The French CEO of huge ad conglomerate Publicis thinks Barack Obama's election shows America is smart again! Also, that all this economic trouble is the fault of shady corporate lies. But not advertising lies:

• Andrew Rayburn, the entrepreneur and founder of Big Game Capital, has put his three-bedroom pied-à-terre at 165 Charles Street (left) on the market for $8.45 million. [Cityfile, RTP]
• Andrew Cohen, a managing director at Dune Capital, and his wife Suzi paid $7.575 million for a fourth-floor, four-bedroom apartment at 1120 Park Avenue. [Cityfile]
• Art advisor Franck Giraud, who oversees GPS Partners with Philippe Segalot and Lionel Pissarro, paid $4.2 million for a 12th-floor apartment at 30 East 10th Street. [Cityfile]
• Coburn Packard, a former senior VP at Lehman Brothers, and his wife Carrie paid $3 million for an apartment at 101 Warren Street, the Tribeca building developed by Ed Minskoff. [Cityfile]

Christy Turlington celebrates her 40th today. Taye Diggs is turning 37. Kate Bosworth is turning 26. Former Times reporter Judy Miller is 61. Loews CEO Jim Tisch is 56. Restaurateur Michael Lomonaco is turning 54. Marshall Rose, real estate developer and husband of Candice Bergen, is 72. Actress Paz Vega is 32. Cuba Gooding Jr. is 41. Former House speaker Dennis Hastert is 67. And Michael Bloomberg's mother, Charlotte, celebrates 100 today. Weekend birthdays after the jump.

• Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson got into yet another public spat while heading home to LA after spending New Year's in Miami. Lindsay eventually got so upset a flight attendant suggested LiLo disembark. [TMZ]
• George Soros reportedly spent New Year's partying with "two young brunettes" on Paul Allen's yacht, Octopus, off St. Barts. Now at least we know where son Alex gets it from. [P6]
• Queen Latifah was robbed of $10,000 worth of jewelry while on vacation in Trinidad and Tobago over Christmas. [Us]
• Kathy Griffin made a dick joke during CNN's live NYE broadcast with Anderson Cooper. The video is here, in case you care. [NYP]

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For this, our final post of 2008, join Defamer in recalling the heroes, history and other Earth-shattering phenomena that raised the bar for years of pop culture to come.

New Year's Eve is one of the worst television days of the year: year-in-review montages, college football, competing countdown shows. This lack of thoughtful programming is as good a reason to drink as any.

As we wind down another year of mind-boggling Hollywood highs and lows, we thought we'd crack open the 2008 archives and bring you some of our personal favorites. Our choices after the jump:

Here is your year-end recap of "The Year in Politics," as half-remembered by a tired drunk, on New Year's Eve. We didn't make it a "list" or give it an "angle."

In Newbury, Vermont, nobody touches you. They're always behind this metal and glass. Matt Dillon thinks we miss that touch so much, he drove at an insane 106 mph before being busted by police yesterday.

We've had it with 2008. Let the change in calendar bring a new year with all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, and all boredom amused. We're taking tomorrow off. See you on Friday.

Former Gawker editor Choire Sicha is now—for New Year's Eve at least—MSNBC's expert on the Obama girls.

Just in case you haven't made plans for tonight and tomorrow, here are a bunch of places to eat, drink, party, and be merry. Or just stay at home, go to sleep early, and dream about a healthy and happy 2009.

Four months ago we suggested that Viggo Mortensen had three chances in 2008 to repeat as an Oscar nominee. As the last of those chances expires today, all we can say is, "Maybe next year?"

An affliction as unusual as Jeremy Piven's sushi poisoning demands a treatment that's equally unorthodox. And so it is that Piven has begun a rigorous medical trial to find models he wants to (therapeutically) bang.

Citigroup says it won't be paying year-end bonuses to Vikram Pandit, Bob Rubin or chairman Win Bischoff. But we imagine Pandit will still be in good spirits tonight when he celebrates the New Year, particularly since he has that string of lovely holiday lights that he didn't have to pay for. [Bloomberg]

A couple weeks ago, Post TV editor Adam Buckman was escorted out of the tab's offices and his computer seized. His abrupt departure hasn't been explained to the newsroom, but there's plenty of speculation.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé lounging aboard a yacht off St. Barts ... Lindsay Lohan hanging out on the beach in Miami ... Adrian Grenier swimming with dolphins in Australia ... Eddie Murphy strumming the guitar off the coast of St. Barts ... Gerard Butler out on the town in South Beach ... and Paris Hilton on Bondi Beach in Australia.

12/30 — Saw MEG RYAN at the Brentwood Country Mart today at lunch. She was eating with a nondescript couple at City Bakery. She is too skinny and looked mean. [Hollywood PrivacyWatch is written by and for Defamer readers; send your sightings to tips@defamer.com.]

As Jimmy Fallon hones his chops in a digital broom closet at NBC.com, he can take comfort in knowing at least one influential tastemaker is behind his late show efforts one hundred percent: