The Avengers is going to be the biggest movie of the summer. There’s really no question about that. Sequels always do better than their predecessors (assuming the initial movie was well-liked), but never has a movie served as the simultaneous sequel to not one Server 2008 Key, not two, not three, not four Windows Anytime Upgrade, but five summer blockbusters.
The groundwork was laid in The Avengers by two Iron Man films, a Hulk film, and last years Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. None of those films grossed less than $100 million at the box office. Two, the Iron Man films, both broke the $300 million ceiling.
There’s very clearly different audiences that will be seeing this film, each from a different flavor of fandom.
Add to that the masses looking for a fun action movie, and you’ve got a recipe for success, at least on paper.
But what about the script and the filmmakers? Studio meddling? There are a thousand things that could go wrong on a picture of this magnitude.
I’m happy to report that we’ve averted disaster and Joss Whedon’s Avengers film is a home run. It’s been almost a full week since I’ve seen it and I’ve been going through withdrawals. I need to see it again.
The thing this film has going for it, more than anything, is that it doesn’t have to stop and take time to introduce each of the characters and tell us how they all got here. Marvel has done such a thorough job establishing the mechanics of this universe that you’re giddily anticipating the arrival of each of your favorite characters and they each get a welcome to the film worthy of their stature.
The plot is basic, but it’s exactly what it needs to be. If you’ve seen a trailer you know the plot. If you know anything about Loki or saw Thor, you know why he’d be trying to subjugate the Earth. That’s it. That’s the movie.
The devil is in the details, though. This movie is about how the team comes together, overcomes their egos, and beats the odds to save the Earth.
And every moment is entertaining.
If you’re lucky, the superhero film you’re watching has at least one moment that I like to call a “Hell Yeah!” moment. Actually Server 2003 Key, I call them something else, but I self-censored just a little bit. In Spider-Man 2, you’ve got those “Hell Yeah!” moments on the subway, fighting against Doc Ock, and that moment in the boathouse when Mary Jane finally discovers Peter’s secret identity. Spider-Man 2 had more than most superhero films and it’s one of my favorites.
The Avengers gives each member of the team at least three of these “Hell Yeah” moments. Each.
This movie raises the bar so high for summer blockbusters that I feel awful for all the films that must follow (except for Prometheus, that movie will do fine.)
More than anything, though, is that this movie delivers on a dream we had as children, hoping one day we’d see a movie that brings all of our favorite characters together from our favorite comics on screen, fighting together. With the way Hollywood works, that never seemed like a possibility, but the stars have aligned and we’ve finally been given exactly what we wanted. Watching each character get added to the story, slowly and carefully, one at a time, we are able to get more and more excited with the thrill that A-list characters like this have never shared the screen together.
At no time does any character unbalance the film. (Though Hulk, played to perfection by Mark Ruffalo, steals the show with the best moments.) Each is in the story for a purpose and each fulfills it with flying colors. Each of the actors playing these iconic characters work in harmony to give us a movie we barely deserve. In this wasteland of horrible summer movies (*cough*Pirates of the Caribbean*cough*Transformers*cough*) we’re given a mature, well-told tale of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
It’s something to be grateful for.
Our prayers to God for a movie like this have been answered.
And our God’s name is Thor.
(Also: stay for the end-credits sequence. A lot of you won’t know what the final scenes portend, but get to your comic book store (Saturday is Free Comic Book Day!) and ask them to get you some books about the character you saw. It will be worth it.)
Bryan Young is the editor in chief of the geek news site Big Shiny Robot! and the author of the upcoming sci-fi, pulp novel Operation: Montauk.
Nebraskans head to the polls today to vote in their state’s primary, but the Republican Senate race is likely driving the bulk of the turnout.
Both parties will choose their respective nominees to face off in the state’s Senate race, which was left open after the Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson decided not to seek re-election. Republicans have long viewed Nebraska as one of their best chances to pick up a seat from the Democrats, even before Nelson announced his plans to retire. Party officials have been unable to harness their attacks on the Democrats, however, because the GOP candidates have been engulfed in a competitive and contentious primary.
