Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"The other day a bright young diplomat from China set me an examination question. My first thought was that it sprang from that admirable Chinese trait of searching out enduring patterns in the clatter and chaos of events. Then it struck me that anyone watching the train crashes on either side of the Atlantic should be asking something similar. The US faces an unsustainable debt burden alongside sustained political paralysis. Strategic decision-making is held hostage to ideological polarisation. Democrats and Republicans may well escape a calamitous default with an 11th-hour deal on the debt ceiling. But a sticking plaster will not bridge the rancorous divide over tax and spending that piles deficit on deficit. In Europe, the stakes have been higher still. The European Union’s core project, the single currency, has been buckling under the weight of sovereign debt and political discord. Solidarity has been lost to resurgent nationalisms. Germany’s Angela Merkel says that 60-odd years of European integration is under threat. Yet the leader of Europe’s most powerful nation has seemed frozen in the headlights of indecision. So here is the question: do these twin crises represent one of those damaging but short-lived spasms that have periodically disturbed the advance of the wealthy economies? A rerun of, say, the 1970s? Or are the shocks of an entirely different order – a harbinger of accelerating decline as the west surrenders two centuries of global hegemony?" (FT)

"The media industry used to be full of powerful families. London had the Rothermeres; Los Angeles had the Chandlers. The Hollywood studios began as family outfits. But a combination of regulation and technology has broken media monopolies. Beginning in 1948 America’s courts smashed the old, vertically integrated studios. The internet is undermining the dominance of mass media and handing power to start-ups, bloggers and companies like Google and Yahoo! for whom news is a peripheral business, not a consuming passion. Most of the families have sold up or stepped back from day-to-day management. At first some gave way to big characters who treated their businesses as fiefs. But these days the suits are firmly in control. Michael Eisner was pushed out of Disney in 2005, to be replaced by the quieter Bob Iger. Time Warner is run by Jeff Bewkes, a kind of anti-mogul who has streamlined the company. Viacom is controlled by the rarely seen Sumner Redstone, but run by a former corporate lawyer. Silvio Berlusconi is ailing politically and his media empire is under attack—by Sky Italia, a News Corporation outfit. Mr Murdoch inherited a newspaper business and boldly turned it into a multi-media empire. Arriving in Britain in the 1960s, he invented the modern tabloid newspaper—a stew of sexual titillation, moral outrage and political aggression. In America he broke the stranglehold of the three major broadcast TV networks. His Fox News Channel has enraged liberals—and piled up profits. The coups continue, but the judgment looks increasingly faulty." (TheEconomist)

"Fashion legend Arnold Scaasi and publishing insider Parker Ladd are tying the knot after 50 years together. They'll exchange vows next week before a judge and four guests followed by a 75-person bash at Le Cirque. We'd expect a baronial turnout for Ladd and the designer, who's dressed Barbara and Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Barbra Streisand and Lauren Bacall. Scaasi, 81, told us that Ladd, former Scribners editor and VP of Literacy Partners, will wear 'a navy blazer and white pants.'  He's still deciding whether he'll follow suit." (PageSix)

"Mayor Bloomberg is reported to have bought himself an estate in Southampton called Ballyshear for a reported price of $20 million – a drop in the bucket for him maybe – but something palatial in the traditional sense. While the media has broadcast the news with the statistics and details of the quite grand house (22,000 square feet, swimming pool, formal gardens, stables), there’s another element that may have been what really attracted our mayor to this property. It’s almost as if the builder’s legacy has been awaiting him. Ballyshear was completed in 1913, designed by architect Burrell Hoffman for a Wall Street tycoon named Charles B. Macdonald. The son of a Scottish immigrant and a Canadian who was part Indian and brought up in Chicago .." (NYSocialDiary)

"Early on in my career as a newspaper reporter in London, a grizzled newsroom veteran summoned me over to his desk for a stern talking to. 'Harnden, you're letting the side down,' he told me. 'You're bringing in all these stories but your expenses are pathetic. You need to start claiming some more.' Helpfully, he pulled open his desk drawer, which was stuffed full of blank taxi and restaurant receipts.Although it has been years since London's newspapers moved away from the famed Fleet Street -- where my newspaper, the Telegraph, had its own pub, the King and Keys, to which the news editor would run to get his sodden reporters if there was a story breaking -- its spirit lives on. The late Sunday Times foreign correspondent Nicholas Tomalin was right when he once observed that the attributes most required of a British 'hack' -- the term most of us still use to describe ourselves -- were 'rat-like cunning, a plausible manner and a little literary ability.' Whereas our American counterparts have long viewed themselves as comparable to lawyers and doctors, we British hacks still see ourselves as practitioners of a grubbing craft rather than members of an upstanding profession. (The public, which views us as on a par with real estate agents, prostitutes and perhaps even criminals, tends to agree.) As recently as the mid-1990s, it was standard practice for British reporters to spend three hours over a liquid lunch in the pub before returning to file their copy. Stories were sometimes pronounced 'too good to check.' When seeking an additional element of confirmation on one story, I was told that it was 'close enough for journalism' and that a bit of artful conjecture would do. An editor once dictated a quotation to me and then, winking, offered the opinion that he was sure my contacts were good enough to find someone to say it anonymously. My deadline was five minutes away." (ForeignPolicy)

