Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"In a bombshell revelation sure to reverberate around the world, the Washington Post quotes a senior U.S. intelligence official seeming to suggest that the United States goal is now the collapse of the Iranian regime. The story's headline: 'Goal of Iran sanctions is regime collapse, U.S. official says.'
I say 'suggest' because the Post never directly quotes the official saying outright that regime change is the policy ... Pursuing regime change in a well-armed country of 78 million is no small matter, nor is it the sort of thing that can be ascertained from a blind quote that's immediately contradicted by other sources. (It's also very much worth noting that the harshest sanctions -- on Iran's central bank -- were imposed by Congress over the White House's objections.)  Still, as my colleague Dan Drezner notedyesterday, the Obama team may be hoping that sanctions can open up fissures within the Iranian regime and provoke internal political strife -- thus giving the United States and its allies more leverage. That's not quite the same thing as regime change, however. It's important to remember that Iranians themselves haven't called en masse for regime change. The protests that broke out over the stolen 2009 presidential election were mainly about calling for a recount or a revote, not about bringing down the entire clerical system. More Iranians may eventually conclude that 'everything must go,' but as far as we can tell they aren't there yet. There is a certain political appeal in calling for regime change in Iran, I'll admit. Obama is being pilloried daily by the Republican presidential hopefuls for not doing enough to stop Iran's nuclear program, and he seems highly unlikely to agree to a bombing campaign that may or may not succeed in doing the job. But if he can say that he's trying to overthrow the mullahs rather than negotiate with them, he might be able to neutralize that line of attack." (ForeignPolicy)

"Last night at Doubles, Ambassador Brenda Johnson and Howard Johnson hosted a book signing for Sally Bedell Smith and her new book, 'Elizabeth The Queen.' The Elizabeth in Sally’s book is the current Queen ... It has been excerpted in Vanity Fair although I hadn’t read it. I was most interested in it because 1. This is not the first or even second or third biography of the Queen, and 2. Sally Bedell Smith is a pleasure to read. Her research is vast and trenchant. She writes very objectively and respectfully, but frankly, about her subjects; I was curious to see what she could bring to the subject that was fresh ... Last night’s reception drew a big crowd of New Yorkers. I saw, or saw on the guest list: Martha Stewart, Susan Magrino, Robert and Barbara Taylor Bradford, John Eastman, Christy Ferer, Jeanette and Alexander Sanger, Sharon and Stephen Baum, Deeda Blair, Gerry Fabrikant, Toni and James Goodale, Anne Sutherland Fuchs, Dick Nye and Francesca Stanfill, Daisy Soros, Virginia Coleman and Peter Duchin ..." (NYSocialDiary)

"Kate Moss serenaded her pals on New Year’s Eve in Jamaica with a karaoke rendition of Blondie’s 1980 hit “Rapture.” The song was a fitting shout-out to one of her fellow revelers, Fab 5 Freddy, who’s name-checked in its lyrics. Partying with Moss and Freddy at Chris Blackwell’s GoldenEye estate were Moss’ rocker hubby, Jamie Hince, Grace Jones and fashion photographer Terry Richardson." (PageSix)

"Yes, New Years Eve at Goldeneye in Jamaica was amazing but the Post didn't mention that choreographer Fatima Robinson was DJing and the crowd was jamming. Kate had just mentioned she's a big Blondie fan, jumped on stage, grabbed the mic from Grace Jones and sang Rapture to me. A very Wow, moment." (Fred Brathwaite)

"When Frances Schultz and Tom Dittmer invited us to come to his California ranch to celebrate New Year’s Eve, we jumped at the invitation ... so fast that there was no possibility of them retracting the kind offer! Frances and Tom really know how to put on a weekend, in gracious ways that are virtually non-existent these days. It is sort of like going to the highest end summer camp imaginable, coupled with the best food and wines and superb company ... We were asked to bring dinner jackets and jeans for the men, long dresses for the ladies, (for New Year’s Eve) and then whatever else we would need for shooting, riding, and playing at being ranchers." (Nina Griscom/NYSocialDiary)

"f there is one group of people who have the knowledge and experience to identify the year's best directors, it's . . . directors—which is why we should pay special attention to yesterday's Directors Guild of America award nominations. Because not only are their best-director picks solid indicators of which filmmakers may be nominated for an Academy Award later this month—information that could benefit you in a high-stakes state-trooper pool and/or help prepare you for the disappointment of not being selected for what you thought was an innovative Adam Sandler cross-dressing comedy—but this year, they’re pretty surprising!  This year's nominees are: Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), Alexander Payne (The Descendants), Martin Scorsese (Hugo)" (VanityFair)

The Delicious Multidimensionality of Stephen Colbert

I was particularly struck by the New York Times magazine profile of Stephen Colbert and, in particular, the multidimensionality of his satire. As someone who has more than a passing interest in the idea of multiple dimensions, multidimensionality and irony is a subject that deeply piques this blogger's curiosity.

Eric Drysdale, who wrote for the show for 6 years (and a founding member of the New York Stereoscopic Society), is about as enthusiastic a 3D geek as you will ever meet. I asked him years ago on the old Jake and Jackie Radio Show about the links between 3D and Colbert's irony -- he kind of begged me off by changing the subject. It was at like 1 am -- Okay, The Corsair is a media geek -- so it was understandable. But it is always something that lingered at the outer edges of my consciousness watching Colbert report: his ironic distance from the audience, the faux-but-kind-of-real Doritos commercials, his asymmetrical campaign for President, etc.

In this weekend's profile of Colbert, the subject came up again, with more than a little bit of deliciousness, vis-a-vis his growing role at the periphery of the 2012 presidential campaign:

"'It’s bizarre,' remarked an admiring Jon Stewart, whose own program, 'The Daily Show,' immediately precedes 'The Colbert Report' on Comedy Central and is where the Colbert character got his start. 'Here is this fictional character who is now suddenly interacting in the real world. It’s so far up its own rear end,' he said, or words to that effect, 'that you don’t know what to do except get high and sit in a room with a black light and a poster.'

