Cheat Sheet

Tuesday’s move by the Federal Open Market Committee—to cut its target for the federal funds rate to the lowest on record, between zero and 0.25 percent, and leave it there for a while; and buy mortgage-related securities and possibly Treasuries—is a “formidable display of monetary aggression,” The Economist reports. Still, it’s not as dramatic as it seems: The rate cut will have “no measurable impact on the actual funds rate,” and the Fed had already said it would buy up billions in debt and consider Treasury purchases. Tuesday’s announcement, then, amounts to an “assurance of radicalism,” according to The Economist. It was enough to buoy Wall Street for a day; whether it will be enough is the big question.

Rahm Emanuel might be the President-elect’s right hand man, but Nancy Pelosi is the leader of the House and she’s not letting him forget it. The Speaker has laid down some ground rules what she expects from Obama, the biggie being no backdoor efforts around her and party leaders to cut deals with moderate Democrats. And just make sure that doesn’t happen, she wants to known when and why representatives of the White House have any contact with rank-and-file Democrats. Pelosi, who helped make Emanuel a national figure, is trying to avoid the situation Dennis Hastert found himself in during much of the Bush Administration.

On the heels of successful human face transplants in France and China, the Cleveland Clinic has performed the first such surgery in the United States. No juicy details here—doctors are probably trying to avoid a repeat of the rumors that surrounded the French face recipient, Isabelle Dinoire, who had been mauled by her dog after a reported sleeping pill overdose—but the Clinic will deliver more information at a press conference Wednesday. For now it will say only that 80 percent of the face and underlying tissue of an organ donor was transplanted two weeks ago on a “woman who was disfigured by traumatic injury.”

For anyone who has trawled through a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed or epically long magazine piece by Sean Penn and longed for a little Fast Times at Ridgemont High, George Packer’s latest blog post is a must-read. Using Penn’s December 15 Nation cover story on Venezuela and Cuba as a jumping-off point, Packer delivers a dead-on analysis of Penn’s skills as a thespian—and a journalist. “I saw Milk the other night and thought: this man is the greatest actor of his generation,” Packer writes. But he adds: “Penn’s moonlighting shows a kind of contempt for journalism, which turns out to be rather difficult to do well.”

With no resignation forthcoming from Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois House began an impeachment inquiry yesterday. A special panel is expected to hold hearings for a few weeks before making a recommendation on whether or not Blago deserves impeachment. The House did not strip Blago of his ability to appoint the next U.S. senator, much to the consternation of some Republicans, who accused the Democrats of trying to avoid a special election. As the Chicago Tribune notes, the governor was unmoved by all of this. He spent the day signing bills into law, “including one involving the horse-racing and casino industries that federal prosecutors allege Blagojevich was using to squeeze campaign contributions in exchange for his signature.”

After nearly three decades, police in Hollywood, Florida have closed their investigation into the 1981 abduction and murder of 6-year-old Adam Walsh, son of America's Most Wanted host John Walsh. Authorities are naming Ottis Toole, a convicted pedophile who died in jail in 1996, as the killer. Toole twice confessed to the slaying only to deny his story later. Adam's disappearance inspired his father to advocate on behalf of missing children and start the America's Most Wanted TV show.

Confusing labels and three safety lapses are partially to blame for almost killing Dennis Quaid’s infant twins last year. The actor and his wife Kimberly have settled with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for $750,000, reports Los Angeles Times. Nurses gave his twins 1,000 times the proper dosage of the blood thinner heparin, leaving them in critical condition. Their lawsuit against the drug maker Baxter Healthcare Corp., which the couple claims is to blame for the confusing labeling and design of the vials, is ongoing. Since the incident, Quaid has become an advocate of health care reform and hospital and patient safety.

Would-be bombers who called in a threat to Paris police today wanted to attract attention, reports The Guardian, but didn't want to actually hurt anyone. Bombs fitted with sticks of dynamite were located in a Paris department store, but none were found to be armed with detonators. "As far as we know, these were not explosives intended to detonate," said Michèle Alliot-Marie, the French Minister of the Interior. "We are still pursuing our enquiries." The warning came from a previously unknown group, the Afghan Revolutionary Front, which called for withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan by February of next year. French President Nicholas Sarkozy is a staunch supporter of military involvement in Afghanistan. A poll taken yesterday indicated that the majority of French would like to see troops removed following the deaths of ten French soldiers in a Taliban ambush this week, the worst military setback for France in 25 years.

As others contract, the Walt Disney Company is expanding, launching a free-to-air Disney Channel in Russia next year. Western media companies have fought for years to enter the huge Russian market, which along with China is seen as crucial to growth; Disney will be the first US firm with a full-time branded TV channel in Russia. Disney will hold a 49 percent stake in a joint venture with the Russian broadcaster Media-One Holdings Limited, and the Russian channel will show Disney family programming and some original Russian content. It remains to be seen how Russians raised on such poetic cartoons as Hedgehog in the Fog will greet Hannah Montana and friends.

Carlos Villalon/Newsmakers/Getty

Semana has an interesting piece about how Colombia’s FARC, the 40-year-old guerrilla organization, had a miserable year. Most famously, there was "Operation Checkmate," in which former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and other hostages were freed in a daring rescue in July. Serious command, control, and loyalty problems with FARC were brought to light. And if that weren't enough, "Tirofijo" (Sureshot), the head of the organization, died in March of a heart attack. The news led many Colombians to think—and perhaps hope—that the group, once seen as unbeatable in the battlefield, could be dismantled.