"SINGAPORE has been able to punch above its own weight and have a vibrant economy because it has remained open to foreign talent to add to the pool which can be developed locally, Mr Lee Kuan Yew reiterated on Friday. Speaking at the closing session of the two-day South Asian Diaspora convention, he acknowledged that the influx of foreigners had been discomforting for some Singaporeans, but reminded that the alternative would be slower growth for the country. The former Prime Minister was responding to a question at a dialogue with more than 600 participants on how a fundamental tenet of Singapore's economic model - being open to foreign talent - also caused angst among Singaporeans and had been an issue at the recent General Election. Mr Lee made clear that he firmly believed that the more talent a society had, the better it will be able to grow. 'If Singapore depends on the talent it can produce out of three million people, it's not going to punch above its weight. It is because we've drawn talent from across the globe that we have a vibrant economy which is way beyond what three million Singaporeans and the talent they produce can do...'" (StraitsTimes)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"If you think the president's economic and technology advisers are confused, self-contradictory, and captives of a dying conventional wisdom, you are correct. The latest and greatest evidence of this is the Report to the President on Ensuring American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing just released by the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) and the President's Innovation and Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC). It is just a wonderful example of an elite group struggling to avoid the policy consequences of its own conclusions in order to conform to a deeply engrained conventional wisdom. The first part of the report is straight forward, honest, and devastating in its analysis and conclusions. It states unequivocally that U.S. manufacturing, which has been the world leader for a century, is in serious decline compared to the manufacturing of other advanced countries like Germany, Japan, and Switzerland whose wages and social expenditures are far above those of the United States. This is a direct contradiction of the claims of the U.S. community of professional economists and, more importantly, of the National Association of Manufacturers that U.S. manufacturing is holding its own and has never been better. In this regard, the report emphasizes that the decline of U.S. manufacturing is not limited to low tech manufacturing, but is also dangerously advanced in high tech manufacturing. It further states that innovation is closely tied to manufacturing capability and concludes that the United States cannot remain the global engine of innovation without maintaining a leading position in manufacturing. This is a direct contradiction of conventional U.S. economic doctrine that holds manufacturing to be unimportant for the U.S. economy in what it posits as the post-industrial services and high technology age." (ForeignPolicy)

"Speaking of the fix, I predict Murdoch will get off and will be allowed to purchase Sky, and everything will be hunky-dory once it blows over. Back in 1994, Sue Douglas and John Witherow hired me to write the 'Atticus' column for the Sunday Times. Witherow proposed 80K. 'I get 80 from the (London Spectator),' I told them. 'Cut the crap,' said Sue, 'the Spectator doesn’t pay you 80,000 pounds per annum.' The penny dropped and all I said was, 'Where’s the contract? I’ll sign anything.' The funny thing was that a week later at a New York party, the great Rupert himself came up to me and told me how happy he was 'that you were joining our family.' I was flattered until I heard him say to his wife Anna, whom I was seated next to at dinner, to be very careful about what she said in front of me. Couple of years later, at a New York bash, Rupert approached me and asked me to 'stir it up a bit'—namely, to go after Mort Zuckerman, owner of the New York Daily News, direct competitor to Rupert’s New York Post. Which I did, until I was told that Rupert had ordered the then-editor of the Post—I also had a column there—never to allow me to attack Zuckerman. Go figure!" (Takimag)
 

"Yesterday was Wednesday and Wednesday is the Michael’s lunch ... A lot of people were discussing Mr. Murdoch and his performance before Parliament the previous day. Remember, Mr. Murdoch to New Yorkers is a New Yorker. He and his wife Wendi Deng and their children, live at 834 Fifth Avenue in a huge triplex that he bought from the Laurance Rockefeller estate; and he owns the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal, both of which are very popular papers even with those who disagree or disregard their political slants ... The Murdochs have never made much of a social presence here although his influence (read: power) is recognized for what it is and respected. Part of that is probably the almost nomadic nature of their lives. If either one of them wanted to be a part of the social scene, it would be open to them. Like many of the older set here who wield great influence and in some cases tremendous financial power, they prefer a smaller coterie of influential friends and high level gossips. All of these people like gossip remember, often more than most, and the stuff they hear/exchange, the inside is often very high up and NEVER printed. A lot of it always has to do with sex, along with all the spice that accompanies in the culture of greed and venality." (NYSocialDiary)

"The oppressive heat didn’t keep the faithful away from Michael’s today. The joint was jumping with media mavens of every stripe, including one editor who is clearly having a moment (David Zinczenko), high-profile publishers (Connie Ann Phillips, Donna Lagani) and, of course, a boldfaced name (Melania Trump) thrown in the mix. It seemed as if all anyone wanted to talk about on (and off) the record was the imploding scandal surrounding Rupert Murdoch. Said one source close to the action, 'This could be bigger than anyone yet knows. Just wait if this thing hits New York. That would be major.' Uber agent and Londoner Ed Victor weighed in with this: 'I made a $100 bet with Alfred Taubman that by this time next year [Murdoch] won’t be CEO.' And why? The corporation has no choice but to 'throw him under the bus,' he said, adding that the televised hearings that have everyone riveted are 'a complete wash.'" (FishbowlNY)

"It's tough to avoid Justin Timberlake these days, and not just because he's neck-deep in an obligatory promotional blitz for his new movie, 'Friends With Benefits.' The singer/actor/'Saturday Night Live' guest star extraordinaire is also hamming it up in an extraordinarily unfunny spot for Capital One, 'I Love Sports.' Justin Timberlake in 'I Love Sports' It turns out funny or even watchable isn't a requirement for Mr. Timberlake, who dominated the Viral Chart last week with 2.7 million views, and crushing the very funny and totally watchable Kenny Powers (played by actor Danny McBride), who has supposedly just taken over as the MFCEO of K-Swiss. (Too bad Kenny couldn't just fire Mr. Timberlake, since he's so busy changing the sports world, as well as the 'world-world.') Mr. Timberlake is still as close as it comes to a sure thing in video -- and I'm not just talking about his 'SNL' digital shorts, including 'Dick in a Box' with Andy Samberg, which to date have earned more than 53 million views. He has never made an appearance on the viral chart before, but his 'The Celebrity Experts' series with Peyton Manning for Sony has earned more than 3 million views to date." (AdAge)

David Carr, Colbert on Rupert Murdoch

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Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"In the days of yore, this never would have happened to Rupert Murdoch. Men (and some women) owned newspapers and what we now call media outlets, for the power it delivered and the added bonus of keeping your name out of the papers. It’s still done; sort of. There were powerful press lords in England as well as America. Mr. Hearst was very powerful, and abusive with his power when it suited him. He could practically start a war if he felt like it, and sometimes he felt like it. Those were his good days. Bad days followed, as alas they always do, and there came a time when William Randolph Hearst was nearly bankrupt. Thankfully for all involved, he died, and his will and its executors performed a miracle and revived the empire that is today. Few media moguls have ever been put under the spotlight like the one on Mr. Murdoch. It used to be considered an unwritten law, steadfast, that media/press did not report on media/press. However, Rupert Murdoch in his stellar career became a man without peer." (NYSocialDiary)