"... After Jon Stewart took over from Craig Kilborn as host of 'The Daily Show' in 1999, he encouraged Colbert to make the character more political, perhaps by incorporating some of the opinionated know-nothingism he routinely displayed in a point-counterpoint segment called 'Even Stevphen,' in which he and Steve Carell (also a regular, before he moved on to 'The Office') used to debate things like Islam vs. Christianity and the goodness or badness of the weather, shouting things like 'Yes!' 'No!' and 'Shut up!' at each other."

Then came The Colbert Report, his own spin off:

"... Stewart also recalled that Colbert worried at first that the 'Report' might not be sustainable, and says he kept pointing out, “ ‘I don’t know anyone more interesting than you. You know so much about so many different areas.’' Stewart went on: 'I’m not at all surprised that the show is good — he’s amazing at it. He’s able to weave a character in a way that’s never been done on television before — rendering this fictional character in 3-D, live, in such a way that he’s still able to retain his humanity.' The extra dimension, he explained, is the other Colbert, the real one. 'The third dimension is him. That’s the thing we started to see here. He is so interesting, smart and decent. He’s a good person, and that allows his character to be criminally, negligently ignorant.'

"The Colbert on-screen persona is actually less rigid than it used to be, and Colbert can dial it up or down as he chooses. There is now more of a winking quality to the act, a sense that we’re all in on the joke. And in the last part of the show, when Colbert typically leaps up from his desk and bounds across the set to a table in front of a fireplace with the Latin motto 'Videri quam esse' ('To seem to be, rather than to be') .."

We also learn in this fabulous profile that Colbert, before he went off to improv theater in Chicago, studied Philosophy at Hampden-Sydney. As someone who also studied Philosophy it would be interesting to know whether or not his studies in Virginia included Socratic/Kierkegaardian irony or even ironic dialectic in general.
            

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"It would have been almost unimaginable five years ago that the Financial Times would convene a series of articles on 'Capitalism in Crisis'. That it has done so is a reflection both of sour public opinion and distressing results on the ground in much of the industrial world. Americans have traditionally been the most enthusiastic champions of capitalism. Yet, a recent public opinion survey found that among the US population as a whole 50 per cent had a positive opinion of capitalism while 40 per cent did not. The disillusionment was particularly marked among young people aged 18-29, African Americans and Hispanics, those with incomes under $30,000 and self-described Democrats. Three elections in a row in the US have been, by recent standards, bloodbaths for incumbents. In 2006 and 2008 the left did well; in 2010 the right won comprehensively. With the rise of the Tea Party on the right and the Occupy movement on the left, this suggests that far more is up for grabs than usual in this election year. So how justified is disillusionment with market capitalism? This depends on the answer to two critical questions. Do today’s problems inhere in the present form of market capitalism or are there imaginable better alternatives?" (Larry Summers)

"There was a time when each of the Big Three nightly newscasts on American television tended to open with the same story — the latest campaign speech, a new government study or perhaps a big snowstorm. That time is gone. Influenced by cable and the Internet, the nightly newscasts are shaking up conventions that stretch back 50 years, seeking to distinguish themselves by picking different stories and placing them in different orders.  On any given night, one might lead with the Republican campaign, another with extreme weather and the third with an exclusive interview. 'The three evening newscasts have become more different from one another than at any time I can remember,' said Bill Wheatley, who worked at NBC News for 30 years and now teaches at Columbia. The differences provide a stark illustration of the state of the news media — much more fragmented than ever, but also arguably more creative." (Brian Stelter)

"'Sad that Kodak thought it was in the film business, when it was really in the memories, self expression and shared experience business.' (WSJ) Have you been following the war on Netflix and Redbox/Blockbuster? The film companies and HBO believe if they make war on these distributors DVD sales will rise and happy days will be here again. This is like the record labels believing they can make CD sales rise if they make war on Best Buy and Wal-Mart and put a shiv into the independents while they're at it. Huh? The future is inevitable. Reading is moving to electronic devices and physical media is dead in the music business, despite all the hosannas about vinyl. Sure, vinyl is fun and warm, and who doesn't love those giant covers, but saying vinyl is making a comeback is like touting the sales of typewriter ribbons, it's a drop in the bucket, it's irrelevant nostalgia, a footnote by the side of the road on the way to what comes next. And who taught us about the future? THE PUBLIC! The public embraced digital photography as well as MP3s. The public has no investment in infrastructure, it just latches on to what's cool and efficient and goes there. The more the studios fight with Netflix and Redbox, the more they're incentivizing people to steal. Might be copyright infringement, but I see you talking on your handset in the car, and that's illegal too. Unless we put a cop in everybody's house, with a book of tickets, P2P trading is inevitable. So how do you fight the onslaught of consumer sentiment? YOU GET AHEAD OF IT!" (Bob Lefsetz)

"Last Thursday night David and Julia Koch held a musicale at their Park Avenue apartment, with a performance by violinist virtuoso Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk on the piano. The duo have a new CD 'Joshua Bell Jeremy Denk French Impressions' (SONY), and their program included excerpts from composers Camille Saint-Saens, Cesar Franck and Maurice Ravel. This was a very special occasion for a couple of reasons. Firstly I’d heard and seen Bell once before -- a couple of years ago at his loft, where Kipton Cronkite had organized a little concert for about fifty people. I love music, including classical music, and although I love listening to a great violinist, I tend to regard myself as  'piano man.' I can play – like a poor amateur, alas, but great performances thrill me. The first time I heard Joshua Bell play, however, changed that. I am a violin man now too. And secondly, how many times in anyone’s life is one given the great privilege of hearing great performances of great music live in someone’s living room?" (NYSocialDiary)