There are five candidates on the Democratic primary ballot, but the race is not considered competitive. Bob Kerrey, the former governor and senator for the Cornhusker state, is widely expected to be the nominee.
It’s a different story in the Republican primary. There are six candidates on the ballot, but the race is widely considered to be between two people; Jon Bruning, 43, the state’s attorney general, who has been and continues to be viewed as the front-runner, and Deb Fischer, 61, a state senator. Don Stenberg, the state treasurer, had previously been viewed as the major challenger to Bruning, but recent polling shows him in third place.
At first glance, the narrative of the primary battle seems familiar. The GOP “establishment” candidate – Bruning – faces a strong challenge from a so-called Tea Party candidate, Fischer. But that’s not the case here, for many reasons.
First and foremost, the leading candidates differ little in their positions.
“It’s been a difficult race to kind of analyze because the policy positions are really so similar,” said John Hibbing, professor of political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “They’re really kind of cut from the same cloth, especially in a state like Nebraska replica watches, which leans conservative.”
Second, Fischer’s only Tea Party support came from Sarah Palin, who endorsed the state senator recently. The Tea Party label applies best to Stenberg.
He had a great deal of financial assistance from Tea Party-affiliated groups such as FreedomWorks, the Club for Growth and the Senate Conservatives Fund replica watches, the PAC affiliated with South Carolina senator and Tea Party leader Jim DeMint. These groups spent relatively large amounts of money supporting Stenberg and attacking Bruning, but Stenberg’s campaign didn’t seem to take off, for reasons indeterminable to political experts in the state.
“The support for the Tea Party is pretty strong among Republicans here in Nebraska,” Hibbing said. “So I think the perception that he was getting supported outside the state by people who were very serious about cutting taxes, I don’t think that’s hurt him really. He had some money and he doesn’t seem to have capitalized on it. ”
Fischer, by comparison, had significantly less money than Bruning and Stenberg, and she didn’t begin to perform well in polling until recently. In addition to Palin’s endorsement, Fischer also received the backing of Nebraska Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry. But the reason for her surge likely had more to do with the negative attacks Bruning and Stenberg lodged at one another, rather than these endorsements.
“I don’t think it was the endorsements,” Hibbings said. “They happened pretty late in the game.”
If Fischer wins, it will still be a surprise, and could be categorized as an upset. But that’s not because she is considered to be too far to the right, or different from Bruning in a policy sense. It’s simply because she was an underdog who did not enjoy the same fundraising advantages or name recognition as Bruning.
Regardless of the outcome, the spirited primary likely won’t hurt Republicans’ chances in the state heading into the fall.
“I’m sure they wish it hadn’t happened replica watches,” Hibbing said, “but I’m sure it will have a pretty minimal long-term effect. Whoever wins will probably still be favored to win in November.”
SHOWS: World News
The media — pretty much all of them — just got “played,” by the Obama campaign. And they don’t even realize it yet. What we just witnessed, for roughly the past four days, was not a “breaking story” or even an “evolution” of any sort. What we just witnessed, capped this morning by President Barack Obama’s statement of support for gay marriage, was nothing more than the introduction of a new (political) product. It was a “new and improved” product rollout — nothing more, nothing less.
Before I begin to back that statement up, a personal note. This column is an odd one for me to write, for several reasons. The first is I don’t usually like to jump into the fray of “snap judgments” on breaking news stories, preferring to let the dust settle a bit before commenting. The second is (believe it or not) I was already going to write about this today — although the conclusions I would have drawn would have been far different (and mostly wrong), if, say, Obama had released his gay marriage support an hour after I had published what I was going to write. Third, I’m not really going to address the core issue itself — gay marriage support — because I’m totally focused on the political/media nexus instead. Lastly, I’m about to use an argument that I never really bought into back when it was a popular argument to make (circa 2008-2009).
During Obama’s last campaign, and during about his first year in office, there were those on the Left who would tell you (whenever there was news about Obama doing something inexplicable) not to worry, because he was playing “multi-dimensional chess” while his lesser opponents were desperately trying to play checkers. Obama was the mastermind, the master game-player, in this construct. I never fully bought into this argument, although it was a common one heard back then.
