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12
May
2010
Arizona bill targeting ethnic studies signed into law
By Nicole Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times
May 12, 2010
A bill that aims to ban ethnic studies in Arizona schools was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Jan Brewer, cheering critics who called such classes divisive and alarming others who said it’s yet another law targeting Latinos in the state.
The move comes less than 20 days after Brewer signed a controversial immigration bill that has caused widespread protests against the state. The governor’s press office did not return requests for comment Tuesday evening….
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ethnic-studies-20100512,0,5313151.story?
12
May
2010
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’… Anything about Shariah Law
May 12, 2010
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’… Anything about Shariah Law
By Alan Foster
Elena Kagan, current Solicitor General of The United States and former Dean of the Harvard Law School, exemplifies selective outrage. She knows a lot about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” when it comes to ROTC on the Harvard Campus, but wears official blinders when it comes to Islamic treatment of homosexuals….
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/dont_askdont_tell_anything_abo_1.html
25
Sep
2009
Now Playing: Weinstein’s Finance Drama
By LAUREN A.E. SCHUKER
The surprise hit “Inglourious Basterds” appears to have breathed some life into Weinstein Co., but the independent movie studio is still facing a serious cash squeeze.
Several people familiar with the finances of the company, founded by independent film producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, said it needs a fresh capital infusion or successive box-office blockbusters to ease the growing pressure.
The four-year-old film company has burned through most of the roughly $1.2 billion in debt and equity financing raised for its launch in 2005, these people said. Now, these people said, the company likely has to do one of two challenging feats: either raise at least $50 million or turn its upcoming slate of films into a series of hits that build on the success of “Inglourious Basterds.”
In a statement, Weinstein said, “The company has the resources to meet all our obligations, from production to release of our films. As far as new financing opportunities, we will always be interested in new deals, provided we see mutual profitability.”
Weinstein Co. is a relatively small studio in the Hollywood landscape. But its financial woes reflect the challenges facing many independent production companies, some of which have closed their doors in recent years, as film financing has dried up and audiences’ tastes have shifted.
In a sign of its troubles earlier this year, Weinstein did not pay back a $75 million bridge loan from Ziff Brothers Investments, according to people familiar with the situation. Interest is accruing on that loan, adding to their debt. That investment firm’s chairman, Dirk Ziff — one of the company’s early backers and a friend of Harvey Weinstein’s — resigned from the Weinstein Co. board this year.
People familiar with the matter said Mr. Ziff continues to work with and support the company. A spokesman for Mr. Ziff declined to comment.
As its woes deepened, the studio hired New York-based investment bank Miller Buckfire to explore restructuring the terms of roughly $600 million in debt financing raised by Goldman Sachs Group. Weinstein Co.’s other startup capital at the time included roughly $500 million in equity financing from, among others, advertising giant WPP PLC. WPP did not return a call seeking comment.
In July, Miller Buckfire completed its work with Weinstein. The investment bank was able to restructure $500 million in securitized debt that starts to mature in 2014, said people familiar with the matter. These people said the firm engineered what people familiar with the arrangement called a “status-quo” restructuring, giving the Weinstein Co. access to cash previously earmarked for loan repayment.
People close to the situation said the insurer of that debt, a division of Ambac Financial Group Inc., has waived some bond covenants, allowing the company to finance marketing and operating expenses from its film library revenue for now.
People familiar with the situation said that money will give the Weinsteins time to produce the rest of the company’s ambitious upcoming slate, which this fall includes “Nine,” based on a Broadway musical, and a version of Cormac McCarthy’s apocalyptic novel, “The Road.” Additionally, the company was able to spend $35 million marketing “Inglourious Basterds,” Quentin Tarantino’s World War II revenge fantasy, which has taken in more than $100 million at the domestic box office alone. That makes it one of the biggest successes in the company’s short history.
Still, the gains have been diluted. A year before “Inglourious Basterds” hit theaters, Weinstein Co. entered into a profit-sharing deal with Universal Pictures. That allowed it to split costs, but also watered down its income.
More broadly, said people familiar with the situation, Ambac’s waiving of covenants is on a case-by-case basis. The insurer’s aim for now, they said, is to give the studio time to release its scheduled films.
