Did you know that when the stock market goes down, media bosses get poorer like magic? It's true — and the fact that it's a totally obvious point doesn't make it any less fun!

The mayor of Paris actually doesn't care if Caroline Kennedy becomes a Senator, the Times has been forced to reveal. Also if you email them with a famous name they'll just print it.

There are so many gaudily fraudulent characters in the story of this country's mania for buying and selling homes — like Sam Leccima, the former Flip This House star who allegedly slapped "Sold" signs on unsold houses and didn't even have a real-estate license. A&E yanked his shows from the channel's lineup after charges that his house-flipping efforts were a hoax.

You may have been surprised to open the Times today to see a letter to the editor by the mayor of Paris harshing on Caroline Kennedy's bid to take over Hillary Clinton's seat in the Senate. Why would the mayor of Paris, like, you know, care? He doesn't: "Earlier this morning, we posted a letter that carried the name of Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor of Paris, sharply criticizing Caroline Kennedy. This letter was a fake. It should not have been published." In a related story, officials on the Caribbean island of Monserrat have no particular opinion on whether Hiram Monseratte should give up his State Senate seat. [NYT]

Two-and-a-half weeks until the end of Bill Kristol's New York Times contract! What's he up to? UGH.

• Conservative radio is expecting a big boost once Obama takes office. Also, Fred Thompson, not Rudy Giuliani, will take over Bill O'Reilly's slot. [NYT]
• Publishers don't seem to be very interested in Laura Bush's memoir. [NYer]
• After a three-day blackout, China has unblocked the Times' website. [NYT]
• Is Chris Matthews running for office or sticking with NBC? [THR]
• The AP's list of top 10 news stories of 2008. [AP]
• Politico's list of the top 10 media blunders of 2008. [Politico]
• A list of the biggest media losers of 2008. [Business Sheet]

Caroline Kennedy is seeking a senate seat with few qualifications. She's also close (maybe very close!) friends with the publisher of the Times. So we're keeping an eye on the paper's coverage.

So says Alessandra Stanley in today's Times. Instead we only care about Ponzi schemes, corporate looters, vapid rich wives and bribe-hungry politicians, because of the panic. Hahahahaha.

Don't even bother to leave a comment at the Times local news blog suggesting a sexy patrician affair between the Senator-to-be and the publisher of the Times.

Here is your flat-world global economy: Siemens, the German engineering conglomerate, just paid $1.6 billion in fees for all the bribery they've been up to since the end of World War II, back when they were Nazis.

China has apparently blocked access to nytimes.com, now that the Olympics are over and the government doesn't even have to pretend to be mildly less restrictive anymore.

Will the futurist gurus at the New York Times Op-Ed department ever stop blowing our minds? Their newest plan: launching an "Instant Op-Ed" section online. Fast access to opinions, online? Now we've heard everything.

Prospective senator Caroline Kennedy is "close friends" (ahem) with Times honcho Arthur Sulzberger, and has maybe been feeding the paper scoops, but apparently some Times writers are now trying to publish damaging dirt. Awkward!

Bill Kristol's very first New York Times column ran on January 7, 2008. It seems like only yesterday! Thankfully that means his contract is now just about up.

Caroline Kennedy, do you seriously want to be a Senator? Don't you know people are going to start asking uncomfortable questions about, say, your marriage?

Yes, People is a softball celebrity magazine. But editor Larry Hackett has been defending his publication as a deeply ethical, serious crown jewel in the Time Inc. empire, despite its obvious kowtowing to powerful subjects like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Who the hell is he kidding?

Look, a "note from Arthur." He probably wants to wish us merry Christmas, right? No, he is announcing that he will give none of you a raise in 2009.

Rich teens are turning into Dickensian paupers, announces the New York Times in what we truly hope is the absolute apotheosis of the the-rich-acting-poor story trend.

It's nothing new for the New York Times to coin annoying terms like "recessionista" to name the latest lifestyle trend. As a tipster points out, they were doing it back in 1872, too!

♦ David Pecker's AMI, the publisher of the Star and National Enquirer, has been near bankruptcy for months. Now it's one step closer. [NYP]
♦ The details of Judith Regan's settlement with News Corp. have been revealed: It cost the company $10.75 million to make her go away. [Bloomberg]
♦ Janet Robinson says there are no plans to sell the Times. [E&P]
♦ A brief explanation for why newspapers are so screwed right now. [NYT, AP]
♦ An increasingly desperate OK! has cut the price of the mag. [NYP]
♦ The reorganization of Random House will likely leave Sonny Mehta the big winner. [NYO]
♦ Les Moonves on the state of network TV: "The model ain't broke." [THR]
♦ Gus Van Sant's Milk was named by the New York Film Critics Circle as the best film of 2008. [THR]