Marron. Lou Lou de la Falaise, in from Paris. And Daphne Guinness." (NYSocialDiary)



"HBO subscribers sometimes complain when the channel debuts a new series in the fall, since there are so many new programs to watch on the broadcast networks. But that may be smart marketing. HBO’s series, whatever their flaws, are usually far better written, shot and acted than most network programming. This superiority is even more evident in comparison with the poorly conceived and executed new shows that the networks roll out every September. The channel’s new drama 'Boardwalk Empire,' premiering this Sunday at 9 p.m., is not only head and shoulders above its broadcast competition; it may deserve a place in the honor roll of HBO’s best series ever. But unlike much 'quality' television, it engages the viewer, drawing us immediately into its multiple story lines without either pandering or making us work too hard. The series centers on Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson (Steve Buscemi), the corrupt treasurer and de facto ruler of Atlantic City, N.J., in the Roaring Twenties." (Medialifemagazine)



"Those who walked into the Odd Molly show yesterday saw on a riser some objects unfamiliar at a runway show: a drum kit and a few guitars. Most shows go with the tried-and-true loud scene-making music, but when you can get a Lennon to play your show, convention can take a back seat. What's more, Sean Lennon's new band consists of him and his girlfriend, Charlottle Kemp Muhl, who co-writes the songs with Sean. Wait, a Lennon performing with his lover? Something about that sounds familiar... 'Yeah!' Sean Lennon told The Observer when we asked whether his musical relationship with the Charlotte, a model, parallels that of John and Yoko. 'I'm a man and she's a woman, and there are not many couples that had bands. I guess it's The Mamas & the Papas, Sonny and Cher, uh — who else? Well, Blondie was a couple. So I guess we are like other bands that are couples, in that we're a couple.' Charlotte stood by packing up some cords and gear from the stage, letting her reddish hair topple over the front of her face. The duo, which will release an album under the cumbersome moniker The Ghost of a Saber Toothed Tiger, has a sound that's both jaunty and folky, with Sean and Charlotte trading vocals, often in the same song." (Observer)



"Think back with me for a moment. When it came time to do the film version of the frothy stage hit Annie way back in 1982, some Hollywood genius actually had the brain cell deficiency to say out loud: 'I know! We'll get John Huston to direct it!' (Michael Musto)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Every season, Jeremy Scott's show is a fan favorite, and whether he presents his line in New York, London, or Paris, big names come out in droves to see his witty, conceptual collections. The media went wild at the sight of today's front row -- and I temporarily went blind on account of the blazing flashbulbs -- which included Kelly Osbourne, Kanye West, Terrence Koh, and Solange Knowles. Punk classics by the Ramones blared while looks inspired by the underground NYC rock-and-roll scene of decades past came down the runway. There were pieces made of trash bags and crushed aluminum cans, tops that imitated plastic to-go bags (and read 'f**k you' instead of 'thank you'), grommets galore, and loads of leather -- barely-there chaps for the lads, and some awesome jackets and skirts for the ladies." (Papermag)



"In the shadow of the Holocaust, Israel made a determined effort to acquire nuclear weapons. However, just as fear of genocide is the key to understanding Israel's nuclear resolve, that fear has also encouraged nuclear restraint. After all, if Israel's enemies also acquired the bomb, the Jewish state might well face destruction, given its small size and high population density. Moreover, the specter of killing large numbers of innocent people, even to save their own, was morally unsettling for Israeli leaders. This combination of resolve and restraint led to a code of nuclear conduct that is fundamentally different from that of all other nuclear weapons states. Israel neither affirms nor denies its possession of nuclear weapons; indeed, the government refuses to say anything factual about Israel's nuclear activities, and Israeli citizens are encouraged, both by law and by custom, to follow suit. And so they do, primarily through government censorship of and self-censorship by the media. This posture is known as nuclear opacity, or, in Hebrew, amimut. The policy and practice of nuclear opacity was codified in 1969 in an extraordinary secret accord between Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and U.S. President Richard Nixon. Although this agreement has never been openly acknowledged or documented, its existence was revealed in 1991 by the Israeli journalist Aluf Benn, and more information came out in some recently declassified memos regarding Nixon's 1969 meeting with Meir written by Nixon's national security adviser, Henry Kissinger. According to the Nixon-Meir pact, as long as Israel did not advertise its possession of nuclear weapons by publicly declaring or testing them, the United States would tolerate and shield Israel's nuclear program." (ForeignAffairs)