But this time, it’s hard to see it any other way. The Obama campaign team just brilliantly snookered the entire media universe — right, left, and center — into generating a news frenzy days before a major campaign announcement was rolled out. Imagine, if you will, that none of the past week had happened, and Obama said the same thing today. Well, it would have been a story, but it wouldn’t have been a week-long story, perhaps. That’s the difference, and that’s why Obama’s team scored a big coup in the media world.
Their timing, I have to admit, was as close to perfect as can be imagined. Last week, there was a story making the rounds about a Romney national security advisor who had quit/been booted from the Romney team. The reason? He was gay. The hardline social conservatives had forced Mitt to kick him out — that’s the way the story played in the media (admittedly, this was a wonky and small-bore story that few who don’t obsess over politics even noticed). The issue had just about died down at the end of last week, though.
Then Joe Biden goes on Meet The Press. On it Tattoo Machine Supplies, he comes out in support of gay marriage. The media world started buzzing: Biden! Gay marriage! Veep pushes boss! Retraction! Confusion in White House! Everyone, pay attention Tattoos Ink!
Arne Duncan, secretary of the Department of Education, then goes on another television news show and says the same thing Biden said. Stop the presses! Cabinet member pushes president! Gay marriage turmoil at White House! Film at eleven!
Next, North Carolina votes (as expected) in a big way, to ban gay marriage once again (they had previously banned it, they just wanted to really, really ban it this time). What would Obama say and do? White House in disarray! Conflict! Drama!
Which leaves us with today’s statement — getting exponentially more media coverage than it normally would have, because of the “dramatic” buildup. At the present moment, the media has bought into their own storyline so completely that they haven’t realized what just happened. But within a day or so (possibly sooner) the media is going to realize that all of these “coincidences” are a little much.
In the advertising world, there is a technique that uses some variation of the following: rent a billboard, paint it white, and put simple letters on it: “Watch This Space.” Leave it up for a few weeks. Then change it to: “Watch This Space, One Week To Go.” Then start a countdown: “Watch This Space In Three Days!” By the time you put up the actual billboard (for some new product), you have generated more interest in it through sheer curiosity than you would have normally gotten. I don’t know if there’s a college course on “Advertising 101″ but if there were, this would be one of the examples taught.
Barack Obama didn’t just wake up this morning and decide to support gay marriage. That is the line the media is currently running with, which they have swallowed — hook, line, and sinker. Call it “Obama’s Gay Marriage Evolution Completed Today!” perhaps. I, for one, don’t buy it. I think this was engineered as a week-long story to insure that the Obama team would absolutely own the airwaves this week, to the detriment and frustration of the Romney team. I further think the Obama team had this figured out a while ago, and were just waiting for Romney to enter into the gay rights debate in some fashion. When the aide was let go, the opportunity presented itself. Perhaps they would have rolled it out anyway, timed to coincide with the North Carolina vote, or perhaps not.
Anyone doubting this has only to watch Biden’s performance on Meet The Press. Biden could — very easily — have just dodged the question, with a simple “the president sets such policy, and his views have been evolving” which has been the standard administration talking point for quite some time now. Not only did Biden fail to dodge, he spent quite a bit of time explaining his position, and he actually had — ready to go — a heartwarming story to tell, to help him emotionally make his point. Here is Biden, from the show’s official transcript:
Look — I just think — that — the good news is that as more and more Americans become to understand what this is all about is a simple proposition. Who do you love? Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person you love? And that’s what people are finding out is what — what all marriages, at their root, are about. Whether they’re — marriages of lesbians or gay men or heterosexuals.
…
I — I — look, I am vice president of the United States of America. The president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly Homemade Tattoo Guns, I don’t see much of a distinction — beyond that.
…
Well, the president continues to fight, whether it’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell or whether it is making sure, across the board, that you cannot discriminate. Look — look at the executive orders he’s put in place. Any hospital that gets federal funding, which is almost all of them, they can’t deny a partner from being able to have access to their — their — their partner who’s ill or making the call on whether or not they — you know — it’s just — this is evolving.