"Only two specialty films -- Once Upon a Time in Anatolia and Norwegian Wood -- entered the marketplace on the first full weekend of 2012, a group of 2011 holdovers helped make it a potent weekend. According to estimates provided by Rentrak, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy The Iron Lady and Pina all soared well above expectations to give the specialty box office a nice kick into the new year. As far as the noted openers went, both performed respectably given neither were particularly high profile. Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Turkish import Anatolia debuted on a single screen at NYC's Film Forum for distributor the Cinema Guild. The result was a $11,129 gross, impressive give the film's running time only allowed for three shows a day. The Cinema Guild said the film sold out half of all its showtimes ... The weekend's biggest stories came care of a few holdovers. Focus Features made an aggressive expansion of Tomas Alfredson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. After four very successful weeks in limited release, Focus pushed the film from 57 to 809 screens and saw it perform well beyond expectations. Grossing $5,767,288, "Tinker" shot into the overall top 10 with a fantastic average of $7,129." (IndieWIRE)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"An unexpected name started popping up after President Barack Obama laid out his new defense strategy: Donald Rumsfeld. Obama and Pentagon leaders used words like 'leaner' and 'agile' Thursday in describing the kind of military they intend to build. Senior Pentagon officials said the leaner, more agile force Obama’s new strategy envisions is necessary so the force can both fight a major conflict while also quickly responding to a number of other situations and conflicts. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the envisioned force’s 'greatest strength' is that it would be 'more agile, flexible, ready to deploy, innovative and technologically advanced.' The commander in chief acknowledged in the strategy that, 'yes, our military will be leaner.' 'But the world must know — the United States is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats,' Obama said. If those descriptions sound familiar, they should. When George W. Bush appointed Rumsfeld to be defense secretary after the 2000 election, the two-time Pentagon chief set about his so-called 'transformation agenda.' Rumsfeld, too, wanted a leaner, meaner military able to adapt quickly to various situations and deploy quickly.'We need rapidly deployable, fully integrated joint forces capable of reaching distant theaters quickly and working with our air and sea forces to strike adversaries swiftly, successfully, and with devastating effect,' then-secretary Rumsfeld said in January 2002. 'We need improved intelligence, long-range precision strikes, sea-based platforms to help counter the access denial capabilities of adversaries,' Rumsfeld said. The latter is a major thrust of the new Obama defense plan." (TheHill)

"Thomas Frank is the thinking person’s Michael Moore. If Moore, the left-wing filmmaker, had Frank’s Ph.D. (in history from the University of Chicago), he might produce books like this one and Frank’s previous best seller, “What’s the Matter With Kansas?' ... Meanwhile, things have gone from bad to worse. Conservatives continue their Sherman’s march through the landmarks of liberal government, burning and looting as they go. They’ve gone after the legacies of Lyndon Johnson (Medicare), Franklin Roosevelt (Social Security; financial regulation) and Theodore Roose­velt (environmentalism). And working people continue to be duped into supporting measures manifestly against their own self-interest. In 'What’s the Matter With Kansas?' Frank attributed this to a clever bait-and-switch by conservatives, who appeal to middle- and lower-class voters on the basis of social issues like abortion and gays in the military, and values like patriotism and religion. And then they govern on the agenda of traditional Republican groups like businessmen and bankers.  With 'Pity the Billionaire,' the emphasis is different and the explanation is simpler: President Obama has betrayed the voters who elected him. He ran like a populist, Frank believes, but he has governed like a plutocrat, or at least a friend of plutocrats." (NYTBR)

"Peter M. Brant – 63-year-old industrialist, real estate mogul, magazine proprietor, art collector, polo player, husband of a supermodel, father of nine (by two wives) – is someone most people would categorise as a member of the 1 per cent. There is his net worth, which reports have put at between $500m and $1.4bn, his affinity for empire-building (four of his grown children work in his business empire), his 53-acre estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, and his penchant for Anderson & Sheppard tailoring: when he arrived for our lunch, he had on a grey flannel double-breasted suit, blue and white pinstriped shirt, navy knit tie, white pocket hankie and gold knot cufflinks. If you were drawing up a stereotype of a corporate titan, it would probably look a lot like this. But Brant himself would say this is wrong. In fact, during our meal he says, to be specific: 'I identify with the 99 per cent.' As a statement, it is something to chew on. Especially because the place Brant picked to eat, Sant Ambroeus, is in the heart of 1 per cent land – the core of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, near the Whitney Museum – and because one of the reasons we are having lunch in the first place is to talk about Brant’s role as a great art benefactor, generally another 1 per cent sort of thing." (FT)

"Sugar baron Pepe Fanjul and wife Emilia are co-chairing a fund-raiser for GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday. The $2,500-a-head event will be at the Palm Beach home of real estate developer and Miami Dolphins majority owner Stephen Ross and jewelry designer wife Kara, also chairing the event, along with Darlene and Gerald Jordan, who are on Romney’s Florida finance committee. Fanjul is a prominent political donor, who along with his brother Alfy has reportedly lavished both the Republican and Democratic parties with millions in contributions. A rep for the Fanjuls declined to comment." (PageSix)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"When the euro officially entered circulation at the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, 2002, fireworks lit up the night sky across Europe to celebrate the scrapping of the French franc, German deutsche mark, Greek drachma, and a clutch of other ancient currencies. Brussels hosted an extravagant sound-and-light show, while Frankfurt unveiled a five-story statue of the freshly minted euro as a pop band belted out 'With Open Arms (Euro World Song).' 'I am convinced,' European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg declared, that the launch of euro coins and banknotes 'will appear in the history books in all our countries and beyond as the start of a new era in Europe.' The early 2000s didfeel like the European moment. Enlightened policy wonks on both sides of the Atlantic gushed about the glamorous new arrival on the global stage. In this magazine in 2004, Parag Khanna described the "stylish" European Union as a "metrosexual superpower" strutting past the testosterone-fueled, boorish United States on the catwalk of global diplomacy. Later that year, economist Jeremy Rifkin penned a book-length encomium, The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, which was followed by Washington Postreporter T.R. Reid's unlikely bestseller, The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy. In 2005, foreign-policy expert Mark Leonard explained Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century.One wonders how well these books are selling today, now that the European dream has become a nightmare for many, with the euro teetering on the brink of collapse and the union that produced it mired in a triple crisis that will take years, if not decades, to resolve." (ForeignPolicy)