"Dana Carvey had a character during his years on Saturday Night Live who was a crotchety old man complaining about how much better everything was "in my day," the imagined halcyon times of his past. After almost 42 years immersed in the politics of Congress, I have to check myself regularly to avoid falling into the same trap. When I came to Washington in 1969, for example, the city was riven with division and antagonism over the Vietnam War, which segued into the impeachment of a president, followed by many other difficult and contentious moments. In this case, though, Carvey's old man would be right: The hard reality is that for all their rancor, those times were more functional, or at least considerably less dysfunctional, than what we face with Congress today." (Norm Ornstein)

 

"It was big news last weekend when President Obama refused to let journalists into his private meeting with the Dalai Lama. The maneuver reflects increasing concerns in the U.S. that emphatic public support for the Tibetan leader will alienate Chinese officials, and in turn jeopardize our strategic interests in the world’s fastest growing economy. Like the president, a rising number of international billionaires have begun to worry that backing the Dalai Lama could pose a risk to their personal wealth by potentially limiting access to lucrative markets in China. Years ago, before surging Asian industry became a force impossible to ignore, such fears were remote, if they existed at all, for the American super-rich. But now that the seat of financial power has started shifting eastward, patronage of the Dalai Lama can come at a considerable cost. Not too long ago, a member of a prominent dynastic family I know was organizing a conference that included an official appearance by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. It turned out that one of the primary challenges of arranging the event was recruiting other affluent sponsors to lend their names to the cause. The conference facilitators told me privately that several distinguished billionaires had expressed their commitment to the ideals of the convention, but they had refused to participate openly. To make matters worse, a few of the individuals who did agree to bolster the program with the weight of their bold-faced names didn’t want to show up in person because of the potential backlash it might cause. It was a classic demonstration of wealth’s definitive triumph over traditional integrity ... Sadly, China’s increasing sway over our economy compromises the Dalai Lama’s ability to attract wealthy American patrons." (Jamie Johnson)
 

"Famous friend of Britain's Prince Andrew Kazakhstan-born beauty Goga Ashkenazi threw a wild party at her St. Tropez villa over the weekend, complete with a topless crasher. Wealthy businesswoman Ashkenazi hosted 350 for dinner, then added another 200 guests to join an after-party. Revelers included Joan Collins, Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman, Denise Rich, movie producer Lawrence Bender and model Victoria Silvstedt. Grace Jones performed in a black thong when a young woman, who guests described as a 'party crasher,' jumped onstage and ripped off her top to 'grind' with the rock goddess, before the intruder was 'escorted out by security,' a spy said." (PageSix)

 
"Six months after the NBC Universal-Comcast merger was completed, Ryan Seacrest, the reality king of the Comcast part of the company, is crossing over to the other side with a docu-series series for Bravo. Tentatively titled Shahs of Sunset, it follows a group of affluent young Persian-American friends who juggle their flamboyant, fast-paced L.A. lifestyles with the demands of their families and traditions. 'The series will offer rich characters and relatable storylines about everyday life -- love, work, friendship and family -- steeped in a diverse culture, which is wildly entertaining and fun,' Seacrest said. While they have a big presence in a number of areas of Southern California, including the San Fernando Valley, Orange Country and Los Angeles' Westwood area, the influx of affluent Persian-American families in Beverly Hills has been a phenomenon over the past decade. They are the dominant ethnic group at Beverly Hills High, something reflected in the new 90210 series, and recently got their first Mayor, Jimmy Delshad, who served 2 terms. On Bravo, the new series is expected to fit with the Real Housewives franchise and Million Dollar Listing."  (Deadline)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"July 11 was World Population Day, an annual occasion on which the United Nations reminds us all of the number of people on the planet -- now approaching 7 billion -- and the monumental challenges entailed in the task of caring for such an enormous human family. Among those challenges was 'ending poverty,' said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement, one whose resolution would "unleash ... vast human potential.' That's undoubtedly true -- were a world free of poverty more than an idle dream. And the good news is that perhaps it is. Poverty is, of course, a highly relative concept, but the usual definition of 'absolute' poverty is an income of less than $1.25 a day." (ForeignPolicy)

"At the Four Seasons restaurant, Peggy Siegal organized a Mandela Day, celebrating the 93rd birthday of Nelson Mandela (born July 18, 1918), and hosted by Dan Abrams, Ann Curry, Billie Jean King, Hoda Kotb, Natalie Morales, Robin Roberts, Al Roker, Brian Williams, with honored guest Morgan Freeman. Mr. Freeman has played Mr. Mandela in the Clint Eastwood directed 'Invictus,' with Matt Damon. Mr. Freeman lives in his native Mississippi. He is currently shooting a Rob Reiner directed film 'Summer at Dog Dave’s' over at Greenwood Lake in New Jersey, which is why he was available to speak at this luncheon ... Also among the guests in the Pool Room of the Four Seasons: Lori McCreary, Morgan Freeman’s production partner; Christiane Amanpour, Dari Alexander, Richard Belzer, Marisa Berenson, Tory Burch .." (NYSocialDiary)
 

"One of (House majority whip, Kevin McCarthy) morning cycling mates is Sean Duffy, a 39-year-old freshman and Tea Party sensation from Wisconsin who was once a county prosecutor and, before that, a professional lumberjack and star in MTV’s reality series 'The Real World.' Several of the freshmen live in their House offices so as to pronounce themselves detached from the culture of Washington. Duffy also does so because he has six young children and thousands of dollars of debt accumulated during the seven months he spent without a salary before being elected to Congress. McCarthy says that Duffy has more pressure on him than any other freshman. He arrived as the savant of the political season, a novice who forced the retirement of the 41-year Democratic incumbent and House Appropriations Committee chairman, David Obey. Within weeks of taking office, the Democratic attack ads began and now seem to accompany Duffy’s every vote. In June, Duffy became a 'patriot,' the National Republican Congressional Committee’s euphemism for its most vulnerable incumbents. His town-hall meetings have been edgy. His young family misses him while he spends weeknights on a cot in the Longworth building. After Duffy delivered a painfully unfunny speech at the annual Congressional Dinner in February, McCarthy consoled him by saying, 'I did really badly at that same event two years earlier.' Duffy had actually seen McCarthy’s speech on cable TV and thought it was pretty awesome." (NYTimes)