Things keep getting worse in Mexico, where an American kidnapping expert has been kidnapped. Felix Batista, a hostage negotiator who has helped secure the release of scores of kidnapping victims in Latin America, was shoved into a white SUV outside the upscale El Principal restaurant in Saltillo, the capital of the border state Coahuila. The former U.S. Army Intelligence officer and consultant for Houston's ASI Global was in Saltillo, a relatively peaceful industrial city, to present lectures about kidnapping and its prevention. ASI Global President Charlie LeBlanc said Batista was in Mexico not for the company, but presenting lectures on his own. "We have notified the FBI and Mexican authorities, and they are working the case," LeBlanc said. He added that "ASI and Felix's family are working with friends and associates of Felix and the appropriate authorities to secure his release." Authorities would not say if a ransom demand had been made.

Anthony Pellicano, convicted earlier this year of running an illegal wiretapping operation for clients that included Hollywood celebrities, has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars. The sentence was 10 years longer than the Probation Department’s recommendation. Prosecutors said Pellicano, 64, “violated fundamental privacy rights of hundreds of people and chipped away at the integrity of public institutions,” and he “continues to show nothing but pride for the criminal enterprise he ran.” U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer agreed. She condemned Pellicano’s "reprehensible" conduct and called him a “high-priced thief.” She added, "He did this eagerly, sometimes maliciously, and with pride." Among the Hollywood private eye’s clients were Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson, and Chris Rock. His victims included Sylvester Stallone and Keith Carradine.

Where have all the fun drunks gone? In a lovely column, Susan Cheever recalls the guilty pleasure of watching dinner party guests get sloshed. "For us sober people there is a kind of drunkenfreude to watching others embarrass themselves, mangle their words and do things they will regret in the morning—if they even remember them in the morning." For Cheever, this kind of display also serves as a useful warning. "For me, the psychology is often in reverse. I learn from seeing what I don't want and avoiding it, rather than from seeing what I do want and aspiring to it." These days, she finds, partygoers in New York are a straight laced bunch. "Everyone comes on time, behaves well, drinks a little wine, eats a few tiny canapés, and leaves on time. They all still drink, but no one gets drunk anymore. Neither do they smoke. What on earth has happened?"

There's nothing like a little schadenfreude to cheer you and your shrinking bank account up in these tumultuous times. Silicon Alley Insider brings the goods with "The Biggest Losers: Tech Edition," a list of tech billionaires and the loads of cash they've recently lost. Google's Sergey Brin and Larry Page top the list with a staggering $12.1 billion in losses. Tech newbies aren't immune (Mark Zuckerberg has lost $3 billion), and neither are the veterans (Larry Ellison is down $6 billion). Even the one-time richest man in the world is down a cool $3.5 billion. No worries though, Bill Gates has still got $55.5 billion in his coffers.

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In what could be the biggest blow to the entertainment industry since last year's Writers Guild strike (which is still reverberating throughout Hollywood and affecting television and film slates), the Screen Actors Guild is threatening to strike over payment from Internet syndication. But never fear, A-list celebrities have stepped up to the plate. Yesterday, a crop of big-name stars (Clooney, Freeman, Theron, Hanks) published an open letter on the web denouncing the strike efforts. They noted the current economic climate and said the actors could get better terms in a few years. On the opposing side, Martin Scorsese and Mel Gibson came out in support of SAG and a fight. Prepare for Hollywood's fists to come out, just in time for Oscar season.

Over at Human Events, Pat Buchanan takes the GOP to task today about their treatment of the auto industry. "Is the Republican Party so fanatic in its ideology that, rather than sin against a commandment of Milton Friedman, it is willing to see America written forever out of this fantastic market, let millions of jobs vanish and write off the industrial Midwest?" Buchanan says he’s appalled at Southern politicians who helped engineer subsidies to foreign auto companies but now refuse to assist Detroit. "[W]hy this "Let-them-eat-cake!" coldness toward U.S. auto companies? General Motors employs more workers than all these foreign plants combined. And, unlike Mitsubishi, General Motors didn't bomb Pearl Harbor." Nothing like a little jingoism to rally the troops. 

The transcript of a phone call between an Indian TV anchor and one of the Mumbai attackers has emerged. After the anchor asks the man, identified as Imran Babar, why he doesn't surrender, the attacker rattles off a list of grievances: the 2002 riots in Gujarat that saw 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, killed; a 1992 demolition of a centuries-old Babri mosque by Hindu mobs; and Indian control of Kashmir. "Are you aware how many people have been killed in Kashmir? Are you aware how your army has killed Muslims?" the caller asked. "We die every day. It's better to win one day as a lion than die this way," he said. Though investigators have blamed Pakistan-based Lashkar-i-Taiba for the attacks, though a specific motive is still being pieced together.

Seems like everyone has been sitting down with George W. Bush these days. Real Clear Politics is the latest to land a face-to-face with the outgoing president, but rather than look back at his eight years in office, Bush spoke more about the future of the country, his party, and his family. On states like Virignia, that turned from red to blue: Republicans must "be able to take advantage of those shifts without changing philosophy." On immigration: "If you're labeled 'anti'-people as a party, you will lose votes. Parties have got to be positive. Parties have got to be hopeful places." And on the speculation that his brother Jeb may run for Senate in Florida: "He would be an awesome U.S. Senator."

Fast food chain Burger King is rolling out a new product, and it doesn’t involve stacks of patties and processed cheese. Last weekend, the company debuted a men’s body spray named “Flame.” The $4-a-bottle aroma is billed as “The scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.” Daring men can purchase the fragrance at Rickey’s retailers in New York, or online at www.firemeetsdesire.com. How convenient—Christmas is just around the corner.