• As the news business reels — layoffs, papers for sale, Google Base, Judy Miller — j-students become even more characteristically naive and optimistic. [USAT]
• Jon Friedman thinks Adam Moss's New York can be one of the legendarily great magazines, like Gurley Brown's Cosmo, Ross and Shawn's New Yorkers, or Felker's New York. Moss's staffers, meantime, are all afraid they're going to be fired. [MW]
• This just in: Howie Kurtz has conflicting roles, covering media for both WP and CNN. As he has for years. [NYT]
• Times public editor Barney Calame's latest earth-shattering announcement: "Anonymous sourcing can be both a blessing and a curse for journalism." [NYT]
• Miller got axed and Woodward won't because Woodward's one of the cool kids and Miller isn't. Or something like that. [BG]
• On CNN, Maureen Dowd — did you know she wrote a book? — calls for more female columnists. [E&P]

In the latest edition of New York magazine's Look Book, we're introduced to 24-year-old Maame-Wansema, who moved here from Ghana eight years ago, when her father was a diplomat for the U.N. Dad's diplopower only got Maame so far, however: she's an aesthetic consultant for a cosmetic dentist. Maame likes to wear things that nobody else is wearing, so she shops at obscure boutiques like H&M, Banana Republic, Zara, and Daffy's. After the jump, Intern Alexis rounds up a sausage-heavy panel of Andrew Krucoff, Bucky Turco, and a man named Sac give their advice on Maame's unique style.

The Post carries word today that Ken Tucker, New York magazine's movie critic, is leaving to return from whence he came: Entertainment Weekly. We have no comment on that, except to note the disposition of four relatively prominent Adam Moss hires:

This week's edition of New York magazine's Look Book presents a problem: Sam Masters, at right, is but a wee lad, a high school junior at Browning. And yet? He deserves a firm smack for being a total Stroke-in-the-making. Masters is a David Bowie fan with a band called the Deadly Monks, he acts through the New York Film Academy and is drawn to Jude Law's role in Closer, his clothes are "funked" and tight, and his girlfriend Destine is everything he's ever wanted (because she, too, is a big Bowie fan). And even though he doesn't say so, you KNOW he spends his weekends skanking around Tompkins Square like he's the next LES Jewels. After the jump, Intern Alexis solicits insight from the Imaginary Socialite, Fiorella Valdesolo, and Alan Wilkis on where young Sam is headed in life.

• Eventually, something — a flu, a hurricane, our own government — will wipe out most of humanity. And, much to our surprise, that includes New York. [NYM]
• 50 Cent is man enough to cry. And to kill you for laughing at him about it. [Reuters]
• The dying New York Press attempts to revive itself via the modern media adrenaline shot known as a "blog." [Fifth Estate]
• Do we date too often? Too little? More importantly, do we think about this shit too much to ever get laid? [n+1]
• You know what suffix should be used more often? "-iggers." Not that we'd ever be caught saying "chiggers" aloud. [Fawny]
• A nice, Jewish lawyer needs someone to pretend to be his wife for a company function. And so a heart-warming romantic comedy begins. [Craigslist]
• The male nipple might be silly, but it sure does move copy! [Marketwatch]

We hate to do this, but yesterday's edition of our New York mag Look Book analysis has led a reader to engage in some dangerous sleuthing, resulting in the image at right: Look Book victim Michele Oka Doner, who, according to the Times, gold-tiled at the Herald Square subway stop and created the tiled floors at the Miami airport (thanks for filling us in there, New York). And, judging from this portrait, Ms. Doner will seduce the living daylights out of you, whether you like it or not.

This week's installment of New York mag's Look Book is particularly timely: They've found a ghost! Eek!

We were slowly reading New York mag's lengthy loveletter to Times columnist Maureen Dowd, but we got stuck on one item in particular, regarding her new book:

Remember back when Maureen Dowd was secretive and mysterious and didn't do interviews or sit for pictures?

Try not to look directly at the crotch of Gaby Basora, who is not a piece of meat. Rather, this week's Look Book victim in New York magazine is a stylist and editor-at-large at Violet magazine, which apparently has something to do with someone related to Charles Mingus. A reformed Cacharel shopper with an affinity for genderless colors and camel-friendly jumpsuits, Basora allows her children to dress in hip-hop clothing while she gallavants around art openings wearing vintage swimsuits over tights and boots. But really, who doesn't?! After the jump, Intern Alexis rounds up Josh Tager, Kerri Kolen, and Rhoda Rahaii for your weekly dose of sartorial sass.

