Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"The Libyan uprising has given French President Nicolas Sarkozy an opportunity he has long coveted: to lead a risky international mission that holds out promise of ultimate glory. For Gen. Charles de Gaulle, the founder of the Fifth Republic, the pursuit of what the French call la grandeur was the primary raison d'être of a head of state. His successors have by and large shared the general's view, tenaciously defending French national interests and independence. Sarkozy's idea of grandeur differs from de Gaulle's or Mitterrand's, however. The two former presidents saw themselves as students of history, men with long views of the national interest. Sarkozy is a creature of the moment who has always lived by the daily news cycle. Risk quickens his pulse and whets his appetite. He first came to prominence as mayor of the Paris suburb of Neuilly, when a madman with a bomb held a preschool classroom hostage. Sarkozy entered the room, talked the bomber into surrendering, and emerged to waiting cameras with a child in his arms. Crisis is his element. In the crisis that followed Russia's invasion of South Ossetia in 2008, for example, Sarkozy, who then occupied the rotating presidency of the European Union, inserted himself into the center of the conflict and, in a whirlwind of shuttle diplomacy, persuaded the Russians not to make good on their threat to overthrow the Georgian government. His penchant for taking risks has not always paid off, however." (ForeignPolicy)

"A couple of weeks ago there was a lot of talk around town about writer Michael Wolff’s 'nasty' piece in British GQ on Elaine Kaufman, the recently deceased owner of the legendary Elaine’s. Many were up in arms over Wolff’s characterization of Elaine as, among other things, a 'loud and stupid, uncomprehending woman,' 'grotesque, a freak show,' an 'odd amusement,' and 'gross' ... Elaine liked to be charmed just as much as the next person, but she had a bullshit-o-meter that was always working super-efficiently. Hers was a tough business for anyone and five times as tough for a woman alone. And she aced it. It wouldn’t have surprised her for one second to hear that Michael Wolff called her a bunch of names in the British GQ. It would have surprised her if he’d shown up at her joint some night after that. Although she knew damned well he wouldn’t have. She knew how to bully a bully. With her own two hands if need be. Elaine’s was full of writers because Elaine was one of those people who just loved writers. The way some people love painters or dancers or opera singers." (NYSocialDiary)

"In a few weeks, Warner Bros. will release the latest remake of Arthur, an outrageous comedy about an endearing drunk with piles of money and the audacity to spend it. The appeal hinges on the notion that no real-life person could rival Arthur’s oddly charming extravagance. In fact, the movie’s tagline claims that Arthur is 'the world’s only lovable billionaire.' Maybe so, but here are five actual billionaires who have out-partied Arthur ... Malcolm Forbes ... Paul Allen ... Sean Parker ... Mikhail Prokhorov ... Mark Cuban." (Jamie Johnson/ VanityFair)

"What are the ethics, if there are any, of photographing a dead-drunk starlet? Try running that question by Larry Fink. A successful photographer of boxers, jazz musicians and the 1970s Studio 54 scene, he has had retrospectives at MoMA and the Whitney, and a breakthrough well into his career. In 1999, he was lured by Graydon Carter to photograph Vanity Fair's annual Oscar party. (He was put under contract to keep him from joining Tina Brown's Talk, he said.) He didn't know who anybody was, but that was to change. His high-contrast, brutally honest photos of celebrities like Anjelica Huston, Dennis Hopper and Adrien Brody, taken documentary style with a hand-held flash, have became well known. Touring the Park Avenue Armory last weekend, where he spoke at the Aipad Photography Fair, he talked to The Observer about politics, celebrity, and about becoming, as he calls himself, Hollywood's 'court jester.'"( Observer)

"Howard said he was reading an interview that Paris Hilton did with Neil Strauss at 18 and in the article she was talking about how she got implants at 14 and her mother made her get them removed. He said this was pretty shocking stuff. She talked about some other wild stuff in that article. At one point she said she can't stand black guys and she's grossed out by them. Howard said someone told him that she denied doing the interview. Robin asked why Neil would risk his career and write a fake article. Howard said he had two tape recorders rolling on him so maybe he has those tapes of Paris too. Howard said he'd love to hear those tapes. Howard said this world is fucked up. He said they treat Paris like a goddess." (Marksfriggin)

"Tavi Gevinson just finished a plate of spaghetti with her parents at home in the leafy Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Ill., on Monday night when the 14-year-old blogger got on the phone to talk about the Web site and magazine she’s launching with Jane Pratt. Gevinson said the project started when she got an e-mail from the former Sassy and Jane editor in chief after she posted photographs from Sassy on her blog, Style Rookie, 11 months ago. 'I had been talking about this magazine that I wanted to start, and she told me that she was starting this Web site and that the magazine could be kind of a branch under the JanePratt.com umbrella for teenaged people — girls,' Gevinson said. “It was kind of perfect.' And, like that, the young fan became a business partner. 'It’s obviously such an honor to work with her,' said Gevinson of Pratt. 'When we actually sit down and discuss the projects and everything, it doesn’t feel like she’s talking down to me or like I should be so honored to be working with her, even though I am. The moment we sit down and start sharing ideas, it becomes a partnership.' An intriguing one." (WWD)

"At Monday night's Asia Society benefit gala on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the likes of Dr. Henry Kissinger, honorary chair Renée Fleming, and Amy Fine Collins found themselves on the Silk Road, complete with sitar player, spice market, and platters of Indian delicacies. Naeem Khan, the evening's other honorary chair, contributed to the opulent decor by designing a dinner table, along with designers Waris Ahluwalia—whose fluorescent pyramid added a modern touch—Doo-Ri Chung, and John Hardy." (Style)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"If it were an easy decision, someone who wasn’t the president would have made it by now. But even by the standards of a tough call, President Obama’s military intervention in Libya is complicated by an unusually large number of cross-pressures. Many are international; some are domestic; some are institutional; others come from the internal script he’s written for his presidency. Two days after the airstrikes began, the president is being pulled in multiple different directions -- including the gravity of the course he’s laid out already. We’ll call them the 'Status Quo' option, the 'Withdraw/Admit Mistake option,' and the 'Third Way option.'" (Mark Ambinder)

"Forces from the United States and some European countries have intervened in Libya. Under U.N. authorization, they have imposed a no-fly zone in Libya, meaning they will shoot down any Libyan aircraft that attempts to fly within Libya. In addition, they have conducted attacks against aircraft on the ground, airfields, air defenses and the command, control and communication systems of the Libyan government, and French and U.S. aircraft have struck against Libyan armor and ground forces. There also are reports of European and Egyptian special operations forces deploying in eastern Libya, where the opposition to the government is centered, particularly around the city of Benghazi. In effect, the intervention of this alliance has been against the government of Moammar Gadhafi, and by extension, in favor of his opponents in the east. The alliance’s full intention is not clear, nor is it clear that the allies are of one mind. The U.N. Security Council resolution clearly authorizes the imposition of a no-fly zone. By extension, this logically authorizes strikes against airfields and related targets. Very broadly, it also defines the mission of the intervention as protecting civilian lives. As such, it does not specifically prohibit the presence of ground forces, though it does clearly state that no 'foreign occupation force' shall be permitted on Libyan soil. It can be assumed they intended that forces could intervene in Libya but could not remain in Libya after the intervention. What this means in practice is less than clear. There is no question that the intervention is designed to protect Gadhafi’s enemies from his forces. Gadhafi had threatened to attack 'without mercy' and had mounted a sustained eastward assault that the rebels proved incapable of slowing. Before the intervention, the vanguard of his forces was on the doorstep of Benghazi. The protection of the eastern rebels from Gadhafi’s vengeance coupled with attacks on facilities under Gadhafi’s control logically leads to the conclusion that the alliance wants regime change, that it wants to replace the Gadhafi government with one led by the rebels." (STRATFOR)