To be sure, the company has other ways to access liquidity, including selling foreign distribution rights to future movies or exploring joint ventures, said a person close to the situation.
Cost cutting has begun. The company has said it plans to cut about 30 employees to shrink the staff of the studio down to 90 employees — at least half its staff size at its peak. Those layoffs come after several earlier rounds of cutbacks and bring its staffing to levels comparable to those of studios producing about the same number of films.
In a statement released by the company, a board member, Richard Koenigsberg, said, “The board is very pleased with the recent successes of ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and ‘Halloween 2,’ as well as ‘Project Runway’s’ record breaking season on the Lifetime Network. The strong upcoming film slate, including ‘The Road,’ ‘Nine,’ ‘Hoodwinked 2′, ‘Youth In Revolt’ and ‘Piranha 3D,’ also make us very optimistic about the company’s potential for continued success at the box office.”
The Weinsteins rewrote the rules of Hollywood in the 1990s, as their Miramax Films turned small-budget pictures like “Pulp Fiction” into blockbusters, and turned literary adult dramas into mainstream fare, including “The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
The brothers sold Miramax in 1993 to Walt Disney Co. When they left Miramax in 2005 and announced their next venture, Wall Street banks and other investors were eager to hitch their wagon to the Weinsteins’ star.
An initial offering from Goldman projected that the company would release about 30 films a year, and would rack up more than $160 million in profit by the end of 2009. With three months left in 2009, the brothers appear to have fallen short of that goal, and they are now aiming to release just eight to 10 movies next year.
Write to Lauren A.E. Schuker at lauren.schuker@wsj.com
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125384614564239973.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews
16
Sep
2009
Capitalism
Although my personal belief is that Mr. Moores films are often skewed or misleading, his new film “Capitalism” sets an honest tone on the corruption of our “free” market.
September 15th, 2009 7:23 pm
Michael Moore Takes on Capitalism Itself
PITTSBURGH—After leading a march for single-payer health insurance from the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh to a movie theater, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore gave the official U.S. premiere of his new film to an audience of unionists and progressive activists Tuesday night, one day before its Hollywood premiere.
Capitalism: A Love Story tackles the financial crisis in Moore’s established style of guerrilla filmmaking, attempting to confront Wall Street titans and sympathetically portray its victims.
“I called this film ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ because they love their money,” he explained, referring to Wall Street. “But this film has a twist: They also love our money.”
Moore’s new film ranks with his best work, but he tackles a more abstract, or at least complex, topic–capitalism. He sees the film as the culmination of 20 years of work, starting with his breakthrough account of the decline of Flint, Michigan, in Roger and Me.
Starting with bank videos of bank robbers—one shown kissing his money— Moore uses old educational and other film clips to link the fall of Rome and contemporary America, then explores home foreclosures and a self-proclaimed “vulture” investor in foreclosures.
He asks, What is capitalism?, and examines how a system that enriches an elite and preys on the weak can survive in a democracy. It worked in the years after World War II as unions and government made the economy more egalitarian, Moore argues, but Reagan began a corporate takeover of government that led to a casino economy and eventual collapse.
Moore recounts the tale with personal stories and interviews. A top Wall Street trader who can’t explain derivatives. Priests explaining why capitalism is “radically evil.” Families of deceased workers whose employers had taken out “dead peasant” insurance policies on their employees to profit from their death.
He also tells the stories of those who fought back, from Republic Windows sit-in factory occupiers to a community group helping to return foreclosed families to their homes.
In lost film footage Moore’s team found, Franklin Roosevelt outlines his Second Bill of Rights, such as a right to a living wage job, healthcare and education. Workers at an employee-owned factory demonstrate how democracy can work on the job. Indeed, that’s Moore’s alternative to capitalism–democracy.
That’s a love story for those left out of the “plutonomy,” as Wall Street labels the new American economy Moore so devastatingly portrays.