"While most of the political world was glued this week to the Republican presidential field’s tussle for the hearts of Granite Staters, a fresh Democratic front was opening just down the road in Massachusetts. After months of low-level chatter, Joe Kennedy III—son of former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II and grandson of Bobby—announced Thursday that, come January 20, he will leave his job with the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office to pursue the congressional seat being vacated by the crankily transcendent Barney Frank ... After an impressive run, the nation’s most famous political dynasty has fallen on hard times in recent years. In early 2009, Caroline somehow let Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat slip through her fingers. Later that year, liberal lion Teddy was felled by a brain tumor. And in 2010, after years of struggling with prescription drug and alcohol abuse, Teddy’s son, Patrick, opted not to run for reelection to his Rhode Island congressional seat. As for the younger generation, most have shunned the political arena. Indeed, since Patrick left office last January, the nation’s capital has been devoid of elected Kennedys for the first time since 1947 (that’s right: 64 consecutive years). At this point, the family standard has been relegated to Maria Shriver’s older brother, Bobby, the mayor of Santa Monica and the only member of the Kennedy clan currently in elective office.How the mighty have fallen."(Michelle Cottle)

"The new defense strategy President Obama unveiled Thursday is built around casting aside Cold War-era thinking, but it may start a new political war with Republicans.The new strategy ends the 'two-war planning construct' that for decades has been the central element of Pentagon strategy: that the U.S. military should be capable of fighting two large-scale land wars at the same time. Pentagon officials say times have changed and the U.S. no longer faces a peer military on par with the once-mighty Soviet force. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey went so far as to call the two-war construct 'an anchor' that was holding back Pentagon planners. The change is also driven by a new age of austerity hitting the nation. As $350 billion in scheduled cuts are made over the next decade, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the military 'will be smaller and leaner.' (The Pentagon says those cuts will result in a $480 billion cut to planned spending.) Yet in ending the policy, Obama is taking a significant political risk in an election year with strong headwinds against his bid for a second term in office. Foreign policy and defense have been strong points for Obama, but Republicans pounced on the new strategy, arguing it would leave the United States weaker." (TheHill)

"This past December Palm Beach weather has been blissfully warm, with delicious temperatures in the 80s. Everyone was out and about; biking, walking or driving around in charming 'cars' or 'wheels,' just right for this sunny resort town. Worth Avenue was packed with tourists and shoppers all admiring and photographing the spectacular Christmas tree, donated by Rush Limbaugh ... This is PB, so the town rocks every night with nonstop parties and dinners and is certainly in full gear now! The Baron Cliff Klenk hosted a small dinner with a scrumptious menu, starting with caviar parfait followed by yellowtail snapper, then a coconut cake snowball and a mini snowman ice sculpture, yum!  His swell guest list included Prince Michel de Bourbon-Parme and his wife Princess Maria Pia, Yanna and Stan Rumbough, Darcy and George Gould, Page Lee Hufty, Bill Flaherty, Ginny and Freddie Melhado and more. Of course Emilia and Pepe Fanjul gave their annual black tie Christmas dinner, but this year it was so warm that we had drinks by the pool instead of inside their paneled library with a fire going. This is my very favorite traditional holiday dinner party as it has all the trimmings, mistletoe, a big, beautiful tree, carolers, and dear friends to boot!" (Hilary Geary Ross/NYSocialDiary)

"Former movie star Ali MacGraw says she regrets not getting alimony from any of her three ex-husbands, including producing legend Robert Evans and late screen icon Steve McQueen. 'I had a romantic, ‘Aren’t I a good girl?’ take on divorce, but the truth is that was stupid,’' she tells Town & Country in its February cover story. 'When one stops working at the height of one’s career, it’s just stupid not to say, ‘I want to make sure I have a house.’' MacGraw, 72, starred in the 1970s classics 'Love Story' and 'The Getaway' — as well as the hit Aaron Spelling series 'Dynasty' in the ’80s — but has lived modestly out of Hollywood, in Santa Fe, for 17 years." (PageSix)

"The day my husband announced he was leaving, two days before Halloween, a pack of Rider Waite tarot cards arrived in the mail. Tarot folk wisdom suggests that instead of seeking out your own cards, you should wait for them to come to you. (Although I don’t think deliveries from Amazon were what anyone had in mind.) Of course I had ordered the cards myself. When I picked out the pack, I was already predicting my need for them. My husband was on tour in Australia, operating concert lighting for a musician's world tour. Most times his absence didn’t bother me — I knew what I was in for when I married a roadie, and, confession, I often enjoyed my time alone. But disturbing signs were beginning to accumulate. Earlier in the fall, he called to say he wanted to tell me something important, but instead bragged about fighting French men in French bars. When my doctor asked if I wanted to run a full STD packet with my annual exam, I said yes. Before flying out for Australia, my husband turned away from me in bed, claiming jet lag for the first time in our almost four-year relationship. I couldn’t yet see that he was making plans with another woman, but I sensed something about my life that needed knowing. The solution? Tarot cards. I can admit more than a tiny dose of the obvious here: when faced with an uncertain future, we want to know the future. The occultist Papus, writing in Paris in 1909, suggested that while men use the occult for 'resolving all major philosophical problems ... in the case of the women who find their curiosity aroused by Tarot, it is not the latter aspect that draws them, so much as the fact that, with Tarot, you can determine certain laws of chance in a way that renders it suitable for divination.' While part of me bristles at this easy split — men want to know the nature of evil, women the name of their next lover — Papus wasn’t necessarily wrong." (TheHairpin)