"Last Wednesday I spoke at an event at Hofstra University, on the subject of 'Barack Obama's Foreign Policy.' The other panelists were former DNC chair and 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean and longtime Republican campaign guru Ed Rollins. The organizers at Hofstra were efficient and friendly, the audience asked good questions, and I thought both Dean and Rollins were gracious and insightful in their comments. All in all, it was a very successful session. During the Q & A, I talked about the narrowness of foreign policy debate in Washington and the close political kinship between the liberal interventionists of the Democratic Party and the neoconservatives that dominate the GOP. At one point, I said that 'liberal inteventionists are just ‘kinder, gentler' neocons, and neocons are just liberal interventionsts on steroids.' Dean challenged me rather forcefully on this point, declaring that there was simply no similarity whatsoever between a smart and sensible person like U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and a 'crazy guy' like Paul Wolfowitz. (I didn't write down Dean's exact words, but I am certain that he portrayed Wolfowitz in more-or-less those terms). I responded by listing all the similarites between the two schools of thought, and the discussion went on from there. I mention this anecdote because I wonder what Dean would say now." (ForeignPolicy) 

"It’s Asia Week New York, (March 18th through March 26th). Last night, the Asia Society kicked off the great Arts and Cultural event with a festive (3rd annual) gala benefit, Celebration of Asia Week New York – a dinner dance at 583 Park Avenue, with Valerie Romanoff’s Starlight Orchestra providing the music to make you dance. The evening’s Chairs were Stephanie and John Foster and Lulu and Anthony Wang. The Fosters and the Wangs were consummate hosts. The magnificent Delano and Aldrich sanctuary with its all white interior and its magnificent, massive crystal chandelier hanging from its skylight rotunda, was bathed in reds and pinks. Honorary Chairs were the beautiful star of the Metropolitan Opera, Renée Fleming and the great fashion designer Naeem Khan." (NYSocialDiary)

"For 'Mad Men' fans, there's good news and bad news.The good news is, by multiple accounts, AMC, Lionsgate TV and series creator Matt Weiner are close to a deal that would carry the show through its sixth season. The bad news is, the show is not likely to make its usual mid-summer premiere berth for its upcoming fifth season because production is likely to start as much as six weeks later than it has in recent years. Negotiations among the key players have been on and off for months. With Weiner's deal to serve as exec producer and showrunner up at the end of last season, Lionsgate sought to make a new deal with AMC that would take the show through season six so it could then make a two-year pact with Weiner. Lionsgate's existing deal with AMC extends through season five." (Variety)

"After lavishing Kate Winslet with praise and noting how adorably 'edible' his tiniest cast member is, director Todd Haynes got emotional. 'This is a movie... about a mother,' Haynes said while introducing his new miniseries, Mildred Pierce (to debut on HBO March 27) at the Ziegfeld Theatre, 'and tonight isn't quite the same for me because my mom can't be here tonight.' Haynes' mother died unexpectedly during the production of the miniseries, which is based on the mother of all mother-daughter tales-the 1941 novel of the same title, featuring a pathetically self-sacrificing mother (Ms. Winslet) and her monstrously conceited bad-seed daughter, Veda (Evan Rachel Wood). Winslet elected herself a sort of hen-mother throughout the shoot-but no drama for her! 'You all want to enjoy your work and do the best job that you can and when the leading actor is being effervescent or positive I think it makes a big difference to the atmosphere.' Especially when the cast must endure Mildred's specialty: chicken and waffles. Ms. Wood was a fan: 'Hell, yeah! Roscoe's, absolutely!'" (Observer)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"The Libyan war has now begun. It pits a coalition of European powers plus the United States, a handful of Arab states and rebels in Libya against the Libyan government. The long-term goal, unspoken but well understood, is regime change — displacing the government of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and replacing it with a new regime built around the rebels. The mission is clearer than the strategy, and that strategy can't be figured out from the first moves. The strategy might be the imposition of a no-fly zone, the imposition of a no-fly zone and attacks against Libya's command-and-control centers, or these two plus direct ground attacks on Gadhafi's forces. These could also be combined with an invasion and occupation of Libya. The question, therefore, is not the mission but the strategy to be pursued. How far is the coalition, or at least some of its members, prepared to go to effect regime change and manage the consequences following regime change? How many resources are they prepared to provide and how long are they prepared to fight?" (STRATFOR)

"They're the sort of scores that drive high-school history teachers to drink. When NEWSWEEK recently asked 1,000 U.S. citizens to take America's official citizenship test, 29 percent couldn't name the vice president. Seventy-three percent couldn't correctly say why we fought the Cold War. Forty-four percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights. And 6 percent couldn't even circle Independence Day on a calendar. Don’t get us wrong: civic ignorance is nothing new. For as long as they've existed, Americans have been misunderstanding checks and balances and misidentifying their senators. And they've been lamenting the philistinism of their peers ever since pollsters started publishing these dispiriting surveys back in Harry Truman's day. (He was a president, by the way.) According to a study by Michael X. Delli Carpini, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, the yearly shifts in civic knowledge since World War II have averaged out to “slightly under 1 percent.' But the world has changed. And unfortunately, it's becoming more and more inhospitable to incurious know-nothings—like us. To appreciate the risks involved, it's important to understand where American ignorance comes from. In March 2009, the European Journal of Communication asked citizens of Britain, Denmark, Finland, and the U.S. to answer questions on international affairs. The Europeans clobbered us. Sixty-eight percent of Danes, 75 percent of Brits, and 76 percent of Finns could, for example, identify the Taliban, but only 58 percent of Americans managed to do the same—even though we've led the charge in Afghanistan." (TheDailyBeast)

"As the United States and allies began their airstrike against Libya over the weekend, several news outlets reported on the growing tension between Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was allegedly annoyed that the president had been taking so long to commit to a plan in Libya. 'Obviously, she's not happy with dealing with a president who can't decide if today is Tuesday or Wednesday, who can't make his mind up,' a friend of madame secretary told The Daily's Josh Hersh, whose delicious March 17 piece on Clinton's frustrations is a must-read. The source continued, 'And she doesn't have any power. She's trying to do what she can to keep things from imploding.' Clinton's allies in her push toward action in Libya were, among others, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and security adviser Samantha Power. According to this morning's Playbook, 'the front page of today's Times of London, [contains] the tease, 'The three women who persuaded the President to take action,' accompanied by photos of Clinton, Rice, and Power. As one might imagine, the indecisive president being prodded to attack Libya is a narrative the administration is eager to correct. 'Everyone moved toward the final decision based on the president's urging,' White House spokesman Tommy Vietor told Politico's Ben Smith." (VanityFair)