"Down at Michael’s so were the tables. Right next door at table 2 Peter Brown was lunching with Patti Boyd who will be remembered in Rock history as once the wife of George Harrison of the Beatles, and later the wife of Eric Clapton. For those of us of a certain generation, we’re talking icons of the newsprint. Across the room at another table was Harry Benson, the international photographer who came to America with the Beatles on their first trip here (1964?). Harry stayed, married an American girl and still lives on the upper East Side. He was lunching with Quest publisher Chris Meigher. Nearby: Somers Farkas with Grace DeNiro, Susan Gutfreund, Diana Taylor. Across the way: Herb Siegel with John Mack, ex-CEO of Morgan Stanley. On the other side: Joan Gelman; in the corner at table 4, Kirk and Ann Douglas with their daughter-in-law Catherine Zeta-Jones." (NYSocialDiary)



"Bravo's Top Chef ended a contentious season last night with a surprise win by a chef that many viewers believed to be all but out of the running, considering the fierceness of his competition. Perhaps due to the unexpected illness faced by Angelo Sosa, the jaw-dropping overconfidence of Ed Cotton, or his Singapore Sling-inspired dessert, contestant Kevin Sbraga sailed to victory ... The Washington, D.C.-set seventh season opener ranked as the lowest rated premiere in the series' history, next to the very first season. In its 9 p.m. Wednesday timeslot, viewership this season was off by an average of roughly half a million total viewers from Season 6. If the audience erosion weren't enough, the show—which last month became the first reality series to defeat six-time Emmy winner The Amazing Race—received flak from critics and viewers alike, who pointed at uncharismatic contestants, lackluster challenges, and some shaky editing ...So what happened? And are the show's executive producers—Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves — aware of the cacophony of audience criticism? The Daily Beast caught up with the pair for an exclusive interview, in which they talk about Kevin's victory, the language of reality television, culinary tourism, and the Justin Bieber concert film they're producing." (TheDailyBeast)



"For those of us who’ve been furiously running to eleven fashion shows a day, two hours in the dark with Woody Allen perhaps might be the ultimate cure for Fashion Week fatigue. The Cinema Society and BlackBerry Torch hosted a screening of You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger at MoMA last night and the power crowd (Alec Baldwin, Adrien Brody, Courtney Love, Debbie Harry, Oliver Stone, and Sam Mendes, among many others) came to support Mr. Allen. 'I’ve just kind of pulled things from my closet,' smiled the legendary director of his suit. 'I’ve been wearing it from morning to night to do the press for this movie. Allegedly they tell me it’s worth doing so many interviews.' Adrian Grenier was just happy to be few feet away from Allen. 'He’s my New York legend,' he grinned. 'I’m one of those people that went to see him play jazz.'" (Fashionweekdaily)



"Reporters at the Deauville Film Festival in France -- where (Annette) Bening was promoting 'The Kids Are All Right,' the movie in which she plays a lesbian mother -- were shocked when organizers warned them not to ask the actress any questions about her family, and specifically about her husband, Warren Beatty. 'The blackout immediately amped up speculation by the press corps of an impending split,' said one journalist. Beatty has been notably absent as Bening has traveled the world promoting her latest film, which features a steamy Sapphic sex scene with Julianne Moore. The couple has barely been seen together except for a sighting at the Ago restaurant in LA on Aug. 7. The National Enquirer reported last month that Bening and Beatty are fighting and finger-pointing over their daughter, Kathlyn, 18, and her plans to have gender-reassignment surgery. Kathlyn, the eldest of four kids, allegedly has been living as a man for two years under the name Stephen Ira, and is now in college awaiting sex-change operations. The Enquirer reports Bening has agreed to pay for the surgery. 'Annette accepts that Kathlyn wants to surgically become a man, while Warren is still trying to come to terms with it,' a source allegedly told the weekly." (PageSix)