"In the annals of fashion history, Naomi Sims is most often cited as the first African-American supermodel. But Beverly Johnson fans beg to differ. In 1974, Johnson shot a Vogue cover with photographer Francesco Scavullo, becoming the first woman of color to grace the front of the renowned glossy. A French Elle cover followed a year later, helping to jump-start the Buffalo native's career as one of the elite catwalkers of the seventies and eighties and pave the way for the Imans, Naomis, and Tyras that followed. Becoming the face of change didn't come without its pitfalls, though. Johnson had plenty of people telling her she couldn't do it—including her first agent, Eileen Ford (she'd later sign with Wilhelmina). But naysayers be damned, Johnson's uncomplicated good looks earned her a Revlon campaign .." (Style)

"We measure. We hone headlines. We sell stories. Sometimes we oversell. But — and this marks us out — we believe that the best web content optimization strategy is something as old as journalism itself: the shocking truth and the authentic opinion. We’ll spill the truths that others gloss over to protect their access to sources or to conform to political correctness. Original thought (or Campfire groupmind) is muffled less. Think of Matt Buchanan’s stoned Friday evening truth bomb or Deadspin’s reporting of the Penn State scandal (more 2011 scoops at the end of this memo). There’s a new catchline on the media kit: Whatever we think. Whatever we know. That’s what we’ll publish. And that willingness defines not just our pitch to advertisers but our editorial mission." (Nick Denton/Observer)

"And speaking of the Duchess of Cambridge’s dance card, it’s been full filled since last April—she’s undertaken a total of 34 royal engagements since the wedding. (Before you marvel, she’s got nothing on her industrious father-in-law, Prince Charles, who reportedly participated in 601 official events last year.) Her number will likely swell, given that she’s just announced her official charity patronages: Action on Addiction, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, the Art Room, and the National Portrait Gallery of London. A former Brownie herself, she’ll also help out at the North Wales Scout Association—and reportedly even wear a uniform while on duty." (VanityFair)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Surprisingly, an eight-vote victory is not the most closely contested presidential nominating contest in recent memory -- Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton by a mere seven votes in the Guam caucuses in 2008. And there have been many other close calls over the years. There are three big winners from the Iowa caucuses. The first, and most important, is Mitt Romney, who was lucky enough to get two finalists he is very likely to beat. The second big winner is Rick Santorum, who could have easily been left for dead in the cornfields of Iowa but instead has at least a few more weeks of life. The third and most durable winner is the Iowa caucus, an institution that might have expired had Ron Paul gotten a few thousand more votes. A Paul victory would have given future Republican candidates an automatic pass to skip Iowa. Looking forward, there is almost no one who believes Paul will be the GOP nominee for president, and his continuing candidacy helps to drain a sizable percentage of votes that might otherwise go to an anti-Romney candidate. Santorum has little money and few troops, as well as little structure to campaign in the other 49 states. Maybe he can raise some money and attract more troops because of his showing in Iowa, but so far this year candidates who have attempted an instant presidential campaign (i.e., Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Herman Cain) have all imploded. Advantage: Romney. You can tell that Romney knows he’s in an enviable position because he is beginning to pivot to a general election campaign in which he attacks Barack Obama and not his Republican rivals -- leaving the latter task mainly to his Super PAC." (SabatosCrystalBall)

"In an exclusive report from three of Vanity Fair’s premier business writers—contributing editors Bryan Burrough, William D. Cohan, and Bethany McLean—the February issue delivers a sprawling account of the personal and professional battles of Jon Corzine, the former Goldman Sachs C.E.O. and ex-politician whose helming of MF Global resulted in a notorious $41 billion filing for bankruptcy and a $1 billion loss in firm equity. According to the piece, for the fiscal year that ended in March 2011, MF Global recorded day-one gains of $85 million on the former New Jersey governor’s risky trades on European sovereign debt and other assets, thanks to an accounting ploy. Because there were barely any expenses associated with such trades, the gains were almost pure profit. 'Corzine would later tell investors that he made a $6.3 billion bet on sovereign debt, but the company’s filings made it look like he had a much bigger long position at the end of June 2011—$11.4 billion, offset by ‘short’ positions of almost $5 billion,' Vanity Fair reports. One analyst says: “If those trades had not been there, MF Global would have been forced to sell or go out of business.' As federal authorities searched for the brokerage house’s more than $1 billion in missing customer money, friends and former associates of Corzine weighed in on the ways his personal quirks informed his management style. 'On this, Jon became a zealot,' one person says of Corzine’s European-debt trades. 'He managed the process soup to nuts,' says a former employee. 'He knew every number back and forth. He’d talk to the accountants and the board. He’s not a detail-oriented guy, but on this he knew every detail.'" (VanityFair)

"That there’s a cultural decay in a declining West is hardly worth debating. A powerless and increasingly cretinized citizenry has been brainwashed into a state of domesticated conformity, with unelected technocrats totally controlling their lives. Even the super-rich are basically slaves. Bernie Ecclestone may be a billionaire four times over, but he’s a small man in many respects, chained to his BlackBerry as he drives himself around Gstaad oblivious to the fact he might get lost in a snowdrift. Another neighbor just bought his wife a $45-million Gulfstream V to go along with her latest plastic surgery. A Saudi has carved his family tree outside his chalet—thank God the tree is short and so ugly, even dogs won’t pee on it. And the poor little Greek boy has wasted three months of hard training by going on a weeklong Karamazovian binge. But rumors of Roman Abramovich having bought in Gstaad are untrue, and thank God he remains with his entourage far away in St Barts. (Further good news is that the onetime plastic-duck salesman’s hard-earned stolen moolah is not helping his football team much.) Gstaad’s locals can’t seem to be bothered either way. The disgustingly glitzy nouveaux riche’s motto around these parts seems to be, 'What—me worry?' What everyone’s talking about here is—surprise, surprise—the euro." (Taki Theodoracopulos)