"Perspicacious and fashion conscious readers may have seen the April issue of Vogue, which features an excerpt ('Debt Becomes Her' ) from the about-to-be published memoir of a marriage, Innocent Spouse, (Crown Publishers), by none other than our own Washington Social Diarist Carol Joynt. I know the story but only vaguely, because in the time we've known each other she's rarely mentioned it. Carol and I met several years ago when she was still deep in the process of sorting out her life after her husband's sudden death. She was talking about writing a book then. The Vogue piece is the first I've seen. It's classic Carol, the reporter; she talks to you. It's in the bookstores May 10th." (NYSocialDiary)

"When Sen. John Thune and Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.) opted against 2012 presidential bids, that left just two potential candidates serving in Congress, Reps. Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann. While both are long shots to secure the GOP nomination, Paul and Bachmann have tea party cred that could come in handy should they give it a try. But the bench is deep when it comes to the No. 2 slot on the ticket to challenge President Barack Obama. These Members of Congress are likely to be on any nominee's longish short list for vice-presidential contenders come 2012. Here are a few pros and cons about each." (RollCall)

President Obama, Libya and the UN

President Barack Obama has been referred to, by sour neoconservatives, as another Jimmy Carter. That nonsensical smear began almost as soon as he took office. A more accurate perception of the Obama Presidency thus far I will argue is as a fulfillment of the first Bush Presidency -- George Bush the Elder, not George Bush the Younger (or, as I sometimes like to call that one, George Bush the Unwise).

President Barack Obama is unlike many card-carrying members of the Democratic Party establishment in that he is not of the liberal interventionist school of foreign policy. Instead, he is a political Realist, a philosophical reaction to his predecessor, with only faint hints of the good old liberal internationalist orthodoxy. The so-called "Smart Power." Previously, political realism was considered to be the province of moderate eastern Republicans, who had experience with managing power. Political realism, to be sure, isn't really so much a philosophy as it is an empirical science, a careful measurement of the achievable in the global theater. And so the mixture of just such as empirical approach -- often perceived as ideologically bloodless and cold by observers -- with some touches of classic liberal internationalism is attractive, rounding the edges, so to speak.

In an ideal world Obama, who has seen more of the Third World than most Presidents ever have or ever will, would be a liberal interventionist par excellence. His biography is pure unadulterated liberal internationalism, thoroughly organic to his nature. But we do not live in an ideal world; we live in the world bequeathed to us by President Bush, 43. The history of the United States foreign policy is, in many ways, a conversation of the philosophies of the Presidents. The international arena is, to borrow from the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, in pandemonium (and it has been so for some time, lacking the odd stability supplied by the bilateral relations of the Cold War. Since then, Tribal and inter-ethnic conflicts have plagued the world, and Bush ultimately proved to be more of a divider than a uniter.

But Bush, 41 -- also, like Obama, a realist -- took the lead from Gorbachev's far-ahead-of-its-time speech before the General Assembly in 1988, arguing for a new world order in 1990. It was an extraordinary event in that Gorbachev was essentially giving up on the Cold War, offering, in its place, a world governed by international law, in which "pacta sunt servanda" -- treaties between nation's would be recognized. Bush the Elder's so-called new world order came, organically, via Woodrow Wilson's dream of a post-World War I international order in which traditional great power politics would be transcended, with an emphasis on collective security, democracy, and self-determination. George Bush the Elder and his group of realists found an organic American solution to Gorbachev's post-Cold War planet.

Bush conjured this uniquely American vision from a position of strength --we had just won the Cold War -- and Obama does it from his mandate, presiding over a new, multi-polar world. And multipolarity, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is the new world order; multipolarity led by the moral vision of the United States.

America -- and let's be clear about this -- cannot afford to go at it alone in another unilateral war. Our massive debt, as Secretary of State Clinton told us last year, is an actual national security issue. That elementary fact has entirely eluded the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal -- allegedly the most fiscally responsible of American institutions. Then again, so polarized are they that they couldn't find anything to praise politically about Obama even if they tried. Even when Obama pays homage to those neocons -- like when he increased Afghan troop strength -- the President is met by deafening silence from the good old WSJ (Averted Gaze). While we cannot fight another land war in either Africa or Asia -- for further reference, see Secretary Gates' recent speech -- we can lead a coalition to help Libyan civilians from being slaughtered by that mad dog and his mercenaries. If Obama had listened to the impatient, infantile neoconniptions from the WSJ, we would be alone and in a Libyan tribal quagmire whereas now we have a mandate and global consensus and other billpayers on our side.

One of the more interesting stories that did not get any traction surrounding the no-fly zone imposed by the United Nations is that we now once again have a President that honors and uses that institution. "But one thing was made clear," says Colum Lynch in Foreign Policy. "The U.S. would use force to save lives in Libya only if it had the U.N. Security Council's imprimatur, and only if it had clear commitments that the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki moon and a coalition of countries, including the Arab League, would play a central role in the mission."

It was wise of the President to go through the United Nations, particularly after the Arab League -- an institution that rarely goes against one of its members -- rebuked Quaddafi. That may have been the "game changer" on the part of President Obama. There were also, the New York Times reminds us, three powerful forces -- Hillary Clinton, Samantha Power and Ambassador Susan Rice -- behind Obama's policy shift:

The shift in the administration’s position — from strong words against Libya to action — was forced largely by the events beyond its control: the crumbling of the uprising raised the prospect that Colonel Qaddafi would remain in power to kill “many thousands,” as Mr. Obama said at the White House on Friday.


The change became possible, though, only after Mrs. Clinton joined Samantha Power, a senior aide at the National Security Council, and Susan Rice, Mr. Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, who had been pressing the case for military action, according to senior administration officials speaking only on condition of anonymity. Ms. Power is a former journalist and human rights advocate; Ms. Rice was an Africa adviser to President Clinton when the United States failed to intervene to stop the Rwanda genocide, which Mr. Clinton has called his biggest regret.

Now, the three women were pushing for American intervention to stop a looming humanitarian catastrophe in Libya.

Interesting that women, who are nature's diplomats, had such a powerful role at this critical juncture in American foreign policy, in changing the president's mind.

That jocular, over-macho President Bush the Younger had no such respect for the United Nations -- except when it stopped the disastrous 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah War, where Israel lost the battle for public opinion and the terrorist group fought them to a sanguinary stalemate. Neocons like to laugh at the "ineffectiveness" of the United Nations, but that brutal six week conflict ended by Security Council resolution 1701. That has allowed Israel, which has never lost a war in the region, to regroup and re-examine what went wrong. It could have ended in a far more terrifying manner.

