MEDIA
• Don Imus on Tom Brokaw: “He is not the most courageous person I’ve ever met in my life. He’s not the guy I’d want to be in a foxhole with.” You see, Brokaw didn’t defend Imus when he was down-and-out because of the whole “nappy-headed-hos” incident. Resentment, now that takes courage! [NYP]
• Shocker: CNBC is actually scared shitless of Fox Business News. They’re now asking guests to choose sides, threatening to drop them if they dare to appear on Murdoch’s new down-home network. [Silicon Alley Insider]
• Veteran literary agent Lynn Nesbit wants a new publishing madman: “Even [former Simon & Schuster CEO] Dick Synder is a lot more colorful than [newly departed Simon & Schuster CEO] Jack Romanos, who is now gone. I mean, they had passion, they cared about literature. Even Dick, who’s not an intellectual. He cared. He was a madman … . Who is a madman now in publishing? … It was just different then.” Hi, Lynn, allow us to introduce you to our favorite publishing madwoman, Judith Regan. [Media Mob/NYO]
FINANCE
• Here’s how much James Cayne is concerned with Bear Stearns’s huge recent write-downs: He didn’t even take part in yesterday’s big conference call reporting the bank’s worst loss in history. Even John Mack at Morgan Stanley doesn’t have that kind of chutzpa. [MarketBeat/WSJ]
• The Times’s big lead looking back on recent firings in the mortgage meltdown: “Never in the history of Wall Street have so many who are so senior fallen so fast.” Really, never? Not even in, say, 1929, when financiers were literally jumping out of windows? Let’s keep a little perspective here — it’s not that bad, yet. [NYT]
• For those not keeping track at home: Goldman, Lehman, and Morgan have raised their bonuses — despite the latter’s massive losses — while Bear Stearns has been forced to cut bonuses across the board, even with the executive suite dropping their own bonuses altogether. [Bloomberg]
LAW
• Justice Thomas: ““There’s not much that entices about the job … . There’s no money in it, no privacy, no big houses, and from an ego standpoint, it does nothing for me … . I like sports. I like to drive a motor home.” Maybe if you tried participating, Clarence. [Law Blog/WSJ]
• Ho, ho, ho, will you be Santa’s general counsel? “Look at me, I’m Santa’s GC / Could I be in any better company? / Sure, the boss is kinda loud, and the staff a bit short / And you gotta hail a reindeer if you gotta go to court / But I’m certainly glad I signed up for this ride / ‘Cause it’s nice to be in house when it’s cold outside.” [Law Blog/WSJ]
• Sometimes, even lawyers can dress well! [Fashionista]
FASHION
• Vogue is — brace yourselves — updating a section! “Flash” is supposed to spontaneously dish on news and parties. A few months after they happened. [WWD]
• Trovata’s opening a pop-up shop in January. [Fashionista]
• Courtney Love is the new muse of Givenchy. We’ll take the holiday break to figure that one out. [BlueFly]