"The pattern is a familiar one. Purist conservative challengers in GOP primaries start out as asterisks in early polls, but in the final week or two, they surge to victory, as national tea party groups pump money and energy into low-turnout primaries. For the most part, these primary outcomes probably won’t matter. Yes, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson would have had an easier time holding the state’s Senate seat for Republicans in November than Rand Paul, but Paul is favored over state Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway, so the GOP primary upset shouldn’t matter. The same goes for Alaska, where little-known attorney Joe Miller shocked Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary. Murkowski would have strolled to an easy re-election win, but with Democrats having their own weak Senate nominee, even Miller looks like a solid favorite. In Colorado, former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton might well have been able to put together a broader general election coalition than Ken Buck, who defeated her in the GOP primary, but that isn’t guaranteed. Buck is in a tossup race against appointed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet , and he certainly has a chance in November. Maybe Norton would be better positioned for November, but it isn’t clear yet." (CQPolitics)



"Harvey Weinstein was all over the Toronto Film Festival this week acquiring three high-profile films in Dirty Girl and Submarine and Sarah's Key, and unveiling Oscar-buzzed The King Speech. But he probably didn't expect to be at the center of a deal for a film where he's the onscreen star. IFC has announced it acquired worldwide rights to Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Project, the Barry Avrich-directed and produced documentary narrated by Peter Fonda about the larger-than-life film mogul. It 'is a powerful, uncensored, no-holds-barred account that traces Weinstein's path from concert promoter on the cold streets of Buffalo to his first trip to the Cannes Film Festival, where he arrived with one pair of pants and closed his first movie deal, to winning an Oscar, and breaking the bank with his first $100 million film,' IFC said. 'It examines his complex relationships with his brother, his staff, and the Hollywood community at large and features interviews with industry insiders and the Hollywood creative community.'" (Deadline)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Ahi serva Italia, di dolore ostello, nave sanza nocchiero in gran tempesta, non donna di province, ma bordello! Quoting Dante is, I admit, the last resort of a scoundrel or at least the indolent scribe. But this one, from The Inferno, is too apposite not to use. Roughly translated, it reads, 'Alas enslaved Italy, inn of sorrow, a ship without a helmsman in a great storm, not a queen of her provinces, but a whorehouse.' It was also the title of a book by Paolo Sylos Labini published posthumously in 2006; Sylos Labini was not only one of Italy's most distinguished economists, but a man of absolute integrity who consistently and very openly refused to compromise with Power (even 'power' with a small 'p'). His last work described, analyzed and criticized the Italy of five years ago. 'Why have we sunk so low?' he asked. 'I exhort my fellow citizens to carry out an unflinching critical examination of our civic consciousness if we want to rise from the abyss.' His appeal was more or less an economist's defense of the market economy and its rules, which defend the community against unbridled economic and political power. Italian prime minister and billionaire Silvio Berlusconi's massive conflicts of interest have made a mockery of these rules. Today's Italy has been battered by even more internal storms, as well as the obvious international economic ones; since then, the prime minister's residences have become brothels -- and not just metaphorically. Above all, the ship of state is close to being rudderless. So I am not the only person in Italy quoting Dante these days." (ForeignPolicy)



(image via NYTimes)

"David Patrick Columbia, the author of the Web site New York Social Diary, was sitting where he often sits, at the front table at Swifty's on the Upper East Side. He was talking about what makes the arts possible, the web of money, power and ambiguous motives that has for a long time successfully convinced the very rich that it's their duty to donate large sums to support paintings on walls and people dancing and singing onstage. 'I mean, look at Mrs. Astor at the Met and Mr. Kahn at the Met,' the 69-year-old said, speaking of two of the Metropolitan Opera's great Gilded Age patrons. 'Two different people in terms of their interest in being there and what it meant to them. His was actually more sincere because his was actually, shall we say, visceral, and hers was more social, though his was probably social, too. But he was actually affected by the art in such a way that he got off on it, while she got off on being there and being the queen. Both of those elements made the opera last.'" (Observer)