And by the way, my measure, David, and I take a look at when things really begin to change, is when the social culture changes. I think Will and Grace probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody’s ever done so far. And I think — people fear that which is different. Now they’re beginning to understand. They’re beginning to understand that this as a base –
I — I was with — speaking to a group of gay leaders in — in Los Angeles — LA — two, two weeks ago. And one gentleman looked at me in the question period and said, “Let me ask you, how do you feel about us?” And I had just walked into the back door of this gay couple and they’re with their two adopted children. And I turned to the man who owned the house. I said, “What did I do when I walked in?” He said, “You walked right to my children. They were seven and five, giving you flowers.” And I said, “I wish every American could see the look of love those kids had in their eyes for you guys. And they wouldn’t have any doubt about what this is about.”
Now, you can argue that this was nothing more than “good ol’ Joe” being spontaneous. I don’t buy it, however. I think Joe was the advance scout doing what, in politics, is called “running it up the flagpole to see who salutes.” I could be wrong, but I became more convinced of this when the education secretary also chimed in the next morning.
Before today’s announcement, the most intelligent thing I read on the issue was written by Wayne Besen on the Huffington Post. Besen accurately takes into account the whole of the political risk Obama would take by actively supporting gay marriage. Since the announcement, the most intelligent thing I’ve read is a post today at “The Fix” blog on WashingtonPost.com. Both point out that this is not a “slam dunk” for the president, politically. There are risks. Two of those risks are known as “North Carolina” and “Virginia.”
Sure, there are plenty of possible benefits to such a bold stance for Obama. Young people and gay people and other significant portions of Obama’s base will be wildly enthusiastic about this news. I, personally, am enthusiastic about this news (just in case this article reads too much like a conspiracy theory to anyone). I think the actions taken by the Obama campaign were, indeed, brilliant. They positioned their “new product” in the political world about as masterfully as I’ve ever seen a campaign do so. This bodes well for the fall.
Beyond Obama’s base, this puts Mitt Romney on the defensive, once again. It paints him back into the far right corner. On an issue he really would rather not be discussing right now, Romney is solidly on the wrong side of history — and Obama’s stance painfully points that out to everyone. The more Republicans rant and rave on the issue of gay folks, the more young voters they lose — it’s a simple equation. And, because the actual interview with Obama isn’t going to air until Thursday morning, the story will continue to dominate the week’s news cycle.
I was never a big fan of the 2008-2009 argument, I have to admit. Machiavellian tactics don’t usually work out so well in the political arena. The media is so cynical it’s hard to get one by them in such a fashion. But this time, I have to admit, President Obama certainly does resemble Spock playing multi-dimensional chess while his opponents are staring at a checker board.
To put this another way: Bravo, Obama re-election team. Well done.
Chris Weigant blogs at:
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For Deb Gill and Nanako O’Donnell, co-owners of Pig and Fish in Arrowsic, the day always starts with the question, “What are you working on today?” From there, the two creative entrepreneurs set off designing and fabricating colorful and useful products for the home. They then ship their creations across the world.
In early 2011, motivated by the appeal to sell directly to customers, Gill and O’Donnell decided to market their products exclusively online. Pig and Fish promptly joined Etsy, because it is an established online marketplace for handmade goods.
“We love that our store is always open. People can stop by whenever they want, spend as much or as little time as they like, browse or buy. Aside from the obvious accessibility to the entire world, the convenience of shopping online cannot be denied,” O’Donnell said.
Many would agree that the benefits of selling online are vast. For Pig and Fish, one major benefit of the online selling model is greater connection.
“The Etsy community not only puts us in direct contact with a pool of potential buyers, but it also connects us to so many talented small-business owners,” O’Donnell explained. “Prior to joining Etsy, we never thought that through the Internet we would make real connections with people we’ve never met. We were wrong — the computer may be a flat screen, but the Internet is a portal that can put you directly in touch with real people. We’ve had the pleasure of connecting with Red Tile Studio in Dallas Tattooing Machines, Texas. We didn’t know about them and they didn’t know about us — until we met on Etsy. Now we run an Etsy team together and we started a collaborative line called ‘1901 Miles’ where we use their modern prints as backgrounds on our designs — all done through the Internet and all from our little yellow house in Maine.”
Certainly there are many challenges to operating an online business. Competition online is fierce. This fact forces e-tailers, or electronic retailers Wholesale Tattoo Kits, to have a clear marketing plan, including an aggressive social media strategy which requires daily management.
“If you do a search on Etsy for ‘home decor,’ you’ll get a return of over 442,500 items to browse — that’s a lot of competition. The biggest challenge for us has been getting noticed, but it has also pushed us to seek out ways to promote our business. For marketing Pig and Fish outside of Etsy, we dove right into understanding how social media intersects with our business and then we work to utilize these outlets to our benefit. It takes a tremendous amount of time to research, study and implement such information in our small business, but each new thing is a way to better define our brand Tattoo needles, reach a larger audience and grow,” O’Donnell said.
Technology has made this type of business possible. And the online analytics — the data that show how people find a website, how they explore it and what the website owner can do to enhance the navigating experience — makes operating an online business easier and gives e-tailers the opportunity to increase their business success.
“You don’t have to be a techie geek to understand analytics because this data is now presented in an easy to understand format. We study our Etsy and Google analytics to keep a real time beat on what people are searching for and looking at. We then find a balance between what the market wants and what we feel drawn to creating. You may not understand why a certain product is selling so much, but if there is a demand, we see it as our job to fill it,” O’Donnell said.
When I asked O’Donnell about the advice she would give to a new entrepreneur who wants to sell her products exclusively online, she didn’t hesitate: “You must realize you’re embarking on a journey. You may not know all the answers, but if you don’t start somewhere you won’t end up anywhere.”
According to their website, Etsy’s mission is to “empower people to change the way the global economy works.” It is “a world in which very-very small businesses have much-much more sway in shaping the economy.” To be sure, Pig and Fish, as well as many others, are doing just that.
Jenn Dobransky is the microenterprise coordinator for the midcoast for the Maine Centers for Women, Work, and Community (womenworkandcommunity.org). She can be reached at jenn.dobransky@maine.edu.
Summertime dining means lots of chilled rosé and tons of fresh fish. If you’re in the city or out east this summer and faced with the decision of ordering the grilled NY strip steak or the pan-roasted local cod, most of us wouldn’t even hesitate — the cod gets the hook every time. We’ve been hearing about the fish depletion crisis for awhile — that within the next four decades we will no longer be able to eat fish. Because they won’t exist. Because we’ve consumed them all.
According to numerous scientific studies, by 2048 Herve Leger sale, all commercial fish stocks will be generating less than 10 percent of their peak catches, and therefore, die off. But how valid is this theory? Is it like global warming — a hypothesis originally considered egregious until incidents like tsunamis and killer heat waves meant that we couldn’t look the other way?
Unfortunately the truth is foggy due to fisheries lobbyists and economists — whose chief goal is to protect corporate fishing fleets and the income they generate. These groups traditionally work for government agencies, like the National Marine Fisheries Service, and have secured political sway and government subsidies to continue fishing at an unsustainable rate.
They also supply information to the public that seems optimistic at first glance, but upon closer inspection is hiding a larger problem. For example Chloe Dresses sale, a fisheries-backed scientist might report that cod has recovered or even doubled in abundance when, in reality, they have increased from only a mere one percent to two percent of their original population fifty years ago.
The rapid decline tracked in almost all fish species is due to a number of causes — from bycatch (throwing unusable or non-permitted caught fish back into the ocean) to global warming (increasing ocean temperatures are damaging the coral reef that fish feed on). And recently, there is another factor aiding the rapid extraction of fish from the ocean: China.
Over the years, the U.S. has lost ground as a manufacturing power due to emerging countries’ — like China — ability to make things more cheaply. And we are a country that likes to buy things — especially when we can’t afford to. Which means we must borrow to keep up our spending habit. China is happy to keep buying our debt as long as we keep buying their cheap products. It’s an endless circle that keeps America in debt and the Chinese economy healthy.
This cycle has led to something new sprouting up in China — a middle class. This burgeoning sector, with new-found wealth, are now purchasing more upscale products and food. A population that has lived on cheap grains such as rice and wheat for centuries is now lapping up lobster. This year, lobster exporters in New Brunswick expect to export $5 million worth of lobster to China, up from just $239,000 in 2009. The sudden emergence of China’s interest in U.S. fish has abridged the supply, which has in turn driven up the price and diminished the quality of lobster available for domestic purchasers.
But the main culprit of fish depletion is still that we consume more fish than nature can replenish. In the end, it is only government and legislators that can help mitigate the problem, as they are the ones who regulate the fisheries, and — aside from pumping billions of dollars in annual subsidies — allow them to continue a business model, that economically does not make sense.
So as an individual, while making a choice to forgo certain endangered species of fish at a restaurant is a start, a more viable action is writing a letter to your local legislator.
2010 Ford Mustang GT – Click above for high-res image gallery
Sorry Transformers fans, but your precious Bumblebee just got his butt whooped. Color us not surprised. Because for anyone that’s ever driven the Detroit Three’s nouveau muscle cars (and seriously evaluated them), the 2010 Mustang GT is clearly Best of Show material. It’s just too refined, too capable and let’s be honest, too good. Especially when compared to the cetacean Dodge Challenger R/T. How obvious? Even Consumer Reports says so.
True, it used to be getting your sports car endorsed by Consumer Reports was kinda like Tipper Gore and Joe Lieberman banging their heads and flashing approving devil signs at your band. But somewhere about ten years back, the ad-free, subscriber-funded mag began testing cars that enthusiasts might actually want to buy. And then they began factoring in metrics like acceleration Tattoo Supplies, handling and braking, while still lowering eyelids with stats on mileage and reliability (we kid, we kid).
So yeah – straight up, the 315 horsepower Ford Mustang GT got a rating of “Very Good” and 78 points, whereas the 426 hp Chevrolet Camaro SS got “Very Good” but only 71 points, whereas the 370 hp Challenger R/T received a rating of merely “Good” and just 53 points.
But wait, there’s more! CR also tested the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8, Subaru WRX and Nissan 370Z. How did the evolved-but-not-revolved ‘Stang stack up? Funny you should ask. Consumer Reports’ press release doesn’t say. Specifically, it doesn’t give numeric scores for the sporty Asian cars. However Tattoo Supplies, all three non-domestics got the (apparently) coveted “Very Good” rating, meaning they all finished ahead of the Challenger. And yes, the big Dodge had the six-speed manual. Part of the Challenger’s problem is no doubt this sentence: “Braking is mediocre and it has a big car feel rather than a sports car.” But the real question is, which car won the competition outright? All we know is that the new issue comes out today. PR posted after the jump.
Related GalleryReview: 2010 Ford Mustang GT
[Source: Consumer Reports]
Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign, always a long shot Cheap Chanel Dresses, may be over. The top leadership in the campaign, at both the national and state levels, quit en masse Thursday.
Sources close to the campaign say that it has been a disorganized mess for weeks, with Gingrich offering no direction and not taking the advice of his aides. With no sense that the candidate wanted to do the hard work necessary to win, one source said it was foolish to work long hours, sacrifice time with family Cheap Herve leger strapless, and beg friends for campaign cash if the candidate himself wasn’t committed.
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Sources say that Gingrich intends to stay in the campaign Herve Leger sale, what’s left of it. Indeed, on his Facebook page Buy Herve Leger gown, Gingrich posted: “I am committed to running the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring. The campaign begins anew Sunday in Los Angeles.”
In Iowa this week the talk was of Gingrich’s decision to take a vacation while his competitors were working hard campaigning and trying to raise money. When Will Rogers, a longtime Gingrich booster in the state, resigned, local GOP veterans speculated that the campaign might be coming apart.
Campaign manager Rob Johnson, spokesman Rick Tyler Cheap Herve Leger v neck, and other top officials spoke with Gingrich over the last several days about setting a clear direction for the future— and that’s when everything broke down. “There was a difference of opinion on what needed to be done going forward,” says Craig Schoenfeld, Gingrich’s Iowa strategist, who also resigned.
Johnson ran Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign last year, and Dave Carney, one of Gingrich’s top strategists, used to work for Perry as well. Carney says his move was “totally unrelated to Rick Perry,” but their departure will only serve to increase speculation about the governor’s entry into the presidential race.
As for Gingrich, Schoenfeld said that he “needs to be surrounded by those folks who share his vision for the campaign. Those folks—whoever they may be—should be a part [of his campaign] going forward.”
Gingrich’s former aides, meanwhile, may now get a chance to take a vacation of their own. And if Gingrich’s campaign stays on its current course Buy Herve Leger gown, he may find his vacation calendar opening up sooner rather than later.
Become a fan of John Dickerson on Facebook. Join John Dickerson and David Weigel for a live Facebook chat June 14 at 10 a.m. EST to discuss the second GOP primary debate and all of the latest news surrounding the 2012 election.
BMW 1 Series M Coupe prototype on track – Click above to watch video after the jump
Replica Chanel Dresses
It’s cool. We know you’ve already clicked past the jump and are well into watching one very lucky soul flog the snot out of a prototype of the oft-hyped BMW 1 Series M Coupe around the Ascari race track in Spain. We’re not offended. For those of you who are unfortunate enough to have YouTube blocked at your place of employment DKNY Dresses sale, allow us to share what you’re missing out on. The good people at M-Power somehow managed to secure a spot in the passenger seat of the second-coming of M during a hot lap. We’re not talking some pansy parade through the chicanes Discount Missoni Dresses, either. It’s more of a kick the tail out, plop your foot onto the throttle and aim for the next curb sort of shindig.
If you’re looking for any details on the car other than just how well it can rivet a smile to you face Replica Herve leger strapless, odds are you’re out of luck. Still Replica Herve Leger v neck, watching the little M blister around the course Cheap Herve Leger gown, we can’t wait to get our grubby journo paws on the pint-size coupe. The biggest question in our minds? How is BMW going to keep the M3 sharp enough to stay ahead of its meaner younger sibling?
[Source: YouTube]
Will Big Bird drop the F-bomb on Sesame Street?
Well, shit. There was supposed to be swearing. They swore like sailors when this case was argued in the 2nd Circuit. (Watch here.) Judges and lawyers both Buy BCBG Dresses! Those same judges swore themselves silly in the appellate opinion. Advocates swore (a lot) in the merits briefs. Promises were made. But today, in a case about how and when the FCC can regulate so-called “fleeting utterances” of words like fuck and shit, the saltiest language comes when Solicitor General Gregory Garre, arguing for the FCC, warns that the agency had an obligation to guard against the possibility of “Big Bird dropping the F-bomb on Sesame Street.”
The F-bomb? What Herve Leger sale, are we all of us in the Dora the Explorer demographic now?
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There’s a famous story about oral argument in Cohen v. California, the landmark 1971 case about the right to wear a jacket bearing the words “Fuck the Draft” in a Los Angeles courthouse. Listen here. Calling on Mel Nimmer Cheap Herve Leger gown, who represented Cohen, then-Chief Justice Warren Burger cautioned the lawyer: “Mr. Nimmer, you may proceed whenever you’re ready. I might suggest to you that … the court is thoroughly familiar with the factual setting of this case Replica Hale Bob Dresses, and it will not be necessary for you, I’m sure, to dwell on the facts.” Nimmer waited a whole two minutes and 11 seconds before saying “fuck.” But today? The F-bomb.