"The value of the Murdoch family’s shareholding in News Corp has fallen by $1bn since the political firestorm erupted over the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World. A 4.3 per cent slide in News Corp’s shares on Monday to $14.97 in New York left its market value down 17.4 per cent, or $8.3bn, since a July 4 report first revealed that the News of the World, the UK tabloid Sunday newspaper, had accessed and deleted voicemail messages left for Milly Dowler, a teenager found murdered in 2002. The share fall came as one person close to the board said directors were 'perfectly aligned' behind Rupert Murdoch, News Corp’s chairman and chief executive, and his son James as they braced for what looked likely to be a bruising appearance before a UK parliamentary committee on Tuesday." (FT)


The Senator from the great state of Massachusetts!

 "Elizabeth Warren for the first time Monday indicated she was considering a Senate bid against freshman lawmaker Scott Brown (R-Mass.) next year in what would become one of the closest-watched races of the 2012 cycle. If the architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) did decide to take on Brown, it would pit against one another two of the largest personalities to emerge on the Washington scene in recent years. In one corner would be Brown — the pickup-truck-driving Cosmo centerfold who shocked the political world when he won the seat held for decades by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D). In the other would be Warren, a liberal rock star, Harvard Law professor, Oklahoma grandmother and Wall Street critic extraordinaire.One indicator of how popular she is: If you typed 'Elizabeth' in Google’s search engine Monday, her name came up second — right after actress Elizabeth Taylor. 'It would be a marquee race of 2012, potentially second only to the presidential race,' said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal group that launched a draft-Warren movement on Monday." (TheHill)

Wendy Deng is Rupert's Shero!


rowwrr!!



Reliable Sources: On Hackgate

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"In the high-stakes Murdoch family sibling rivalry, daughter Elisabeth appears poised to emerge out of the News Corp. scandal with a net gain on embattled brother James: As soon as the scale of the News of the World scandal became apparent, she and (aptonym alert) half-sister Prudence called for Rebekah Brooks's swift resignation, while James and father Rupert searched for ways to protect Brooks. In hindsight, of course, Elisabeth's recommendation of quick and decisive action would have made for far better damage control, and so her prescient judgment has Murdoch watchers arguing that the Shine Limited CEO might be the best hope for a familial successor to Rupert. eanwhile, James, previous occupant of that role, whose decision-making has been cast in a far less flattering light throughout the affair, will reportedly be asked to step down as chairman of BSkyB. (BSkyB has issued a denial.) One British editor told Newsweek, ' think James is not in a good place.'Indeed." (NYMag)

"The news of the weekend and the world that was on the lips of everyone I talked to was about Rupert Murdoch and children, his editors, his minions and his news media. We are watching the great fall of man. For many years Mr. Murdoch possessed a fearsome political power through his enterprises, that was greater than any individual including those who run governments. Some might question the veracity of that statement. I have news for them: he obviously never questioned it, even in his advanced age and the experience of life ... Powerful press lords are not something new in our civilization. What is new, is the rush of technological developments of the past quarter century, and the speed with which it delivers the worldwide distribution of media fodder ... Do you realize that we now live in a world where almost every week, if not every day, we are exposed to news about some high-ranking, high-profile men and/or women who have been on the take, or hacking, or spying, or robbing, or murdering, and almost always stealing something from somebody. If they’re not politicians, they’re businessmen or bankers or investment advisers. It’s nothing new but it does seem epidemic." (NYSocialDiary)

"Supermodel Stephanie Seymour is back to her old habit of calling the cops when she's got problems with Peter Brant -- but this time it's about her son Peter Jr., not her paper magnate husband, Peter Sr. On July 4, Greenwich, Conn., police said, Seymour called them after having a dispute with 18-year-old Peter Jr., which Peter Sr. witnessed. Lt. Richard Cochran said that when police responded, they were told the mother and son had argued because 'the son was going to visit with the mom, and the mom canceled.' Cochran said: 'It was all civil in nature.'  Seymour's lawyer, Mark Sherman, said, 'No comment,' when asked about his client and her family. A spokeswoman for Brant declined to comment about the incident." (PageSix) 



"In Kabul, the hard-as-a-rock, 5-foot-9, 150-pound, -distance- running, push-up-pumping Petraeus has conducted the war from a rundown Edwardian villa, surrounded by a labyrinth of shipping containers piled into two-story blocks of offices and sleeping quarters, and all of it behind high walls, concertina wire, and a lot of firepower. An aide loaded down with three laptops follows him everywhere he goes: one laptop for unclassified emails, one for U.S. secret traffic, one for classified NATO/International Security Assistance Force material. In the colorless corridors of Langley, Va., he’ll be largely on his own. But Petraeus has been preparing a long time for this post. 'History will regard him as one of the nation’s great battle captains,' then–defense secretary Robert Gates said in 2008. 'He is the preeminent soldier-scholar-statesman of his generation.' Even then, Gates might well have added 'intelligence director.' Since at least the end of 2008, Petraeus has been a key figure in efforts to develop new approaches to covert warfare and take full advantage of real-time information on enemy movements captured by drone technology. The military’s Special Operations Forces and the CIA’s Special Activities Division carry out attacks with ever-higher levels of coordination and integration in Pakistan, in Yemen, in Somalia—and, indeed, in Afghanistan. The way Obama shuffled his cabinet recently (Gates, a former CIA director, has been replaced as defense secretary by outgoing CIA chief Leon Panetta) is testimony to the president’s faith in this approach, at least when it comes to fighting Al Qaeda and its spinoffs." (TheDailyBeast)