(Lady Amanda Harlech, John Richardson, and Daphne Guinness via NYSD)

"What interested me about the FIT Couture Council luncheon where they honored Karl Lagerfeld last Friday at Avery Fisher Hall was the way people dressed for the occasion. This was bigtime fashion New York with the editors of Harper’s Bazaar and Anna Wintour present. Most of the men, except for the paparazzi, were in suit and tie. Or blazers and tie. The older women (late thirties, on up) were mainly classically dressed, and often in Lagerfeld designs, to pay tribute. The younger women were all expensively dressed, in search of style. Very high stiletto heels that look hazardous to your health, one way or the other. And very short skirts often missing the great legs to back them up. It’s fun to look at. The bywords are 'chill' and 'relax.' 'And the hair ...' my young (early 30s) friend added to my remarks, considering her peers. Then there is Daphne Guinness. She was there and she’s all over the fashion pages this week. I don’t know Ms. Guinness but her recherche chic is just too good to pass up. I could just stare at her (I won’t, I won’t). She’s a very good looking woman, and there is great vulnerability behind that delicate and girlish face, and a comportment that speaks haut confidence that’s not necessarily true." (NYSocialDiary)



"After 22 back-to-back fashion weeks here in New York City, we are beginning to think we're becoming fashion WEAK....or maybe it's just the overindulging in martinis that brings us down? Either case, you know it's already been an AMAZING week when you're exhausted only four days in. It's fine. We're only being dramatique, bien sur! Nothing brings a Stan down. So who's the latest culprit to our fashion exhaustion, you ask? V's party for the New York Issue, No: 67 in the Boom Boom Room. No one throws a party like Visionaire. Well, we do, but we digress. Last night, the V crew brought out the New York centric celebration in full force. Statue of Liberty foam headdress invitations led you to street dancers on top of the bars at and a room full of Lady Gaga impersonators. Everywhere you went, there she was....in a different outfit. Lady Bunny was the DJ du soir, and those dancing to her beats while giving me side eyes included Marc Jacobs, Leighton Meester, Courtney Love, Prabal Gurung, Brad Goreski and Rachel Zoe (dying in a corner), Kelly Osborne, Terry Richardson, Dean Caten of DSquared, my boys Alex Wang and Joseph Altuzarra, supermodel Linda V., Vogue's Hamish Bowles, Lord Eddie Spencer-Churchill, Jean-Marc Houmard of Indochine fame and all the V masterminds .." (Papermag)



"Karl Rove is used to riling up liberal hosts like Keith Olbermann. Now he's being compared to them. 'I just finished watching Karl Rove trashing GOP Senate primary winner Christine O'Donnell,' wrote conservative author and blogger Michelle Malkin. 'It was on Sean Hannity's FNC show. Might as well have been Olbermann on MSNBC.' Malkin is just one of the conservative commentators and bloggers taking shots now at Rove, the former top Bush adviser who is now a Fox News political analyst. O'Donnell herself responded Wednesday on Good Morning America. 'Everything that he is saying is un-factual,' O'Donnell said. 'And it's a shame, because he is the same so-called political guru that predicted I wasn't going to win. And we won and we won big. And again he is eating some humble pie and he is just trying to restore his reputation.' So how did Rove get in so much trouble on the right?" (Yahoo!)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"This past April, I was at a conference at Miami University in Ohio where Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the fantastically brave, inspiring, and completely maddening feminist opponent of Islam, was the keynote speaker. The security in the auditorium was airport-like, with metal detectors and swarms of stern men in headsets, because, as the world’s most outspoken Muslim apostate, Hirsi Ali lives under constant threat of assassination. Onstage, despite the ever-present danger, she didn’t seem at all anxious or intimidated. She was funny, erudite, a little self-mocking, and transfixing as she spoke, seemingly extemporaneously, about her childhood in Somalia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya; the daring flight from forced marriage that brought her to Holland; and her slow, painful shedding of her Muslim religion. Her sangfroid was particularly striking during the question-and-answer session, when several outraged young Muslim men lined up to challenge her, some of them barking Koranic verses at her in Arabic, which she coolly translated for the audience and then elaborated on. She stuck relentlessly to her message: Islam oppresses women. Secularism must be protected at all costs. Every person–particularly, every woman–must be the absolute master of her own life, body, and conscience, freed from the dictates of religion, family, or clan. She probably used the phrase 'reproductive rights' a half-dozen times. Watching her, it was easy to think that American liberals and feminists had made a serious error in letting this charismatic dissident be co-opted by the American right. Hirsi Ali is, after all, a champion of a great many cherished liberal values, yet she’s now a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Her new book, Nomad, is dedicated to Chris DeMuth, AEI’s former president. It’s been truly dispiriting to see where she’s ended up." (Democracy)