Post September 11, Bush the Younger veered deep into Id-territory. Then again, George Bush, 43, was too simple and one-dimensional a human personality to fully appreciate the larger meaning of the United Nations and what it could do if maneuvered and led by a respected and wise American President. One wonders what might have happened if Al Gore had been President and not that dunce. Alas. After all, as Daniel Patrick Moynihan reminded us in his magisterial "On the Law of Nations," the charter of the UN was constructed by British and American international lawyers and based on principles of democracy. From Robert Jewett:

When the cold war ended, we Americans found ourselves in an identity crisis. As James Wall noted recently ('Identity Crisis for Policymakers,' October 17) , having defined ourselves as militant anti-communists for so long, we don’t know how to conduct ourselves now that communism is no longer a threat. The invasion of Kuwait tempts us 'to define ourselves over against an enemy rather than by our ideals as a nation.'


However, policymakers do have a tradition to draw on when pondering an American response to the Mideast crisis: the law of nations. This idea, enshrined in our Constitution, was inspired by the Judeo-Christian vision of an impartial tribunal that would allow states to 'beat their swords into plowshares,' as Isaiah pictured it.

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s new book, On the Law of Nations, shows that such law was 'the first principle of the American legal system.' The Declaration of Independence referred to it as 'the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God'; the Constitution explicitly calls for it: 'The Congress shall have power. . . To define and punish . . . Offenses against the Law of Nations" (article I, section 8) The Supreme Court has declared that 'international law is part of our law," which supports Moynihan’s contention that it "is not higher law or better law; it is existing law." American leaders labored hard in the earlier part of this century to enshrine these principles in the Covenant of the League of Nations and the Charter of the United Nations.

This no-fly zone -- supported by the United Nations, NATO and the Arab League -- brings the international community back to the place of great global expectations, the precipice, the same place give or take a few decades to we were when Bush the Elder was about to embark on the first Persian Gulf War. From Bloomberg:

“American leadership is essential, but that does not mean acting alone, he said. The U.S. will provide its ‘'unique capabilities’ to the coalition, ‘including enabling our European allies and Arab partners to effectively enforce a no- fly zone.’

‘Our British and French allies and members of the Arab League have already committed to take a leadership role in the enforcement of this resolution,’ the president said.

The goal of the international action is to protect Libyan civilians, Obama said.
‘Left unchecked, we have every reason to believe that Qaddafi would commit atrocities against his people,’ he said.

That sound familiar? In conclusion, as I write this post, former Secretary of State Warren Christopher has died. From BusinessWeek:

Reticent and unwavering, Christopher refocused U.S. foreign policy on the Middle East during Clinton’s first term. With Richard Holbrooke, who died in December, Christopher brokered the 1995 Dayton agreement ending the war in Bosnia. He restored diplomatic relations with Vietnam and pushed for the expansion of NATO to include countries of central and Eastern Europe.

“Warren was a diplomat’s diplomat -- talented, dedicated and exceptionally wise,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement today.

The times in which we are now living will call for more diplomacy and less unilateral warring from the United States of America. May America summon diplomats that are a match for these troubling times.

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Last week I popped into the American Girl store in Manhattan, the giant consumer temple that sells wholesome 'all-American' dolls and clothes. As I queued to buy 6in replicas of a cheerleader costume and football suit, I could not help but chuckle: between the red, white and blue, there was a tag saying 'Made in China'. Those American Girls were not so 'American' after all. It is a telling metaphor for a much bigger economic, cultural and political dilemma stalking the western world. Over the past decade, a growing proportion of the manufacturing processes that used to occur in the US and western Europe have moved elsewhere. Last week, for example, the economics consultancy IHS Global Insight calculated that in 2010 China displaced America as the largest manufacturer in the world – the first time that the US has lost this top slot for 110 years. And the list of goods involved in this shift is growing longer by the day. According to a recent piece of analysis by Newsweek magazine, a host of seemingly American items are no longer produced in America, such as Barbie dolls, Hummers, gumball machines, Wurlitzer jukeboxes, Levi’s jeans and Converse All Star basketball boots. Even Spalding basketballs – the official ball of the NBA – are not truly 'American', since they are stitched offshore. Unsurprisingly, this makes many Americans very nervous. President Barack Obama likens the rise of China and other emerging markets to the Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik missile – an event so shocking that it should galvanise the nation. And when the IHS data emerged last week, Deborah Wince-Smith, president and CEO of the Council on Competitiveness, told my colleague Peter Marsh that the US 'should be worried' by China taking the top slot from the US." (Gillian Tett)

"Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi began to approach the eastern rebel capital of Benghazi on March 19, with the BBC reporting that loyalist armor already is inside the city, though this may have been only a reconnaissance element. Soon after these reports, word of impending international military operations against Gadhafi’s forces began to emerge, with French and Italian aircraft reportedly beginning to conduct combat air patrols. Though Gadhafi declared a unilateral cease-fire in response to the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) authorization of the use of force against Libya on March 17, it is becoming apparent that this was simply a stalling tactic in an attempt to consolidate gains ahead of airstrikes. The military incentive for Gadhafi is to reach Benghazi before any airstrikes begin. If a 'no-drive' zone between Ajdabiya and Benghazi were to come into effect, military vehicles and supply convoys would be vulnerable to any coalition aircraft orbiting overhead, making it far more difficult for Gadhafi to project force across the large open terrain that separates the two cities. (STRATFOR)

"The 2007 Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale is the first new release of this wine since the death of Elaine Kaufman, the legendary restaurateur, friend of writers, directors and cops, bane of tourists and foodies. I mention this fact because Elaine has been in the news again recently thanks to a scurrilous posthumous profile of her in British GQ by Michael Wolff and also because Elaine’s was the place I first made the acquaintance of Ruffino’s Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale. Along with Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio it was pretty much the house wine, although the old hands like Norman Mailer and George Plimpton drank Scotch throughout their meals. Tough guys and blue bloods didn’t drink Chianti, apparently, but many of us did, and the Riserva Ducale was always a good bet—and when a royalty check had come in, we’d splurge for the Riserva Ducale d’Oro, the gold label. The 2007 vintage of the Riserva Ducale, which follows the excellent ’06, marks the 80th anniversary of this wine, and it’s a fine example, approachable now, with that tart cherry fruit that characterizes Sangiovese, and a nice long finish. Tuscany’s been on a roll recently with a string of good vintages; as for Chianti, I’d also recommend the ’07 Felsina Chianti Classico and the ’07 Fontodi Chianti Classico. Any of these would be terrific with the veal chop at Elaine’s—always the insider’s pick. Obviously, they’d be good with any veal chop, and they have enough acidity to make a decent companion for tomato-based pasta sauces." (Jay McInerney)

"His arms folded like a nightclub bouncer’s, his eyes staring through you like twin barrels of dark matter, Henry Rollins looks as implacable as a hewn-rock statue graffiti-painted with tattoos—a solid hunk of muscle rooted to one spot, one role. But since squeezing a hand mike in a death grip as the lead singer of the West Coast punk band Black Flag, Rollins has revealed the versatile range of a Renaissance dharma bum; he has been an author, a spoken-word poet, a book publisher, a cable talk-show host, a blogger (at Vanity Fair’s Web site), a newspaper columnist, a radio D.J., a film actor (shoved through a sliding glass door in Heat), a TV actor (dying nobly in a toilet stall in Sons of Anarchy), and even a sitcom guest star—when we spoke, he had just shot an episode of Paul Reiser’s upcoming NBC series. 'I show up for almost anything thrown at me,' Rollins says, his receptivity and work ethic keeping him on the restless move, avoiding rust and stagnation. Between rent-paying stints, he’s a solitary traveler (you can always tell Americans overseas, he says—they clump together, forming a slow-moving huddle), his backpack stuffed with camera, laptop, peanut butter, and protein bars. His lone-wolf status enables him to explore the world along the fringes—'That’s where you get revelations, epiphanies.' Having turned 50 this February (which in punk years makes him a sequoia), Rollins will be performing at birthday bashes in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles, and creeping out ophidiophobes in a National Geographic Wild special on snakes and the freaks who dig ’em. Which should not be interpreted as a 'value judgment'—as the gospel of Henry teaches, we are all freaks, in our own freaky way." (VanityFair)

"This Sunday marks the series finale of 'Big Love,' HBO’s dramatic series about modern-day polygamy, which follows the travails of the Mormon patriarch Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and his three wives: first wife Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), second wife Nicki (Chloë Sevigny), and third wife Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin). Nancy Franklin reviewed the show in 2006. Sevigny began her career in 1994, with an appearance in a Sonic Youth video, and was then cast in the director Larry Clark’s film 'Kids.' Clark’s actors were all non-professionals, and Sevigny played Jennie, a teen-ager who’d recently lost her virginity and contracted H.I.V. Just prior to the release of 'Kids,' Jay McInerney wrote a Manhattan Diary about the nineteen-year-old Sevigny, in the issue of November 7, 1994." (NewYorker)

"If spring comes, can winter be far behind? We are just concluding one of those rare hours when history could be viewed with something other than contempt. The revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia introduced a new movement of freedom, and demolished the cultural pessimism that confined such longings to people like us. The revolt in Libya, also animated by a democratic aspiration, exposed not only the depravity of a dictator but also the cravenness with which he was received in the wood-paneled precincts of some of the immensely important people of Washington, New York, and Cambridge. For a few months, the world seemed righter. For a few months, there was nothing stupid about hope. But now the rotten old arrangements are pushing back. With the permission of the West, Qaddafi is crushing the rebels in the east, and his war against political liberalization has given heart to other satraps in the region. The Saudis, whose freak-out is one of the primary strategic facts about the Middle East, have sent troops to Bahrain, to protect the Sunni autocrats against the Shia populace, and also against Iranian intrigue. In Egypt, there are murmurs of Mubarakism without Mubarak, as the ecstasy of Tahrir Square is succeeded by the banal and benign authoritarianism of a military that wants both political reform and its economic privileges. A sense of possibility is giving way to a sense of actuality—to a restored appreciation of the tenacity of power." (Leon Wieseltier)

"Last night, I moderated a really fun and informative panel about the history of New York nightlife at the Museum of Arts and Design. On the panel were such formidable presences as Susanne Bartsch, Hattie Hathaway, Desi Monster, and Ladyfag, all ready to share their colorful stories of life after midnight to the crowd of cute looking clubbers. But the scheduled Michael Alig--still doing prison time for manslaughter--never materialized on the video screen via remote, as planned. As the event organizer explained, 'Michael got in trouble with the Department of Correctional Services for something and they cut off all his contact with the outside world until he has a hearing,' Oy. Not exactly surprising, right?" (Michael Musto)

"When I arrive at Barney Greengrass, the Upper West Side family delicatessen whose former owner Moe Greengrass was known as The Sturgeon King, there is no sign of Howard Schultz near the long counter of cured fish. I find him in the restaurant to the side, sitting at a Formica-topped, metal-legged table with Moe’s son Gary, who inherited the place ... As the founder and once more chief executive of Starbucks, 57-year-old Schultz oversees 17,000 coffee stores from Seattle to Shanghai. But he first came here with friends as a teenager, taking the subway from his home in Brooklyn ... We glance at the menu, a bafflingly long list of eggs and cured fish served in multiple combinations. 'It’s authentic food and it’s relaxed and I’ve known Gary for many years. It’s kind of an extension of your house, really. It reminds me of my mother’s food,' Schultz says. We talk about Brooklyn for a while, a borough whose reputation as a rough melting pot has changed in the past few years towards becoming a symbol of gentrification. I live in Park Slope, the epicentre of the shift. 'That’s not really Brooklyn,' Schultz says quickly. I mention another chief executive I’ve met who grew up in Bensonhurst. 'That’s Brooklyn,' he says approvingly. '" (FT)



"NOBODY calls me anymore — and that’s just fine. With the exception of immediate family members, who mostly phone to discuss medical symptoms and arrange child care, and the Roundabout Theater fund-raising team, which takes a diabolical delight in phoning me every few weeks at precisely the moment I am tucking in my children, people just don’t call. It’s at the point where when the phone does ring — and it’s not my mom, dad, husband or baby sitter — my first thought is: 'What’s happened? What’s wrong?' My second thought is: 'Isn’t it weird to just call like that? Out of the blue? With no e-mailed warning?' I don’t think it’s just me. Sure, teenagers gave up the phone call eons ago. But I’m a long way away from my teenage years, back when the key rite of passage was getting a phone in your bedroom or (cue Molly Ringwald gasp) a line of your own. In the last five years, full-fledged adults have seemingly given up the telephone — land line, mobile, voice mail and all. According to Nielsen Media, even on cellphones, voice spending has been trending downward, with text spending expected to surpass it within three years." (NYtimes)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Recent developments in Tunisia, Egypt, and increasingly throughout the rest of the Arab world have certainly been encouraging, and they raise the critical question of what happens next. How will these states be able to make the transition from the discredited authoritarian regimes of the old order to the new, democratic systems that people throughout the region are demanding? The problem is that authoritarian regimes, by definition, do not possess the mechanisms necessary for peaceful democratic transitions. There is generally no constitutional framework for genuine democracy, and political opinion has been repressed for so long that nobody really knows which group or party enjoys genuine support. The obvious solution is to hold an election -- but with which participants, on what basis, and within what constitutional framework? South Africa's constitutional negotiations in the early 1990s may provide an instructive example for these new democracies to study." (FW de Klerk)

"Inside the administration, senior officials were lined up on both sides. Pushing for military intervention was a group of NSC staffers including Samantha Power, NSC senior director for multilateral engagement; Gayle Smith, NSC senior director for global development; and Mike McFaul, NSC senior director for Russia, who has 30-plus-years of experience advocating for democracy and human rights. On the other side of the ledger were some Obama administration officials who were reportedly wary of the second- and third-degree effects of committing to a lengthy military mission in Libya. These officials included National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was also opposed to attacking Libya and had said as much in several public statements. Not all of these officials were in Tuesday night's meeting. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called into the meeting over the phone, a State Department official confirmed. She was traveling in the region to get a first-hand look at how the new U.S. Middle East strategy is being received across the Arab world. Denied a visit with Egyptian youth leaders on the same day she strolled through Tahir Square, Clinton may have been concerned that the United States was losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the Arab youth at the heart of the revolution." (ForeignPolicy)