This week's New York mag cover story is about how impossibly big your nest egg needs to be in order to comfortably retire; Time's cover story is about how the impossibility of a comfortable retirement.

The chart above comes courtesy of the evil souls at New York mag, who seem determined, week after week, to remind you of your place in Manhattan's social caste system. The latest attempt is a feature on your "New York Number," the amount you need stored up in order to gleefully quit your job or retire while maintaining your current lifestyle in The City. Complete with a handy quiz (like Seventeen for financial planners), you can determine the amount of your ideal nest egg and, most likely, kill yourself over the impossibility of ever living a life free of slave labor.

Isn't this week's featured face in New York mag's Look Book, Bethany Liebman, pretty? It doesn't matter whether you agree or not: Liebman knows she's pretty, which is why she doesn't have to wear a lot of makeup. Pity, seeing as she's a makeup artist at the Clinique counter, the fall-back of choice for struggling painters — such as herself — everywhere. No matter: the Clinique gig is just to hold Liebman over until she starts her clothing line for well-heeled toddlers. No, we're serious. After the jump, Intern Alexis rounds up Dawn Chan, Jason McIntyre, and Tiffanie Graham for a game of fashion police.

• If you can stomach it, an overly thorough explanation of Paris Hilton's inextricable connection to capital markets. We'd hate to think the twatzilla has that much influence, but we're convinced at this point that God is dead and anything can happen. [The Stalwart]
• Is New York mag's Jennifer Senior stupider? Inquiring, extra-smart Jew minds want to know. [Canonist]
• Times music wonk Jon Pareles angers our neighbors to the great white north by incorrectly stating the origin of Broken Social Scene. Shame on him for making the Mounties cry. [Toronto Star]
• GQ gets increasingly Details. [Towleroad]
• Howard Kurtz reads blogs; blogs write about Judy Miller; Kurtz turns blogs into Washington Post column. Ta-da! [WaPo]
• Once again, the Times' Metropolitan Diary DOESN'T MISS A BEAT. [NYT]

In this week's Very Special Look Book, New York mag goes to opening night at the Metropolitan Opera and finds Fancy People. While the glittery visages of many an opera fan are featured, special attention is paid to the couple at right, Cathryn Macrae and Robert Graff. Cathryn is wearing a sparkly balloon from Oscar de la Renta which, she can't help but mention, she wore to dinner with Prince Charles at Windsor Castle. Well, la-di-da! After the jump, Intern Alexis rounds up Jamin Warren, John McGill, and Ali Rosenzweig for a roundtable discussion on the size of that damn dress.

We don't particularly want to jump back into the JT LeRoy fray, but the New York Magazine piece on him is an interesting read, be you critic of JT or dedicated defender. This paragraph, though, deserves highlighting:

You know why Kurt Andersen is an in-demand cultural critic and you aren't? Because of the brilliant, against-the-grain thinking he demonstrates in columns like this one, a biting attack on "intelligent design."

Next week's New York features a shocking expose of reclusive author JT LeRoy (NB: Like Michael Jackson and "king of pop," journalists are contractually obligated to preface mention of JT LeRoy with the phrase "reclusive author"): he might be a fraud:

In this week's installment of New York mag's style pages for the common man, the Look Book, we're introduced to Ronald Whitfield, the number two man for the NYC Department of Corrections union. Describing his style as "mature conservative," Whitfield isn't a fan of the baggy-pants prison style but sure loves him some haberdashery before a night in with the latest episode of CSI (Oz, however, is a little too realistic). He's also given a lot of thought to the prison plights of Martha Stewart versus Lil' Kim, which means we might have something in common with Ron after all. After the jump, Intern Alexis wrangles Steven Chen, Katie Halper, and Daniel Levin Becker for comment on Whitfield's Stacy Adams shoes.

Ladies and gentleman, feast your eyes upon the wreckage that is Jasmine Golestaneh, a musician (of course) who prides herself on a fashion sense which resembles a "semi-catastrophic" accident. In this week's edition of New York mag's Look Book, Jasmine confesses her predilection to finding garments in the street, speaking to clothing, and bossing around her bandmates. After the jump, Intern Alexis grills Rachel Hardage and Sheraz Shere for some fashionable policing.