Source: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php
15
Sep
2009
New Tourism Improvement District Provides A Boost For Downtown
New Tourism Improvement District Provides A Boost For Downtown
The Las Vegas City Council created a very important tourism improvement district (TID) that will not only help the city generate new revenue but help create a more vibrant downtown area. The tourism improvement district is in the area bounded by Stewart Avenue, Casino Center Boulevard, U.S. Highway 95 and Fourth Street. State law authorizes municipalities to create tourism improvement districts within their respective jurisdictions in order to encourage economic development and development related to tourism.
The creation of the TID supports a public-private partnership to attract $247 million in new development. Development on this site, including retail, restaurants and office space, would generate new taxes from property currently off the tax roll, with a net benefit of $5.4 million. It also creates a revenue stream of $3.1 million per year to help fund public improvements including public parking and streetscape improvements. Another benefit is that it supports the city’s investment in the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, located at Stewart Avenue and Fourth Street.
Source: http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/index.htm
4
Sep
2009
New Policy Delays Arlington Burials
There is nothing so impressive or sobering as a burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The caisson, the gun salute, the bugler, and the folded flag — all reinforce the absolute sacredness of the cemetery itself and the massive weight of sacrifice made by those buried there.
It is an amazing honor to be buried at Arlington, but it’s one that has become increasingly difficult and delayed.
Like many others around the country, the family of Capt. Ronald G. Luce will have to wait a bit longer for the active duty 20th Special Forces Group National Guard soldier to reach his final resting place at Arlington. Luce, who was 27 years old, died in Afghanistan on Aug. 2 after insurgents attacked his vehicle with an IED. Within a few days his body was brought to Fort Bragg and a memorial service was held for him there on Aug. 13. His funeral at Arlington National Cemetery is scheduled for Oct. 21. Until then, Capt. Luce’s body waits in a funeral home in Fayetteville, NC as his family waits to make the final leg of a miserable journey.
Funeral directors say that it currently takes about two months to schedule a burial at Arlington and they say they typically have to spend thirty to forty-five minutes on hold just to talk to Arlington officials to schedule a burial there.
“They’re doing about 30 funerals a day there, with people from all over the country. They are busy,” said Harry Carter, a funeral director with Rogers and Breece Funeral Home in Fayetteville, NC, the city which neighbors Fort Bragg. Carter said this is not a problem for his funeral home, as they typically only arrange four or five Arlington burials each year.
Arlington officials are well-aware of the long delays and they are quick to express their regrets and apologize for keeping military families waiting.
“No one wants these families to wait a day longer than they have to,” said Dave Foster, a public affairs officer for Arlington National Cemetery. “This is closure for them. These men and women have paid the ultimate price and they deserve these honors.”
In fact, granting full honors to service members is one of reasons for the long delay, Foster said.
A policy change in January now allows any service member who dies from wounds as a result of enemy action to receive an Arlington burial with full military honors. Before the change, some of these honors were reserved for Flag Officers. Enlisted soldiers, regardless of the circumstances of their death, were granted pall bearers, a firing party and a bugler, but not the caisson, band and escort troops — though some additional honors were available for certain E-9’s depending on their branch of service.
But the change has brought a glut of requests for a full honors burial. Coordinating the caisson, band and escort troops takes time, Foster said. He said the increased op tempo in Afghanistan has also led to more requests for full honors burials. Foster is quick to add, however, that the majority of the 27 to 30 burials that take place each day at Arlington are not for troops killed in present-day military actions.
“We have all of these veterans from past wars — World War II, Korea, even Vietnam — they also made the ultimate sacrifice and are deserving,” Foster said.
Scheduling services can be a delicate balancing act as Arlington officials strive to plan each service so that the ceremonies don’t intrude on one another. There are 70 sections in the cemetery so many times it is not a problem to have two services occurring at once. But, he said, most of the time the families of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan want their loved ones to be buried in Section 60 with other veterans of those wars. Scheduling those burials so they don’t conflict can be tough.
“The key point,” Foster said, “is that each service member deserves our utmost respect and everyone here understands and strives to give that. We will do everything in our power to make that happen.”
Source: http://www.military.com/news/article/new-policy-delays-arlington-burials.html?col=1186032310810
19
Aug
2009
Cars.Gov
Glen Beck Video