"The old order has crumbled in the Middle East, and it will never be the same again. But what made it crumble? The experts who had been arguing that the youth in the region constituted a listless generation that did not care about freedom and democracy, that, if it was politically active at all, tended to follow the lead of the Islamists, have been proved wrong. It is the victory of youth, the generation that was believed to be lost, which, free of fear, overthrew corrupt dictators and brought about the revolution. Youth, said the philosopher Martin Buber in a speech in 1913, is the eternal chance (Glueckschance) mankind possesses. And it is of course true that older generations are usually much less willing to dare; they lack passion, idealism, enthusiasm. They see above all difficulties and dangers and the risks of change, in politics even more than in other human endeavors. They think of a hundred reasons why change for the better is dangerous if not impossible. Consequently, young people have always been in the forefront of the struggle for freedom and against tyranny. They have always been the pioneers of revolutions. When the French revolution broke out, Robespierre was 33, Saint Just, the fiercest of them, was 22, and Danton, considered an old man, was just 30. At the time of the Russian revolution of 1917, all the main actors were under 40—with the exception of Lenin who was in his forties and who was called therefore 'starik,' the old man." (Walter Laquer)



"Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said March 18 that Libya would positively respond to the U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a no-fly zone over Libya. The statement was soon followed by a declaration by Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa of an immediate unilateral cease-fire and halt to all military operations. Tripoli added that it was ready to open “all dialogue channels with everyone interested in the territorial unity of Libya,” that it wanted to protect Libyan civilians, and that it was inviting the international community to send government and nongovernmental organization representatives 'to check the facts on the ground by sending fact-finding missions so that they can take the right decision.' The Libyan declaration comes as members of the NATO military alliance were ramping up for airstrikes authorized by the United Nations against troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. French diplomatic sources have been quoted as saying airstrikes could start 'within hours.' Libya’s move potentially throws a wrench in plans to establish and enforce a no-fly zone — and take additional military action — against the Gadhafi government. France and the United Kingdom have led the international community in its push to intervene in Libya. Washington had signaled that it would let the European nations lead. Italy, formerly a strong Gadhafi supporter, announced March 18 that it would consider supplying aircraft to the intervention, as did Norway, Denmark and Belgium. By offering a cease-fire and inviting nongovernmental groups to conduct fact-finding missions, however, Gadhafi is betting that the European nations will lose the political justification for an attack and that political disagreements over military action within European nations can further weaken their already weak resolve." (STRATFOR)

"Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day in New York with temperatures touching 60. It was also St. Patrick's Day which meant the entire town north of 42nd Street and east of Sixth Avenue (essentially midtown) was just about impassable/impossible ... Down at Michael's, Keith Kelly of the New York Post gathered together his annual Kelly Gang – this year was number 7 which brought out a great crowd of Kellys including the Police Commissioner whose son, Greg Kelly, was honorary chair. It's kind of a cocktail reception, not to mention the irresistible Michael's hors d'oeuvres, but Keith Kelly has turned it into a fundraiser to help others. In fact, they've even incorporated. This year, the funds raised will go to Catholic Relief Services in Haiti and Tuesday's Children, which is a non-profit family service organization that has made a long-term commitment to every individual who was directly affected by the events of September 11th. Kelly Gang's board of founders are Christina Kelly, Editor/Writer; Ed Kelly, President/ CEO American Express Publishing; Jim Kelly, Contributing Editor of Vanity Fair; Kate Kelly Smith, Vice President and Publisher, House Beautiful; Keith – 'Media Ink' columnist for the Post; Kirk Kelly, Folksinger 'Paddy on the Railway'; Mike Kelly, CEO of the Weather Channel; Ray Kelly, NYPD Commissioner; Tom Kelly, writer/producer, CBS 'Blue Bloods,' and the late Michael Kelly. To date, The Kelly Gang has raised more than $300,000 for worthy causes, including the family of the late writer Michael Kelly." (NYSocialDiary)

"Paper co-founder Kim Hastreiter made her debut on the wheels of steel on Tuesday at Mr. Mickey's weekly Tuesday at SoHo Grand Party. Kim, OR DJ OMG, worked her magic spinning everything from Pink Martini to Celia Cruz to the O'Jays to Barry White. The kids couldn't get enough of it." (Papermag)

"President Obama came under new pressure Friday to broaden talks about government spending to include tax and entitlement reform. Sixty-four senators — 32 Democrats and 32 Republicans — called for the expanded talks in a letter to Obama. The letter was circulated by Sens. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who were able to get a supermajority of the Senate within 24 hours. It urges Obama to 'engage in a broader discussion about a comprehensive deficit-reduction package. Specifically, we hope that the discussion will include discretionary spending cuts, entitlement changes and tax reform,' the letter states. It endorses the report late last year from Obama's fiscal commission as a basis for the conversation. 'As you know, a bipartisan group of senators has been working to craft a comprehensive deficit reduction package based upon the recommendations of the Fiscal Commission,' the letter states. 'While we may not agree with every aspect of the Commission’s recommendations, we believe that its work represents an important foundation to achieve meaningful progress on our debt.' The letter does not specify what entitlements and tax reforms should be included in the talks." (TheHill)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"In contrast to its inept response to the upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt, Nicolas Sarkozy's government was out in front in its response to Libya -- condemning the Qaddafi regime, recognizing the rebel government, and pushing for a no-fly zone. The Qaddafis' response? We want our money back ... 'Saif al-Islam: 'Sarkozy must first give back the money he took from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We funded it and we have all the details and are ready to reveal everything. The first thing we want this clown to do is to give the money back to the Libyan people. He was given assistance so that he could help them. But he's disappointed us: give us back our money. We have all the bank details and documents for the transfer operations and we will make everything public soon.'" (ForeignPolicy)

"I had a luncheon appointment yesterday with a man who runs a hedge fund. He called me in the late morning to tell me that because of the tentativeness of the situation in Japan, he needed to stay in the office and monitor. Concern. Coincidentally a few minutes later I got an email from a longtime reader in the Pacific Northwest encouraging me to address the situation, that it was a moment in the lives of millions of people that was more important and crucial than any party I might cover or any public event/celebration that might crop up. I understood. Although what does one say when Mother Nature speaks. Remember the Earth, She is thy Mother. Honor thy Mother. And Father ... " (NYSocialDiary)

