A LAWYER WITH HIS BRIEFCASE

I'm introducing a new character, Sabrina Babcock! She's your typical uber bitch celebrity slut. This is how she looks now but she will be getting a makeover before I start my big 'Sabrina Babcock' project


The Sabrina Babcock Interview!

In this day and age of instant celebrity, it's anyone's guess why Sabrina Babcock has become a household name. It seems we can't open a newspaper or turn on our HD TVs without seeing the oil heiress's overly made-up face. But if you ask Sabrina why she thinks she's famous, she'll give you a laundry list of reasons. The main one being "Because I'm awesome!" But is the youngest daughter of Baron Babcock really as awesome as she claims?

I met the very social socialite at her suite in the Q hotel last week, where she was preparing for a club opening wherein she would handle the novelty scissors and brand the place worthy of La Babcock.

WeMag: Hi, Sabrina. You seem to be everywhere these days. What's on tab for you today?

Sabrina: Ugh, I'm waiting for my stylist to arrive. She's running late, AGAIN! I have a ribbon cutting at club...something or other. I can't remember.

WeMag: Pardon me for nitpicking but isn't it important to know the name of the club you're opening?

Sabrina: You'd think so. But I do so much stuff like this, it's hard to keep track. It's like...it's like working as a scientist. Do you think they remember everything they do from Monday to Friday? I doubt it.

WeMag: Fair enough. So other than this club promotion, what are you up to?

Sabrina: I'm glad you asked. I have a lot of projects coming up. I'm doing a hair care line called "Sashay!"and I'm going to have my own fragrance by the end of the month. And it's going to be called, "Babcock!" (pauses) OH and I'm in talks to do a reality show.

WeMag: A reality show, really? How interesting. So what can we expect to see?

Sabrina: Well, it's going to be a competitive reality show. I take a group of girls and mold them to be stars. You know, like me.

WeMag: Ah, I see. Does this potential show have a name?

Sabrina: It's not potential. It's gonna happen! It's going to be called Sabrina's Star School. We're going to start casting soon and it's gonna be totally fun.

WeMag: A competitive reality show to teach girls to be like you?

Sabrina: Yeah isn't it great? So much better than getting a bunch of loser girls to try and be my best friend. Like...who does that?

WeMag: Maxine does, for one.

Sabrina: Exactly. See, I don't need a show to find a friend. I'm just me and people gravitate to me.

WeMag: Since you brought it up, what is the story with you and Maxine? Care to shed some light on the alleged feud?

Sabrina: It's simple. She's jealous of me. She always has been. I came up with the idea for 'My New BFF' first. I told my friends about it. I'm guessing somebody told her and she ran to the networks and made it happen.

WeMag: But you said you'd never do a show looking for a friend. Now you're saying it was your idea?

Sabrina: It was a joke. I came up with that idea as a joke. But she took it seriously and made it happen.

WeMag: Have you ever watched her show?

Sabrina: Yeah, and it's really sad.

WeMag: How so?

Sabrina: I see these girls on her show, and they think they're going to be her best friend or whatever...but that never happens. Once they see how Maxine really is, they'll regret ever signing up. She's a phony. Playing it up nice for the cameras. But she's totally fake. And her group of friends are more like followers. They just worship her, she doesn't consider them friends.

WeMag: Pretty strong words considering Maxine is America's Sweetheart.

Sabrina: People only like her because they only know her public persona. They don't really KNOW her. (pauses) Why are we talking about her?! Eww! next!

weMag: Alright, so tell us about the sex tape. What's the story there?

Sabrina: The story is that I was taken advantage of.

WeMag: In what way?

Sabrina: I didn't authorize the release of that tape. It was a private moment with someone I cared about and he leaked it all over the place.

WeMag: Leak is the operative word.

Sabrina: What's that supposed to mean?

WeMag: Nothing. But what about people who say you posed for the pictures used on the cover?

Sabrina: Those are all lies. My head was photoshopped on someone's body.

WeMag: With your same birthmarks.

Sabrina: People can do anything with comptuers nowadays.

WeMag: Ok. Rumor has it your family's stocks are falling. Any truth to that?