"John Kerry surprised a lot of people when he endorsed Barack Obama for president in early 2008. Kerry was a longtime friend of Obama’s chief rival, Hillary Clinton. He had served in the Senate for a quarter-century and had built a reputation as a cautious, incremental figure — like Clinton herself. But for Kerry the time had come for a decisive break with the past. 'I felt very strongly we needed a new narrative for the country,' he told me during a long conversation last fall. In fact, Kerry saw the world very much the way Obama did. As a candidate, Obama distinguished himself not only from George W. Bush but also from Clinton by advocating a new foreign policy of 'engagement.' He vowed that as president he would meet the leaders of Iran and Syria and other enemies without preconditions, which Clinton deemed 'naïve.' Kerry was already practicing engagement: as a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and a man who had come within a whisker of being elected president, Kerry had been meeting with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and forming close relationships with autocratic as well as democratic leaders around the world. When Obama won, Kerry dearly hoped to be named secretary of state, a job for which he felt supremely qualified. But Obama, to almost everyone’s surprise, picked Clinton instead. Kerry is enough of a creature of Washington to understand that no one has a lock on jobs like that, but the setback still stung." (NYTimesMag)

Colbert Report: Jose Antonio Vargas

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NPR's Weekend Edition: Foreign Policy Analyst Robin Wright on Syria Protests

If the tipping point in the individual Middle Eastern countries is about 100,000 street protesters, then Syria -- which reached over 1 million yesterday in their weekly friday protests -- is at critical mass. If Syria, perhaps the most brutal of the Middle Eastern tyrannies, were to veer democratic, it would put the revolution right on the doorstep of Iran. May we live in interesting times.

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"I was completely floored by the New York Times' pseudo-ironic take on the government's response to the financial crisis, a piece entitled 'You Try to Live on $500K in This Town.' This came at a time when President Obama was considering curtailing compensation for bailed-out bankers at $500,000. The piece was sort of meant to be taken half as a joke, but it is not hard to detect an element of demented earnestness in the fashion section article, an honest argument that with mortgages and private school tuition and co-op fees and taxes, it really was very hard for a certain kind of New Yorker to get by on half a million a year. The proposed salary cap -- remember, this cap was only going to be for banks that had fucked up badly enough to need a federal bailout -- became the cassus belli for a propaganda war launched from the general direction of Wall Street, where the notion that the government should restrict the salaries of exactly the irresponsible greedheads who caused a global financial crisis was met with blunt outrage ... Sirota's list highlights another bizarre aspect of the $500k story. During the debate over the proposed cap, one of the things we started to hear from the Antoinette class was a general sense of wonder at the notion that anyone considered them rich. It turns out that a great many of the people who make big six-figure incomes consider themselves middle class. A University of Chicago professor arguing against the repeal of the Bush tax cuts made waves by saying he was 'just getting by' with his $250,000 income, while ABC's Charlie Gibson and CNN reporter Kiran Chetry in recent years suggested that $200-$250,000 is middle class (Chetry's exact quote was that 'in some parts of the country,' $250K 'is middle class')." (Matt Taibbi)

"Today, global markets are discounting the risk that Washington politicos might just call everyone’s bluff and fail to reach a resolution before early August. Intrade, the online market where one can bet on events, does have a resolution before July 31 at just less than a 50 percent probability, but even that means that there is no 'wisdom of crowds' dictating a high risk of U.S. sovereign default. And as for the pricing of assets globally, there is absolute complacency. The signs of complacency are everywhere. U.S. bond yields are not rising sharply on concerns of default (they have in fact been going down this month), and spreads between short- and long-term bonds aren’t widening. Equity markets aren’t selling off as investors seek to raise cash and keep themselves inoculated. Investors aren’t dumping dollar-denominated assets; gold isn’t soaring; banks are not scurrying to raise capital or reserves to protect themselves against a possible global tidal wave of panic. European banks are raising capital because of concerns about Greek debt, Italian debt, Portuguese debt, but not as a precaution against U.S. default. It is hard to fully account for this complacency. It may be that for Wall Street and the financial community, the perils of default are so evident and unarguable that the idea that politicians might commit ritual group suicide is unthinkable. They must come to their senses in the end, right? To do otherwise would be madness, and while Washington is often touched, in the end, the political class can be counted on to do just enough to avert disaster. That is not a safe or prudent assumption." (TheDailyBeast)

"Wyclef Jean was in a rare state: nervous. He was trying to stick to his new role of wonky Haitian statesman, but the road kept distracting him. We were driving through Port-au-Prince as dusk fell, and he would interrupt his own discourse on trade rules or egg imports to ask the driver why a fire was burning on the roadside or to complain that our headlights were tempting danger or to mumble that the police escort, which he suspected of working for the opposition, shouldn’t sound its sirens.
It was three days before Haiti’s presidential election, on March 20. Jean, a Haitian-born rapper, producer and star of the now-disbanded Fugees, had mounted his own run for the presidency but was disqualified from the race because he lives in the United States. When I went to Haiti to meet him, he was stumping for Michel Martelly, a musician who goes by the stage name Sweet Micky, has a well-known history of public nudity and has admitted to using crack cocaine. Martelly might have been the candidate, but with Jean performing at many campaign stops and making the longer speeches, it often seemed as if he were the one running. Jean’s role was to revive the support he had garnered during his own campaign and transfer it to a candidate who was a somewhat less famous version of himself. (It worked. Martelly would be inaugurated as president of Haiti in May.)  Martelly sought the presidency; Jean, something more elusive. Before the 2010 earthquake and more loudly since, he has spoken of wanting to save Haiti from its miseries: crime, corruption, cholera, anemic job growth, swarming tent cities, fruitless aid and deep mistrust of the state. With his pal ascending to power and a whiff of hope in the air, Jean finally has his chance. At 41, he is striving to become a man of influence." (NYTimes)