"Morocco was full for the holidays. The Royal Standard of the King, the red flag with the green star in the center was flying everywhere in the Marrakech streets, indicating that the King Mohammed VI (crowned in 1999) and his wife Princess Lalla Salma and their two children Crown Prince Moulay Hassan and Lalla Khadija, were in the Royal Palace. Lots of people – the government, Palace staff, friends of ministers of Morocco and the King’s personal staff had arrived for New Year’s Eve. Mohammed VI built the new palace soon after he became king, the old palace now being used for the country and its people ... Marella Agnelli lives in a magnificent villa in the Palmiere, near the King’s mother. Also living in Marrakech, Xavier Hermes, Ande Azoulay, who was the closest advisor to the late King Hassan II and is now a close advisor to Mohammed VI; Michele Schwab formerly from California and Roberto Tempo from Venice (they owned the Restaurant La Rotunda in the Kasbah and also had a restaurant in Delray Beach); Jim Mitchell from New York who has been part of Moroccan life for the past since the early 90s; Noelle Gillet, Silvia Innocenti, Mustapha Agbani, Mohammed Bouskari, the famous guide in Marrakech who has shown the city to several American Presidents including Nixon, Reagan and Clinton as well as some of the most famous people in the world. These are some of the people who make up the dazzling world of Marrakech." (NYSocialDiary)

"There used to be just two Stephen Colberts, and they were hard enough to distinguish. The main difference was that one thought the other was an idiot. The idiot Colbert was the one who made a nice paycheck by appearing four times a week on 'The Colbert Report' (pronounced in the French fashion, with both t’s silent), the extremely popular fake news show on Comedy Central. The other Colbert, the non-idiot, was the 47-year-old South Carolinian, a practicing Catholic, who lives with his wife and three children in suburban Montclair, N.J., where, according to one of his neighbors, he is 'extremely normal.' One of the pleasures of attending a live taping of 'The Colbert Report' is watching this Colbert transform himself into a Republican superhero. Suburban Colbert comes out dressed in the other Colbert’s guise — dark two-button suit, tasteful Brooks Brothersy tie, rimless Rumsfeldian glasses — and answers questions from the audience for a few minutes. (The questions are usually about things like Colbert’s favorite sport or favorite character from 'The Lord of the Rings,' but on one memorable occasion a young black boy asked him, 'Are you my father?' Colbert hesitated a moment and then said, 'Kareem?') Then he steps onstage, gets a last dab of makeup while someone sprays his hair into an unmussable Romney-like helmet, and turns himself into his alter ego. His body straightens, as if jolted by a shock. A self-satisfied smile creeps across his mouth, and a manically fatuous gleam steals into his eyes.Lately, though, there has emerged a third Colbert. This one is a version of the TV-show Colbert, except he doesn’t exist just on screen anymore. He exists in the real world and has begun to meddle in it." (NYTimes)             

"MSNBC contributor Melissa Harris-Perry has been given her own weekend program, network president Phil Griffin announced today. The show debuts February 4th, in the 10 a.m. to noon spot.
Ms. Perry frequently appears on Reverend Al Sharpton’s show and sometimes hosts Rachel Maddow.The announcement means weekend anchor Alex Witt will bookend the new 8 a.m.- noon weekend block of Up with Chris Hayes and Ms. Harris-Perry’s yet-unnamed show, filling the 7-8 a.m. and noon-2p.m. spots ... Ms. Harris-Perry also writes the 'Sister Citizen' column for The Nation, an apparent talent pool for the home of 'Lean Forward.' Before launching Up, Mr. Hayes was The Nation‘s Washington D.C. editor and remains an editor-at-large." (Observer)

"Kate Moss serenaded her pals on New Year’s Eve in Jamaica with a karaoke rendition of Blondie’s 1980 hit 'Rapture.' The song was a fitting shout-out to one of her fellow revelers, Fab 5 Freddy, who’s name-checked in its lyrics. Partying with Moss and Freddy at Chris Blackwell’s GoldenEye estate were Moss’ rocker hubby, Jamie Hince, Grace Jones and fashion photographer Terry Richardson." (PageSix)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"G-Zero and the Middle East -- The inability/unwillingness of major powers to bolster the region's balance of force will generate greater turbulence across North Africa and the Middle East as unresolved religious, sectarian, and ethnic tensions threaten more unrest. The lack of a viable regional security framework, continuing protests, autocracies at risk, and enormous challenges facing newly democratic regimes will add to the potential turmoil. As this dynamic plays out in Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain, regional heavyweights -- Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey -- will generate friction as they vie for proxy influence." (ForeignPolicy)

"If you were watching C-SPAN last night for the Iowa caucuses, as you should have been, but likely were not, you missed a very brief appearance by an American hero. I can't yet find video of it, and it seems it was only noted by a friend and by one lone Livejournaler, but in essence, some punky-looking kiddo got the microphone at a caucus meeting and made a plea for Newt Gingrich: 'Even though he has been married three times, he is a strong defender of marriage. He still stays in touch with most of his kids.' Ha! Then he got booed loudly by the caucus and stormed off, yelling 'I don't have to take this anymore!' And then C-SPAN cut immediately back to the boring stuff." (ChoireSicha)

"At a dim Park Slope bar named for a neighborhood in Paris, George Gurley took a pad of Post-Its out of his breast pocket. In a tiny hand, he had written a to-do list of tasks on the scale of buying paper towels, returning a Netflix disk and exercising. That one was circled. 'Sometimes I do things just to write them down and cross them off,' Mr. Gurley said of the daily ritual. He crossed off 'exercise' with a red felt tip pen. 'It’s very satisfying.' Satisfaction is not a sentiment one expects from Mr. Gurley, a journalist and writer whose personal columns (published in this paper) were animated by his impertinence, self-loathing, libido and exhibitionism. For more than a decade, these traits fueled all-night journalistic odysseys during which he sought satisfaction in debauched dens like Siberia or Bungalow 8 (whichever one he wasn’t already at). He played word association with Kate Moss and talked pansexuality with Liv Tyler. He got high with Hunter S. Thompson and was once called Ann Coulter’s handmaiden. He met everyone he ever wanted to, except Ken Kesey and Jerry Garcia. That version of Mr. Gurley had no business in Brooklyn, let alone Park Slope." (Observer)

"Spike Lee will throw a fund-raising dinner for President Obama in New York on Jan. 19, Page Six has learned. The film-maker, who has been both supportive and critical of Obama’s presidency, and wife TonyaLewis Lee will host the commander-in-chief at their Upper East Side brownstone with an intimate 6 p.m. reception for 60 guests paying $38,500 per head or $71,600 per couple, and have stipulated the event will be 'no more than six tables and 60 people.' It won’t be Obama’s only stop in the city that day. His fundraising will begin late afternoon at four-star restaurant Daniel on the Upper East Side for a discussion with leaders in the Jewish community organized by Dr. Daniel E. Fass and Alexandra Stanton, among others. Tickets cost $25,000 for an Obama-greet and photos or $5,000 for a regular ticket. Also at Daniel, scheduled for the same time, is a small cocktail reception with the president at $15,000 per ticket, including candid photos. Invitees can become hosts if they sell five tickets for $75,000. A source told us, 'Daniel has hosted so many fund-raisers for Obama, it has become New York’s official Democratic dining room.' The White House didn’t comment last night." (PageSix)

"A good time to run one of those wonderful obits from the Daily Telegraph in London. Today’s is about Maureen, the Countess Dudley who died this past November 16th. I knew Maureen and her husband Billy, the Earl – albeit casually -- having met them years ago during one of their frequent visits to New York. I never knew, until I read her obituary that in her younger years she had a career as an actress and a ballet dancer. Both she and her husband were very congenial company and she seemed to this American, more American in her self-presentation than a lot of her countrymen, especially those from the aristocracy. She was just open and friendly. Rather than titled and titular. Anytime we ran into each other, it was like running into an old friend. I knew nothing about their marriage also except that when they were together – at dinner, at a party – they were great company. In the social life that I cover, especially among the members of the 'elite,' especially those who regard themselves thusly, that is a distinct pleasure (versus a crashing bore). Now, having read this obituary, I realize that Maureen was at heart an actress, a performer, and the talent to amuse was always in her portfolio. Her husband, the Earl with close family ties to peerage extending back several centuries, seemed very much like his wife – friendly, outgoing, and kind (at least to those I saw around them). It was that quality that led me to believe they probably had a good marriage. It was a long one – they were married for fifty years at the time of Maureen’s death; and so it must be a great loss to her husband who turns 92 this week." (NYSocialDiary)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Even before the final results are known, there are more than a few indicators of how the evening will go on caucus night. Performance in key counties is revealing, and turnout, weather, and energy all play a role, too. As the evening progresses, there will also be signs of who has the endurance and support to go beyond Iowa once the voting is over — and who doesn’t. Below is POLITICO’s list of five things to watch on caucus night. 1) How high can Mitt go? This is the most important question of the evening, after months of a primary season that has been, in one way or another, all about Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor is, by all accounts, within striking distance of a win in Iowa. His crowds have been big and, just as important, energetic. Romney has seemed relaxed and confidence about his chances." (Politico)

"With the decline of America's global preeminence, weaker countries will be more susceptible to the assertive influence of major regional powers. India and China are rising, Russia is increasingly imperially minded, and the Middle East is growing ever more unstable. The potential for regional conflict in the absence of an internationally active America is real. Get ready for a global reality characterized by the survival of the strongest." (Zbigniew Brzeznski)

"I memorized close to 1,000 words—a word per kilometer—on how one can spot an Englishman in a European nightclub. (They scrutinize the bill and argue about it with the waiters, never have the right currency, wear thick tweeds that smell of horses and dogs, dance without rhythm, and scare the Arabs with their red complexions.) When I eventually got to London I rang The Spectator’s then-editor Alexander Chancellor and proposed the piece. For any of you unfamiliar with The Spectator, it is one of the English-speaking world’s oldest magazines, running close to 200 years and over nine thousand issues. Graham Greene has called it the world’s best written and most elegant weekly ... About 15 years ago, I wrote how Osama bin Laden, known as Harry Laden to his friends, was a very popular member of White’s Club, held court at the bar daily, and had been made a member by the Duke of Beaufort and Churchill’s grandson Nicholas Soames. Neither the Duke nor Soames, both good friends of mine, said a word. American newspapers went wild and Vanity Fair sent its best reporters to interview me. I had made the whole thing up but told them I was too scared to give any more details. After September 11, 2001, some Americans stopped speaking to me, calling me a traitor for fraternizing with a mass murderer. A member of White’s, insurance broker David Metcalfe, sued me because I had included him in my group with Harry. I had to give him an apology and took the opportunity to reveal that this story, too, was a hoax. The Spectator’s staff enjoyed it greatly despite the hate letters we received." (Takimag)