Sabrina: Money is tight for everyone in this ecology. My family might have lost some money but we're survivors. We will make it back and thensome. Trust.

WeMag: So the rumors of the potential bankruptcy are just that, rumors?

Sabrina: Totally. Once you're rich. You're rich. Nothing can change that. You're never NOT rich again.

WeMag: Ok, moving right along. Do you have any plans to be in movies?

Sabrina: Oh totally! I have a director friend who's putting something together for m

Last night Greek prime minister took part in a Q & A session with journalists from the country's largest TV stations. The decision to organise such an event in the run up to the local elections in November was criticised by opposition parties who consider that the Papandreou is campaigning on behalf of his beleaguered PASOK party who have been trailing in the polls, affected by the harsh austerity measures that have seen living standards plummet as job losses, higher taxes and galloping inflation have combined to make for a perfect storm for those on lower incomes such as the unemployed and pensioners.

The harsh new economic reality facing Greeks can be seen in a slew of reports that show that many household are now struggling to pay basics such as power and phone bills. The state run electricity board says that 1 in 4 bills are overdue whilst the OTE telecommunications corporation has 500,000 unpaid accounts to deal with. Even in Greater Athens area, which one of richer parts of the nation 1 in 11 are receiving food handouts via breadlines according to research carried out by the Economic University of Athens recently. In Greece's second city, Thessaloniki, home to over a million nearly half the population is living on either savings or loans whilst another 40% say that they can barely make ends meet.

Even consumption of basics such as bread has dropped by 30% whilst other areas of the economy such as real estate and car sales have ground to a virtual halt. The Greek chamber of commerce is predicting that 175,000 small businesses are set to close in the near future with 300,000 more being added to the unemployment lines.

With such a bleak outlook Giorgos Papandreou decided to hold a press conference to set out his party's policies and to explain to the nation what he believes has to be done to save Greece from bankruptcy.

The interview which was carried out by seven journalists lasted two hours and was was followed by viewers. In the first round journalists were allowed to ask one question and one follow up. A recipe which allowed the PM plenty of wiggle room and produced a predictably sonorific result as Papandreou was free to simply set out party positions that have long been made clear in previous briefings. While the questions were hard hitting, the lack of follow up meant they were easily sidestepped with waffle and set speeches.

The second half of the interview proved more interesting with reporters able to pursue points made and get the prime minister to do more than simple PR.

However,the basic tenet of Papandreou's message remained the same that the current crisis was the results of years of fiscal mismanagement that the previous New Democracy administration had failed to take seriously and that if Greece did not have any other choice but to implement the painful measures set down by the EU and IMF. He also made it clear that his government sees the forthcoming elections as a referendum on the measures intimating that if PASOK suffered a serious defeat then this would be seen as a loss of the popular mandate necessitating national elections in the near future.

For Papandreou the choice is clear; either accept the cuts in public services and wages set out or vote for the opposition New Democracy party led by Antonis Samaras whose brand of populist rhetoric is full of heat and passion but light on concrete proposals on exactly how different his right of centre party would deal with a 400 billion debt load without severe cuts in public spending or higher taxation.

Yet despite growing dissatisfaction with both major parties it seems business as usual with both sides making lavish promises to voter in order to persuade people to support them. The ruling PASOK party has vowed to help local income families and farmer with extra funds before the end of the year, though where exactly the money is coming from is unclear especially with so many employees of the state run organisations and pensioners who have been waiting months to be paid. Next week heating oil distributors have threatened to suspend deliveries in protest over delays over the return of tax payments promised earlier. Likewise hospital report running low on basic supplies after pharmacutical companies stopped taking new order until the government pays outstanding debts, some going back years.

However, the 600lb gorilla in the room is the possibility of still harsher cuts when Eurostat revises Greek debt figures for 2009. The organisation delayed publishing figures citing the need for more time to untangle Greece's often tangled web of public spending statistics until 15th November just after the second round of local elections. This has been seen in many quarters are an attempt not to upset PASOK's election chances still further with more bad news. On the one hand Papandreou has stated on a number of occasions that there will be no further measures for wage earners and pensioners whilst European Commissioner Olli Renn has made i