"As a Warner Bros exec tells me, 'Unbelievable night!' Sources say Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 will fly past $95M in the U.S. and Canada today (including that record-setting $43.5M from midnight showings) and even has an outside chance of reaching $100M. ('That would be really hard....but a huge West Coast result could get us close.') No matter, it still crushes the record for best single-day box office. 'Almost impossible to say how big other than the biggest ever,' gushed a rival studio exec. The franchise finale is definitely on the way to the biggest 3-day weekend ever of $180M beating the other gold standard Dark Knight's $158.4M by a lot. And the good news just keeps coming. Part 2 scored an overall CinemaScore of 'A'. Overseas, the franchise finale brought in $82.5M cume from 43 countries for Wednesday and Thursday. That makes for a worldwide total take of at least $173M so far." (Deadline)

"How to explain the tissue shortage in Tribeca on Thursday night? The Cinema Society and Ivanka Trump Jewelry (along with Nicole Kidman, Diana Taylor, Deborah-Lee Jackman and Diane von Furstenberg) hosted a screening of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan at the Tribeca Grand, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. The indie flick (which opened today) is directed by The Joy Luck Club's Wayne Wang and produced by real-life friends Wendi Murdoch (Mrs. Rupert Murdoch herself) and Florence Sloan, and is based on the best-selling novel by Lisa See. It's a portrait of female friendship, unfolding across two generations. In 19th century China, seven-year-old girls Snow Flower and Lily are matched as 'old sames,' bound together for eternity. In a parallel story that takes places in present-day Shanghai, their descendants struggle to find the intimacy of their own childhood friendship despite demanding careers and love lives ... After the screening, guests headed to 14th Street to DvF's studio for—what else?—Chinese food. Mr.Chow catered a delicious meal of shrimp spring rolls, chicken satay, lobster tempura, and filet mignon. The room was transformed into an upscale Chinese restaurant, with lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a massive fan on the wall. Janssen, in "vintage" Rebecca Taylor, showed us pictures on her Blackberry of her upcoming role in Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters. Chiminazzo discussed Dolly Parton's massive popularity in Brazil, as the crowd witnessed Fran Lebowitz being put in the naughty chair by security for bringing a glass of water outside. (Arrest that man for not knowing he was in the midst of legend!)" (Fashionweekdaily)

"Meursault is a picturesque and prosperous village, at the heart of which is the gothic town hall with a multicolored enamel-tiled roof. Although some red wine is produced here, Meursault's renown is based on the quality of its whites, made from the Chardonnay grape. Thomas Jefferson was a fan of Meursault, and for many wine lovers Meursault is the quintessential white Burgundy, easy to pronounce and easy to love, generally fleshier and more friendly than the svelte, steely wines of Puligny. Whether or not the R&D people at General Mills were fans of Meursault, they seem to have mimicked its classic flavor profile when they came up with Honey Nut Cheerios. Hazelnut, in particular, seems to be a recurring tasting note. While there are no grand cru vineyards here, there are many fine premier crus, and the overall quality of its wines is probably better than that of Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet. But like Puligny and Chassagne—and like the town of Lago in 'High Plains Drifter'—Meursault has a dirty little secret. Its continued prosperity may depend on confronting that secret." (Jay McInerney)

"Online fame is becoming just another aspect of teenage life for a generation raised on reality television and the perpetual flurry of status updates that ping across their smartphones, tablets and computer screens.  Not only have sites like YouTube made it possible for numerous unknown adolescents to be discovered — Greyson Chance, a 13-year-old from Oklahoma, got a record deal after Ellen DeGeneres mentioned his YouTube piano version of Lady Gaga’s 'Paparazzi' on her talk show, for instance — but youngsters with no special talent, like Ms. Cinkle, are drawing mass followings as well. (The publicity wave that fueled Ms. Cinkle’s popularity was, in fact, driven overwhelmingly by viewers who hated the video she was performing in, routinely calling it 'the worst song ever' even as they watched and forwarded it en masse.)  Trevor Michaels, 12, better known as iTr3vor, has received more than 5.5 million views on his YouTube channel for hyperactive dance moves he performs at various Apple stores when his mother takes him shopping at the mall. (He uploads videos of the dances on the spot.)  Then there are the legions of girls who post 'haul' videos, short clips of themselves chattering about their most recent fashion and makeup purchases. The spots are unwatchable to most any adult, but they draw in hundreds of thousands of girls in their teens or younger who are eager to duplicate the shopping habits of their peers." (Style)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"It's been a big week for credit rating agencies in global politics. On Wednesday, July 13, rating service Moody's (you might remember them from the subprime mortgage crisis) announced that U.S. bonds are ripe for a possible downgrade from AAA status as the political deadlock in Washington continues over raising the debt ceiling -- which regulates how much the U.S. government can borrow. On Tuesday, the agency downgradedIrish bonds to 'junk' status. The country now joins Portugal, which was downgraded last week, and Greece as the European countries whose bonds are no longer considered investment grade. So what exactly determines these scores. The ratings are a measure of how risky an investment a country's bonds are; they range from AAA (highest) to C (lowest). A country with a credit rating of BBB or higher is considered 'investment grade;' below that is 'junk.'To determine the rating, the agencies look at two main factors: One is economic (the country's ability to pay off its debts), and one is political (whether the government is willing to). The economic criteria include the country's revenue, fiscal and monetary policies, budgetary flexibility, level of inflation, public debt burden, and economic track record. On these criteria, the United States certainly merits its AAA rating; it's more or less taken as a given in global finance that U.S. government bonds are among the safest investments. On the other side of the spectrum there's Greece, where public debt is expected to reach 161 percent of GDP next year, its membership in the eurozone precludes simply printing more money to pay off loans, and a default is now considered a realistic possibility. In the U.S. case, the threat of downgrade is due to political, not economic, reasons." (ForeignPolicy)