"Things I Hate: ... Arianna Huffington And Her Huffington Post. Shut the fuck up. You were a Republican and then you were a Democrat and now you're a classic American, only in it for the money. Your site is a worthless collection of headlines imploring us to click on non-stories. Once upon a time you had a chance to impact the debate, by being a clearinghouse for left wing news. Now you're just a rallying point for yourself. I wish they'd put a gag on you and get you to stop talking because what you say is only about yourself and is not worth listening to ... Ryan Seacrest. You're a perfect emblem of network television. Bland and playing to everyone. People who think you're a star have never used the Internet. Where having a personality and an edge is key to success ... The New York Times. Because you do such a shitty job of making people aware of what you do. You've got video stories better than most news organizations but you don't let anybody know and keep complaining that no one's buying your newspaper. Didn't Steve Jobs teach you that the Internet era is all about dominance? Stop fighting with one hand behind your back. Stop making your home page look like a newspaper. Start becoming the site for all news. Huffington Post's got the look but no content. You've got the content but no look ... President Obama. Because he refuses to lead. If he were the quarterback of a football team he'd ask the defense if they approved of his plays. Meanwhile, despite gaining a bit of a backbone recently it's still all about winning. You can whine all day about Congress or take your story to the public and change the debate. But that would involve risk, and you're risk averse." (Bob Lefsetz)

"In the latest issue of The New York Review of Books, Russell Baker, the distinguished former New York Times reporter and op-ed columnist, has a review of the new Leonardo diCaprio film directed by Clint Eastwood, “J. Edgar,” about the longtime legendary head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover. Baker in his review points out that the film goes easy on the founding Director who ruled fearsomely like a dictator over it from 1935 to his death in 1972. Most Americans, including children of that era, were very aware of his presence on the national scene, often seeing him speaking directly to the camera in movie newsreels. He was America’s Top Cop. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was his lair. He was assumed (by children at least) to be pure and perfect, and of course everyone believed it because that was The American Way for most of us. Those who thought otherwise kept their mouths shut for obvious reasons. After Hoover’s death, it came out that he had an active homosexual social life. This was the kind of secret he kept on others which would threaten and even destroy marriages, careers both professional and political and private lives. The irony still flattens some people’s disbelief." (NYSocialDiary)

"Harvey Weinstein was not going to miss the New York Giants’ victory over the Dallas Cowboys while spending New Year’s in St. Barts.The movie mogul rented French bistro Bagatelle in Gustavia, installed big TV screens, and threw a Caribbean viewing party for his famous friends vacationing on the island, including Martha Stewart, Wyclef Jean and Larry Gagosian. Others at the Jan. 1 bash, also arranged by the Cinema Society’s Andrew Saffir and Rachel Zoe’s husband, Rodger Berman, were Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, Vivi Nevo, Russell Simmons and Melissa George, Dasha Zhukova, Georgina Chapman, Brian Grazer and Brett Ratner." (PageSix)

"This is not just a list of media people we don't like. Nor is it just a list of media people who had a bad year. This is a list of media people who—abundant evidence shows—should not be in the media, any more. Give it up. Try something else. (We'll even make a suggestion.) You've given it a shot. It's not working any more. The media is not for you ... Barbara Walters You're too old, too rich, and too out of touch to come up with any stories that are actually worthwhile. That makes you the same as the vast majority of other network news stars. But you take much more objectionable vacations. Retirement is your calling now. Suggested new career: Party attendee. Piers Morgan Besides being a ruddy-faced shameless starfucker who is uninteresting except when you're trying to avoid jail time, you also should have been drummed out of journalism long ago for having the same ethical standards as... well, as a slimeball British tabloid editor, which you were. You, sir, are no Larry King. (Who was not a good journalist either.) Suggested new career: Twinkie filler ... Dave Zinczenko This guy is pretty much an actor who plays a 'magazine editor' on the Today Show, while talking about his abs and plagiarizing his own writers. Dave, are you really giving the readers of Men's Health the high level of journalistic dedication they've come to expect? As well as giving your abs the level of dedication they expect? Something's got to give. Suggested new career: Abercrombie &Fitch junior retail associate" (Gawker)

"Meanwhile, out there in the Great Big World (or the Big Bad World, depending on the view), down in St. Barth’s they were having their New Year’s Holiday celebrations -- a far cry from the pastoral East End Avenue ... Some of the hot spots of celebrity watching: Maya, Taiwana, Eden Rock, Bagatelle, PaCri, L’Esprit, Isola, Le Ti St. Barth, and The Yacht Club for late night. Some of the hot invites: Russell Simmons’ party at Eden Rock, Jimmy Buffett’s birthday at May’s, Brian Grazer’s Party at Do Bazil, and of course Roman Abramovich’s veddy exclusive (as these things go) party with a performance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Looking over those lists: The idea of Society today is authentically expressed in this group by one or two degrees of separation. It is neither familial, ancestral, financial, or meritorious. It is digital And always in process of change." (NYSocialDiary)

"Teach us things, Americans are saying. (Just don’t charge us, Americans are adding, though that’s a separate issue.) If school were free, three-quarters of us would resume our education. And that would appear to be a good thing. Only a third of us know, even approximately, the population of the United States; one in four put it at a (wildly overestimated) billion. And only 1 in 10 could place Christine Lagarde, the head of the I.M.F. (That’s twice as many as identified her as the 2011 Miss USA, at least. But still.) Even though knowledge is its own reward, according to our poll the upside of once again cracking a textbook doesn’t stop there. Anyone with children understands that it’s occasionally . . . inconvenient to divulge certain information about our lives pre-parenthood, and—lo and behold—Americans with higher education are less likely to offer up said information. (Whew!) Another perk: two-thirds of us think that parents who don’t vaccinate their kids aren’t very smart, a charge that would be harder to level at someone with all that extra education." (VanityFair)