"Fresh off a raw personal story about a wrestler, director Darren Aronofsky has put his shoulder behind a psychological thriller set in the world of ballet. 'Black Swan,' which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Monday night, has set off all manner of Oscar buzz with its emotional early screenings. Why? Natalie Portman, in the first role in years where she shows real range of acting depth, plays Nina, a dancer at a New York City Ballet-style company where she yearns for and wins the role of the Swan Queen in Swan Lake. But she is plagued by jealousy around her in dancers both younger (Mila Kunic) and older (Winona Ryder). Vincent Cassel brilliantly plays a manipulative artistic director a la George Ballanchine, while Portman seeks to defend her turf even as she struggles to unleash the emotions that will allow her to dance the black swan to Cassel’s satisfaction. Aronofsky succeeds in making you feel every tense breath, every jangling nerve; his gift for intensifying emotion through music and camera positioning seems to improve with every film. Critics will probably recall Hitchcock in ‘Black Swan’s’ claustrophobic interiors and faux thrills, careering just behind real ones. Meanwhile, the lovely Portman credibly dances in the film, while Cassel seduces and rejects, seduces and rejects in a classic power game with his dancers. There was a thunderous standing ovation." (Sharon Waxman)



"Like an emotionally distant lover, the less Goldman Sachs gives us, the more we want. In today's New York Times, a Goldman spokesman declined to comment on the process by which the firm annually selects its partners, leading the Times to describe the process as 'secretive' and driving us wild with curiosity. What kinds of sick things do they make potential partners do, for the firm to decline to speak about it entirely? What secrets lurk in the hearts of the hordes streaming in and out of the building on West Street? We asked a former Goldman Sachs partner to describe how this mysterious ritual works." (NYMag)



"It's an unusual year with lots of first class lead performances from women, including Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Diane Lane, Tilda Swinton, Lesley Manville, Michelle Williams, Noomi Rapace, Sally Hawkins, Jennifer Lawrence, and Anne Hathaway. I think there is none better than Nicole Kidman making a major artistic comeback after a string of disappointments that include Australia, Nine, Margot At The Wedding, The Invasion, Fur, and Human Stain. She turns in a brilliant performance in Rabbit Hole, which had its gala world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival Monday night. (I saw it at a private screening in L.A. a few weeks ago.) As a mother dealing with the sudden death of her 4-year-old son, Kidman gets it all heartbreakingly right. She is matched by costars Aaron Eckhart as her husband and Dianne Wiest as her mother. This is easily her best work since winning an Oscar for 2002’s The Hours, and probably her most assured screen work, even though I confess to being a major To Die For groupie." (Deadline)



"Like most of you, I’m a huge consumer of polls. I rely on survey data, because they represent one of the few quantitative measures of candidate strength. Or do they? For years, I have complained about national and local news anchors who don’t seem to understand what polls mean and what a margin of error is. But increasingly, for me at least, it’s the proliferation of polls — and polls of questionable value — that are the problem. Some observers assume the worst offenders are campaign pollsters, who presumably cook their numbers to show whatever they want to show. Not true. When I’m presented with two polls, one conducted by a well-regarded Republican or Democratic pollster and the other by a 'nonpartisan' pollster or state media outlet, I often place greater weight on the partisan pollster’s numbers, especially if I regard the pollster highly. Obviously, not all 'nonpartisan' pollsters are equal (any more than all partisan pollsters are), and some of them regularly deliver what appear to be reasonable data. But I’m increasingly suspicious of many polls. Gallup is a first-class polling organization that has been around for years and seeks to maintain a certain level of methodological rigor. I have worked with Gallup’s editor in chief, Frank Newport, who has a doctorate in sociology from the University of Michigan, and I can testify that he knows more about quantitative methods than I could ever know. And yet, despite my high regard for the people at Gallup, I have to shake my head in disbelief at how Gallup’s generic ballot has jumped around recently. And it isn’t just the most recent wild bounce." (Stuart Rothenberg)