"On a recent Friday night, a 22-year-old in his first year of living in New York hosted a late get-together in his Little Italy apartment. Everyone there would call it a good party, but it decidedly lacked a climax. Until 10 in the morning, a dozen attractive men and women—day laborers in film, public relations, media, fashion—drank Peroni, smoked cigarettes and indulged in cocaine as someone with an iPhone 4 blasted songs through the speakers. A girl sitting next to a Harvard M.B.A. student looked through a coffee table book of Todd Selby’s photography. There was a conversation going on about Twitter—most of those present kept a vigorously updated account. Then came the sun—the traditional cue that one should choose a member of the opposite sex and set off for his or her apartment, to sleep together. Instead attendees departed alone. They peeled off instead of pairing up. No one at the party got laid that night and, even worse, no one gave a fuck. YOUNG NEW YORKERS no longer care about having sex. It’s not the endgame, nor even the animating force of social interaction. Men and women still get dressed up, but not for the purpose of taking off their clothes in another’s company. What used to signify desire or the desire to be desired now boils down to narcissism. How will I look on Patrick McMullan tomorrow? Or just on Facebook? The Observer spent a few weeks at parties and gatherings fraught with abstinence but slack of any sexual tension, and we heard a repeated sentiment, often delivered with uncharacteristic fervor: 'We are a self-obsessed generation.'" (Observer)

"South by Southwest begins in the security line of whatever airport you're flying out of; you can already tell who’s going to the festival, and why, and how they feel about it. There's live music on arrival in Austin, and the terminal is full of people with shaggy hair and skate shoes. By the time you're off to your hotel, you're hopelessly immersed. On one shuttle there's a couple rocker kids making a series of phone calls that sound like Entourage with all the Hollywood names switched to music-biz ones. ('What up, son? Please tell me you're in Texas and not L.A. You're killing me. My birthday falls on the 18th this year, we're gonna get rowdy.') They rapidly meet another guy with an upcoming birthday, who's here to take some meetings about his web startup. Almost everything I've read about SXSW this year — including this, from NPR's Ann Powers — revolves around anxiety and stress and the fear of missing out, the pure logistical pressure of picking a path through a ridiculously outsized mega-mega-festival that's basically like 50 regular-sized festivals all happening at the same time. The only person who seems undaunted by this is a critic who tells me he's a monster, that he would go to this every other week, if he could, and see sixteen bands a day while bashing out reports with his fists." (NYMag)

"I've got the end-of-season blues. I know I say this every year, but this has been a particularly fun winter, with friends throwing goodbye parties, dinners, and lunches since the beginning of March. My liver has done a Gaddafi and taken a brutal revenge on my body. The right ankle is doing a Saif as I write. If I stand on it—or, worse, try to walk—it feels what it's going to feel like when the ghastly Gaddafis get through with their opponents. I've had this lower leg problem for a year. About a month ago I couldn't stand it any longer and had an X-ray taken. The cartilage has done a Bin Laden and disappeared. Hence the pain as bone touched bone. I also have crystals—not the good kind, but those that form from congenital gout—and they are embedded where the cartilage once was. It was a very easy diagnosis to make. 'If you want less pain stop eating rich foods and stop drinking anything except water,' said the good Dr. Mueller. That was unacceptable, as my personality improves with drink, and at my advantaged age personality is all I have left ... Last week my friend John Sutin served the best wine ever at a great dinner party for Sean Connery and his wife. The next morning, desperate to get to the loo, I had to crawl on all fours as the ankle had erupted like Vesuvius. Sir Sean and Lady Connery were not only charming and gracious, they also revealed themselves to be longtime Spectator readers. 'Never go anywhere without it,' said the great man. He also told me a story about filming Dr. No. It started in Jamaica, and Noël Coward (who had a house on the island) approached him and asked him to dinner. Once at the famous house, Connery noticed there were only two placements for dinner." (Takimag)

"Tampa's Dominique Young Unique traipsed onstage at Spill last night with a gleaming smile, and right on time -- at 1 a.m. -- in the midst of an East 6th Street rampage that felt distinctly more like Mardi Gras in New Orleans than, say, a music festival. The 18-year-old rapper's headlining slot followed an infectious performance by Toronto's Diamond Rings, who borrows from the '80s as much as Dominique and her crew. Dominique specializes in witty, fast-paced rhymes about annoying girls and confusing relationships, and there's a little of M.I.A. in her style. Her backup comes in the form of two men who, last night and probably every other night, were dressed for a party thirty years ago, sporting t-shirts that said 'Hot Girl Young Unique' and 'FANTASTIC,' the latter decorated with a picture of a woman made with sequins, glitter, and possibly puff paint." (Papermag)



"Call off the coronation—the media's caught on to the slow motion implosion of Sarah Palin's popularity, and with it her prospective presidential campaign. A new Washington Post/ABC News poll found that Palin's approval ratings among Republicans had declined by double digits since October, while her 'strongly unfavorable' rating reached 17 percent among the GOP and 28 percent among Republican-leaning independents. This shift in the conservative populist tide provoked a series of memorable (and frankly enviable) headlines like 'The Incredible Shrinking Sarah Palin' from Politico and other outlets. But the real story is the continued erosion of support for Sarah Palin." (TheDailyBeast)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"The crisis Japan is managing at four of its nuclear reactors constitutes both a human tragedy and a national security nightmare. The security challenge flows from both the physical threat of a radioactive plume spreading over the countryside and the widespread human suffering caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami. The lack of energy supplies and rolling blackouts in Japan are disrupting industrial production across the country. Such physical challenges are triggering other psychological reactions that, though understandable, exacerbate the physical effects: the sell off of stocks in flagship companies such as Toyota, Honda, and Japan Electric, the resulting rise in the yen, and speculation about the future of other industries that might be affected. These consequences extend far beyond Japan itself. Experts question whether the future of nuclear power can ever be bright again, and what this might mean for plans to curb global warming. Suddenly, nuclear power does not seem as 'clean' as it once did. As the Japanese government seeks to manage the security implications of its catastrophic national disaster, officials should recall that secrecy can harm more than help. Some reports of workers exposed to 40 rem an hour at the Daiichi complex are frightening, given that 400 rem can be fatal. If such reports are true, why did the news take so long to come out?" (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

"A group of us hung out that winter and spring. There were rumors that John (Kennedy Jr) liked a girl at Spence, but when he was with us, he was alone—a follower, under the tutelage of the older boys. We went to parties en masse, to Sweet 16s at Doubles, and to Trader Vic’s on someone’s father’s charge. We tumbled out of the Plaza with gardenias from the Scorpion Bowls tucked in our hair and continued on to Malkan’s, the East Side kiddie bar before Dorrian’s caught on. We trolled Central Park at all hours, slipping through the Ramble, a wooded section where muggings and beatings were frequent. We felt safe those nights in the park, the Secret Service trailing behind us at a respectable distance. John’s mother insisted they be invisible, and they almost were. But we always knew they were there. They had our backs. Or, rather, John’s. And we’d wander off trails on moonless nights, clogs and sneakers stomping dead leaves. Invincible, 15, and jazzed by the spark of danger. After high school, John and I both ended up at Brown University, and theater became a bond between us. I went to see him in plays, and he came to see me. In the fall of 1981—my senior year and his junior year—we moved into a cream-colored row house with maroon trim partway up College Hill, on the corner of Benefit and Court Streets. We remained friends; he had a girlfriend and I had a boyfriend. After I graduated, I moved to New York to study acting at Juilliard, and in 1985, almost 10 years after the winter we had roamed the city streets as teenagers, we were cast in a play together at the Irish Arts Center. The play was called Winners, and we fell in love. The longest courtship ever, he said. We were together for the next five and a half years, as he studied law at N.Y.U. and began at the Manhattan D.A.’s office, and I performed in plays and acted in television and independent films." (Christina Haag/VanityFair)

"Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer performed a great service for American progressivism when they sought to rehabilitate American patriotism for the liberal left in their book The True Patriot. Their contribution to Democracy’s 'First Principles' symposium, 'The ‘More What, Less How’ Government,' [Issue #19] is also provocative and insightful, but they repeat too much of the discredited conventional wisdom of the neoliberal movement of the 1980s and ’90s. Liu and Hanauer are right to note that, while Tea Party conservatives offer 'little more than a reprise of unworkable ideas and worn rhetoric about ‘limited government,’ ' in reality 'there is not a single example to be found of a nation that practices ‘limited government’ and is wealthy, secure, and stable.' They are right as well when they complain that progressives are 'in a defensive crouch' and there is a need 'to articulate, during this time of flux, an affirmative progressive theory of government.' Their proposed alternative theory of government is the opposite of what they call the 'mushy amalgam' of the mid-twentieth century. In their account, the 'mushy amalgam' combines the conservative belief that the federal government should concentrate on providing a few basic public goods with the liberal belief that many, if not most, of those goods could be provided most cheaply and efficiently by direct, national government action. In place of 'the New Deal/Great Society template,' they propose a government that does more things—but does them indirectly. The 'more' category includes an expansion of the federal government’s role beyond providing basic goods, to projects like peacetime national service. They endorse Cass Sunstein’s proposal that 'choice architects' in the government should 'nudge' people toward doing the right thing in matters like diet or energy use, rather than relying on direct prohibitions or commands. While their ideal government would pursue a greater variety of social goals than midcentury New Deal government did, it would do so less directly on the national level, by privatizing and contracting out more government services, and by 'radical' relocalization of other public functions." (Michael Lind)

"Bill Clinton and Harvey Weinstein were locked in an intense discussion over lunch at Michael's yesterday. Sharing a table with Clinton's close aide, Doug Band, and the movie mogul's longtime friend, Nicolas Rachline, they dined on grilled branzino and shared a plate of fries. A source told us, 'Harvey has been friends with Clinton since 1992. Clinton told him, 'If you win the Best Picture Oscar, I'll buy you lunch,' so this was their celebration for 'The King's Speech.' ' Other spies said the two appeared to be in deep conversation, with Clinton doing most of the talking." (PageSix)

"How much does it take to feel wealthy these days? For many millionaires, it’s about $7.5 million, according to a survey by Fidelity Investments. 'Wealth is relative, and to some extent the more you have the more you realize how much more you need,' said Sanjiv Mirchandani, president of National Financial, a subsidiary of Boston-based Fidelity, that provides clearing and custody services to broker-dealers, in an interview before the survey’s release today. The more than 1,000 households surveyed had an average of $3.5 million in investable assets. About 42 percent said they don’t feel wealthy, saying they would need about $7.5 million to feel rich. The 58 percent of respondents who said they do feel wealthy were younger on average and have a greater number of remaining years in the workforce, said Mirchandani.  A 65-year-old millionaire is 'looking at potentially the loss of a paycheck as they retire, and 30 years in retirement, with inflation on the horizon,' said Mirchandani. 'So they kind of go Well, $3.5 million, $4 million, isn’t what I thought it would be. I’d like to have more. There are about 5.5 million U.S. households with at least $1 million in assets, or about 5 percent of the population. Millionaires control 56 percent of the country’s wealth, according to Fidelity, which is the second-largest U.S. mutual- fund company after Vanguard Group Inc. Household wealth was $56.8 trillion at the end of 2010, according to the Federal Reserve. The survey found millionaires’ outlook for the future is the most positive it’s been in at least four years." (Bloomberg)

"Observers of world affairs often speak of 'unimaginable' events, developments which like the end of the Cold War, the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, or the recent Arab revolutions prove stunning not so much because they are illogical but rather because they fall outside the normal range of experience and prediction. The surprise, in other words, arises from a failure of human imagination. Japan's recent disaster fits this pattern. In hindsight there was only a single "black swan" anomaly: the 9.0 earthquake. That such an event, once it had happened, would trigger an enormous tsunami was surely predictable, as was the impact on nuclear facilities that were designed to withstand only more limited shocks and the sickening human and social devastation that would ensue. The political, economic, and strategic implications of the continuing disaster are likewise more foreseeable than was the disaster itself." (Foreign Policy)

"President Obama has appeased elements of his liberal base in recent months by repealing the Pentagon’s 'Don’t ask, don’t tell' policy, reversing course on the Defense of Marriage Act and pursuing new gun-control measures. Since enduring a near-mutiny among his political base during the debate on the extension of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts late last year, the outrage from the left expressed in the last Congress has noticeably subsided. And it’s no accident. Obama advisers have stepped up their outreach to liberal activists, and the so-called 'professional left' that then-White House press secretary Robert Gibbs derided last year has been focusing more on potential GOP White House hopefuls. In 2010, there was a lot of chatter in Washington about Obama being challenged from the left in the Democratic presidential primary. But that, too, has dissipated as potential candidates, including ex-Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.) and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, have ruled out such a bid. The change in the political winds has been surprising, especially in the wake of historic GOP gains in the midterm elections. Many political pundits predicted that the rift between the left and Obama would intensify as he and his administration moved right, talking about reducing the deficit, extending the Afghanistan war and pursuing trade deals. But the exact opposite has happened, and Obama’s approval ratings — as well as his chances for winning reelection — have improved." (TheHill)

"Monday night was the SAB Winter Ball, last night was the Save Venice Un Ballo in Maschera (Masked Ball) in the Grand Ballroom at the Plaza ... Save Venice was started more than forty years ago by Bob and Bea Guthrie and a group of friends who love the city known as the jewel of the Adriatic, and wanted to help keep it, through ongoing restoration projects ... Aside from those pleasures, over that time, Save Venice has raised more than $20 million to restore more than 400 works of art and architecture in Venice. Every year, the Board of Save Venice, as well as a Projects Committee of renowned experts, selects restoration projects in collaboration with the Venetian Superintendencies of Monuments, Fine Arts and Museums. Save Venice currently has more than 30 projects underway throughout the city. This has been made possible with support from individuals, foundations, and Chapters in Boston and California. Last night’s grand Ballo In Maschera (A Celebration of Carnival and 40 years of restoring art in Venice) at the Plaza was a fund-raiser for these projects. The room, designed for the evening by Ron Wendt, was spectacular, immediately suggesting the other-worldliness of Venice and drawing you in to its opulence. Valentino and Bulgari supported it. It was their biggest ballo ever, and most successful (under the aegis of Save Venice’s new president Matthew White). Co-Chairs were Adelina Wong Ettelson, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Mary Kthryn Navab, Carlos Sousa and Matt White. International Co-Chairs were Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti and Nadia Swarovski. And Young Friends Co-Chairs Olivia Chantecaille, Amanda Hearst, Alexandra Lind Rose, and Luigi Tadini." (NYSocialDiary)