"IT’S the dining version of the scene where the Gale house judders down in Oz. Monochrome up until that point, the world is suddenly, gorgeously Technicolor once Dorothy opens the door. On any Friday night at Red Rooster, the crowd is likely to encompass not only elements of New York’s 'gorgeous mosaic' but also David Dinkins, the former mayor who coined the phrase. There, either at the 76-seat restaurant, the 24 seats at communal tables near the bar, the 20-seat bar itself or the 40-seat sidewalk cafe, neighborhood bankers rub elbows with Bill Clinton; Nora Ephron might be seated alongside Thelma Golden, the director of the Studio Museum; Alicia Keys is likely to be found in a corner with Ralph and Ricky Lauren at a table bracketing her left side and a group of local church ladies on her right.  That, in a sense, is a typical experience at Red Rooster, the door onto Harlem opened by the celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson at the end of last year. Smack on Lenox Avenue just north of 125th Street, and with glamorous neighbors like Marshalls, Staples and CVS, the place almost instantly became a destination not just for those seeking soul food cooked with a Swedish accent, but for people with an appetite for a dining experience reflective of the New York Grace Paley once lauded for its 'chromatic dispersion.' Very likely it was the latter that moved Barack Obama to choose Red Rooster as the spot for a $30,800-a-plate fund-raising dinner for the Democratic National Committee in March." (NyTimes)      

"My friend John Sutin, the world’s most generous man, could not believe his ears. Montenegro’s Tivat Airport would not allow him to land because more than 80 private jets had already booked parking spaces. So we landed in Dubrovnik instead. The Croatian airport welcomed us by rushing us through customs as if we were big shots rather than Nat Rothschild’s guests in neighboring Montenegro. A one-hour car trip saw us reach the Bay of Kotor, where the three-day-and-night bash to celebrate Nat’s 40th birthday was taking place. Montenegro’s crammed airport had me momentarily thinking of the notorious terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Had a modern Carlos the Jackal decided to strike in Porto Montenegro last weekend, the capitalist system would still exist, but with a hell of a dent in it ... I don’t remember much about the party except that I found myself next to one of the richest Russian oligarchs, Len Blavatnik ... Next evening everyone assembled right in front of Bushido and regaled me with compliments about her beauty. Nat and an assortment of other Rothschilds came onboard, and we had a quick cocktail party before walking across the palm-fringed promenade to Nat’s final evening shindig. There were yachts and private jets galore and some awfully leggy blondes." (Takimag)

"Warner Bros says the 2-day international cume for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is now $82.5M from 43 countries after earning $37.6M Thursday and $43.6M Wednesday. Combined with the North American market of a record-breaking $43.5M midnights, that's now a $142.7M global cume. Another phenomenal day for the pic overseas where the 3D share of the box office is approximately 61%. IMAX also reported a record breaking opening for midnights of $2M on 274 domestic locations. Meanwhile, in Orlando last night, 3,000 audience members of the midnight film screening of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at AMC Universal Cineplex 20 with free passes to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and had the park all to themselves from 3 to 5 AM. Comparing same days and same foreign markets, Part 2 is 39% higher than Part 1. Highlights include Korea which opened to an enormous Won 3.3B ($3M) from 562 screens, including Wednesday previews; Argentina Ps 3.9M ($961K) from 253 screens / 3D share 43% for the biggest opening ever." (Deadline)

"Vanity Fair: I read you have a screenplay about baseball titled Winning that’s not produced yet? James Van der Beek: Correct, yeah. And I’ve got another project that I’m developing with Roger Avery and Bret Easton Ellis, actually. VF: Based on one of Ellis’s books? JvdB: No, it’s an original concept the three of us have come up with. You’re actually the first person I’ve told this to, but, yeah, that’s the project that I’ve got going as well. VF: Can you share the general concept? JvdB: I wouldn’t, just ’cause I’ve got two other people involved. Let’s just say that it’s definitely in Bret’s wheelhouse. It’s very modern, it’s very dark, very sick, and very funny." (VanityFair)

"Growing up in SoHo in the 1980′s and 90′s with your Spanish duke father and women’s rights activist mother may sound perfectly idyllic, but the occasionally acerbic actress Paz de la Huerta says otherwise in an interview in the New York Times Magazine that was published today. 'It was like a circus,' she tells writer Andrew Goldman. 'Larry Gagosian lived above us.' According to Ms. de la Huerta (who is continuing her role as Steve Buscemi’s girlfriend in the next season of HBO’s 'Boardwalk Empire'), the powerful art dealer was something less than an ideal neighbor at 421 West Broadway, across the street from one of legendary dealer Leo Castelli’s SoHo galleries. She continues: 'My mother was trying to raise two baby girls in a quiet atmosphere, while Larry would be having big parties with models, and his hot tub would leak into our apartment. It was the ’80s, you know. My father, who is a true character and had been in the French Foreign Legion, would go up there with a gaucho knife and confront him — ‘Ahhhhh, get your bath fixed!’" (Observer)

"Ryan Duffy, a host of MTV's 'The Vice Guide to Everything,'  is safe in Williamsburg after being held by Egyptian officials who feared the tattooed hipster was a spy this week. While shooting an upcoming Vice news series near the Suez Canal, Duffy's crew was captured by Egyptian military intelligence officers, a Vice source told us. After being quizzed for hours, Duffy and his team were turned over to the State Department and landed in New York Wednesday. 'The padded room, long interrogations, and [bleeping] in a hole were quite unpleasant,' Duffy told us, adding, 'The tea was actually quite nice'." (PageSix)

"We all know that the rich and powerful are seldom held accountable. Take, for example, the recent case of Albert II, the Prince of Monaco, and his new wife, Charlene Wittstock. Rumors that Charlene was first kidnapped, drugged, and then forced to abide by the agreement she had signed with the Principality of Monaco—or else—went almost entirely unnoticed by the media once the runaway bride had been brought back to the palace and was allegedly sedated heavily. Her father was also reportedly held hostage and threatened unless he played ball and helped palace courtiers convince Charlene to stay put. 'Strauss-Kahn seems to think anything goes because his patrician standing renders him untouchable. Prince Albert, ditto.' I have known the Monegasque royal family for more than thirty years. Some of my closest friends are just as close with Monaco’s ruling family, and unpleasant details have a tendency to slip out. From what I’ve been told, Albert is into rough sex with both men and women. Charlene is not, and the two have not been intimate in months. I’m told the deal is that she will one day produce an heir, and with a very generous allowance she will be allowed to return to South Africa away from the sweaty hell that is Monte Carlo. Money has allegedly already been paid upfront. The lack of intimacy between Albert and Charlene is neither here nor there. Albert is said to have already fathered two and perhaps as many as four children—all of them after a night of rough sex with multiple people of both sexes present. For Charlene to become pregnant will not raise eyebrows even among those in the know.  If what I’ve been told is true, what baffles me is how Monaco got away with it." (Takimag)