(image via NYSD)

"By quarter to seven it had let up. The air was cool and redolent with the scent of the foliage. the flora and the fresh damp pavement. It was a beautiful night in New York. About that time I went up to the Museum of the City of New York where Judy Price’s National Jewelry Institute hosted a preview of its exhibition of Notable and Notorious; 20th Century Women of Style, which opens today at the Museum (103rd Street and Fifth Avenue). I made a point of going because Mrs. Price is a friend (and former employer) of mine. I’ve been to a number of exhibits of both costume and jewels over the years. Some are memorable (the Nan Kempner at the Met; the Jackie Onassis auction). Others were good. The ones that impress me are those that lend a sense of a time. Or an attitude that came before the now." (NYSocialDiary)



"With Marc Jacobs’ once-famed afterparty just a shadow of its former star-studded self, what’s a Fash-Week party-hopper to do on Monday night? Luckily, V Magazine and the Standard stepped in to fill the space once held by Mr. Jacobs with a celebration of their latest issue, appropriately covered by both Marc and Lady Gaga. After his petite after-party at his new West Village Book Marc store, Jacobs popped by the fete, although the only Gaga presence was in the slews of impersonators mingling among the crowds ('They did that of their own volition!' laughed Cecilia Dean, insisting that there was no dress code for the evening). Leighton Meester, Prabal Gurung, Alexander Wang, Brian Wolk and Claude Morais, Rachel Zoe, Richard Chai, and Rachel Bilson were just a few fashionettes positively bursting from the space formerly known as the Boom Boom Room, where champagne flowed, Gaga-likes ran wild, and many attendees sported the foam Statue of Liberty headband that served as the event’s invitation." (Fashionweekdaily)



"Reports of a Saudi diplomat seeking asylum in the United States because his government learned that he was gay and had a relationship with a Jewish woman highlights the vast cultural gap and the uneasy partnership that exists between Washington and Riyadh. Since the onset of the Cold War, and, more recently, in the seemingly endless war on terrorism (or whatever euphemism is employed for the conflict with Islamic extremists), the United States has consistently given higher priority to its national security and economic interests than to the human rights and freedoms that it holds dear. This policy, which, with a few periodic exceptions, has been bipartisan for over a half century, invariably outrages those on the Left, who in any event have little sympathy for U.S. security or economic policies ... For Saudi Arabia is not at all unique in legislating against homosexuality. Ali Ahmad Asseri, first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, certainly must have been aware that his liaisons not only would terminate his career, but could cost him his life. Yet Saudi Arabia is not the only state that punishes homosexuality with death; six others do as well, including not only Muslim partners involved in the conflict against Islamic extremists, such as Yemen, Mauretania and the United Arab Emirates, but also Nigeria, with its almost evenly mixed Muslim-Christian population. Moreover, it was not until 1872 that South Carolina became the last state of the Union to abolish the death penalty for sodomy, and sodomy laws remained on the books of many states until 2002." (ForeignPolicy)

Bill Clinton To Do The Daily Show on Thursday



Big week for Jon Stewart. Aside from the big New York magazine cover story pronouncing this the "Jon Stewart decade," President Bill Clinton will guest on The Daily Show to discuss the Clinton Global Initiative on Thursday, September 16 at 11:00 p.m. And -- quite possibly -- to also discuss the 2010 midterm elections (and to shoot down --wink wink -- possible rumors of Hillary replacing Joe Biden on the ticket in '12).

Should be good. Press release here.