FCC v. Fox Television is not a First Amendment case. It’s a First Amendment-minus case, in that while the various justices insist that it need not be decided on constitutional grounds, it nevertheless provokes one of the best First Amendment debates I have ever heard. Since the Supreme Court decided FCC v. Pacifica in 1978, which found the midday radio broadcast of George Carlin’s “Filthy Words” monologue to be indecent, the FCC rule has been this: The agency may regulate a daytime broadcast of the sort of “verbal shock treatment” of the Carlin monologue, but it will overlook the “isolated use” of one-off potty words. A 2001 clarification of the FCC policy provided that a finding of indecency requires that the naughty word “describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or activities” and be “patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards.”
Enter Bono, who accepted his 2003 Golden Globe with the heartfelt (live) declaration that the honor was “really, really fucking brilliant.” Oh. And Cher Discount DKNY Dresses, who received her 2002 Billboard music award with the gracious, “I’ve also had critics for the last 40 years saying that I was on my way out every year. So fuck ‘em.” And the ever delightful Nicole Richie, who wowed them at the Billboard awards the following year with the observation that “it’s not so fucking simple” to remove “cow shit out of a Prada purse.”
Kinda makes you long for George Carlin, doesn’t it?
The FCC would have ordinarily ignored these fleeting expletives, but it announced in 2004 that “given the core meaning of the F-word, any use of that word or a variation, in any context, inherently has a sexual connotation” and thus constitutes indecency. Then the FCC went around tagging everyone and their uncle for various fleeting expletives, from NYPD Blue (for “bullshit” and “dickhead”) to the CBS Early Show (for “bullshitter”). Fox and its friends appealed, arguing, among other things, that the FCC’s sudden rule change violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which bars “arbitrary and capricious” agency policy changes or those made without a “reasonable basis.” The federal appeals court didn’t want to discuss the First Amendment issues when it squashed the FCC like a bug, but it did so anyhow. The Supreme Court does the same today, leading Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at one point Emilio Pucci Dresses sale, to observe that the whole case has an “air of futility” because, if the court just decides the narrow administrative issue, the First Amendment problem is still “the elephant in the room.”
Garre, arguing for the FCC, defends the policy change because the FCC ”concretely explained it” and it was “consistent with its mandate.” Justice Ginsburg can’t understand why an expletive-rich broadcast of Saving Private Ryan was spared the FCC’s wrath while a program about the history of jazz was tagged for indecency. “There’s very little rhyme or reason which one of these words is OK and which isn’t,” she tuts.
Garre points out that 28 percent of the viewing audience for the offending Nicole Richie broadcast were children under age 18. He says her swearing “was shockingly gratuitous and graphic.” He adds that the “F-word is one of the most graphic, explicit, and vulgar words in the English language.” Justice John Paul Stevens asks if that’s still the case when the word is used “with no reference whatsoever to sexual function.” Garre says yes because it “inevitably conjures up a coarse sexual image.”
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Hot on the heels of news that the Dodge Viper’s Conner Avenue facility would be the first Chrysler plant to fire up after the company’s bankruptcy proceedings/Fiat tie-up comes official word that the automaker will resume production at seven plants the week of June 29. In addition Replica Chronoswiss Watches, Chrysler will bring the supporting powertrain and stamping plants online that supply the assembly factories listed below with parts.
According to Ed Garsten A Lange & Sohne Replica Watches, Chrysler’s manager of electronic media communications Replica Piaget Watches, the following assembly plants will resume production as part of a “phased production ramp-up” -
Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (Sterling Heights, MI) – Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger Warren Truck Assembly Plant (Warren, MI) – Dodge Ram and Dodge Dakota St. Louis North Assembly Plant (Fenton Fake Tonino Lamborghini Watches for sale, MO) – Dodge Ram Toledo Supplier Park (Toledo, OH) – Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Brampton Assembly Plant (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) – Chrysler 300 Romain Jerome Replica Watches, Dodge Charger and Challenger Windsor Assembly Plant (Windsor, Ontario, Canada ) – Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan Toluca Assembly Plant (Toluca, Mexico) – Dodge Journey and Chrysler PT Cruiser
Despite the start-ups Replica Chaumet Watches, all Chrysler plants will again idle for two weeks in the second half of July as part of a previously scheduled summer break.
Source: Chrysler | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]