"What to do with a giant portrait of yourself by one of the most famous artists of the 20th century? That’s the question Vanity Fair special correspondent Bob Colacello found himself asking last fall. In 1980 Andy Warhol, his then boss at Interview magazine, had painted a 40-by-40-inch likeness of Colacello as a gift for brokering a commissioned sale, but after 30 years, Colacello was finding it “hard to live with.” With Warhol prices continually hitting new highs—and with a mortgage to pay off—the writer decided to put his portrait up for auction at Sotheby’s." (VanityFair)

Nine Great Film  Cameos As the old sayings: There are no small roles, only small actors. Here are ten smallish roles and, in reverse order, the actors who filled them in unforgettable ways: 9- Marshall McLuhan, Annie Hall. Media theorist Marshall McLuhan breaking through the fourth wall to correct a loudmouth Columbia media professor waiting to see a film is perhaps the most perfect “meta” cameo film moment of all time. "I speak Jive"   8- Barbara Billingsley, Airplane. How indie is Airplane? Novelist and public intellectual Gore Vidal said of the Zucker brothers by way of an endorsement, “they are superb--the Michelangelos of our culture. Watch ‘Airplane!’” That;s the sort of blurb that Vidal gives to people like Italo Calvino. An argument could be made that Airplane! though not contemporary to the artistic movement, adheres as much to the tenets of Surrealism as do the Marx Brothers comedies of the 1930s. More to the point: the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker helmed slapstick comedy featured an unforgettable cameo by America ’s most wholesome stay at home mother as a jive speaking translator. For even the most jaded movie aficionado there are few cinematic instances as surprising or as downright funny as seeing a multilingual June Cleaver telling an ailing African-American passenger, “jus' hang loose, blood. She gonna catch ya up on da' rebound on da' med side.” Billingsley, who died last October, lives forever.   gritty in the city 7- Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver. Martin Scorsese likes to put himself in cameos in his films, perhaps to add a bit of organicity to the process. Scorsese has cast himself in bit parts in Raging Bull and The King of Comedy. He even had been cast in a cameo in Akira Kurasawa’s Dreams. But Scorsese in Taxi Driver, as the seriously creepy cuckolded husband interacting with The profoundly gritty Robert DeNiro is true blue. The director confronting his alter ego here is just amazing.  My grandfather was a what?!   6- Christopher Walken, True Romance. The “Sicilians” scene in True Romance, you know the one I’m talking about. It’s the one where Walken and Hopper have a psychological chat with Walken to the improbable sounds of the “Flower Duet" from the opera Lakmé by Leo Delibes. Sick. Two stubborn and serious men engage in a little one-upmanship. Dennis Hopper is a dead man, but as a last gambit he gets inside the head of Walken’s gangster. Few actors could express so perfectly the mixture of intrigue, fury and amusement as Walken did when he threw off that false laughter listening to Hopper’s head game. Haunting. "It's time to play the music/ It's time to dim the lights"    5- Orson Welles, The Muppet Movie. It would be so much better if instead of remembering Orson Welles, who might be the greatest American director of them all, for the excesses at the end of his life, we remembered him for his films and for this wonderful light-hearted cameo. Welles gets big points for chucking his grave cinematic caution to the wind and playing Lew Lord, the head of World Wide Studios in the Muppet Movie, one of the high points of the 70s. 4- Sheryl Crow, The Minus Man. Felled by spiked Amaretto. In Minus Man, subdued serial killer Owen Wilson’s first victim is Casper , a defeated self-destructive junkie played masterfully by rock balladeer Sheryl Crow in her first film role. The subtle vulnerability that Crow expressed here with such little on screen time makes one wonder what she’d do with a starring role. 3- Stephen King, Creepshow. In The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill, Stephen King, one of the richest and most prolific writers in history, did some acting. In it he slowly morphed into a vegetable form of life -- not an easy task as a first role, to be sure. King, who has done more than a dozen cameos, didn’t write himself an Oscarowrthy part, but he is surprisingly competent in the role. King is hysterical as an intellectually challenged farmer that finds a meteorite. Who knew a guy with so much horror in his soul could play so funny on screen? 2 - Bill Murray, Zombieland. Cameos are most effective when they are utterly unexpected. This is one of those instances. The story behind Bill Murray’s brilliant cameo in Zombieland is almost as eccentric as the story itself. Murray, legendary for being hard to get a hold of, apparently reads scripts sent to him from a FedEx/Kinko’s in New York . After Woody Harrelson suggested Murray to take over a role originally meant for Patrick Swayze before he fell sick, the writers spend two hours writing a draft. Murray , at the FedEx Kinko’s, tweaked the script a bit, changing his role from one of the rotting to one of a human pretending to be a zombie. Bill Murray might be the coolest actor who doesn’t have an email. Guess who wasn't invited to Dinner?   1-Betty Buckley, Another Woman. Woody Allen’s Another Woman is a minor masterpiece that tends to get overshadowed when compared to the director’s more fully realized works of the same period. That having been said, no other cameo in all of Allen’s star-studded films jars the viewer as much as that of this one. One of the reasons this Another Woman is so worthy of a look at if you haven’t already is the pitch perfect, intense appearance of Betty Buckley as the discarded first wife who drops in the middle of a book party for her husband’s mistress as her former friends celebrate. “What would Emily Post say about a man committing adultery with a philosophy professor in a Holiday Inn while his wife is having her ovaries removed?" Excruciatingly brilliant, particularly when that line is delivered by Betty Buckley, an accomplished Broadway actress and singer best known for playing the sympathetic mother and wife Abby Bradford on Eight is Enough. My favorite cameo of all time.