Rink Rats picks for the movies to see this summer:
Moonrise Kingdom – a pair of young
lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan
out and find them. This movie seems
like it will turn out to be the Midnight
in Paris of the year (an opening night Cannes comedy romance
that’s made by a famous director, has a great cast, makes some money, and then
ends up maybe even getting a few Oscar nominations and one win). Cast: Jared
Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray.
Savages - This movie stars
Benicio Del Toro, Taylor Kitsch (who described the movie as Pulp
Fiction meets Goodfellas), Blake Lively, Uma
Thurman, John Travolta, Aaron Johnson, Demian Bramchir, Emie Hirsh, and Salma
Hayek. It’s a drama thriller directed by two time Academy Award winner Oliver
Stone. I also think that it’s the most Oscar friendly movie of the
Summer.
To Rome With Love - Woody
Allen’s best reviewed movie of the 2000′s. His latest movie is about people in Italy and
the adventures and romances that they have. The cast isn’t as star studded
as Midnight in Paris‘ but the movie still stars Woody Allen, Jesse
Eisinberg, Penelope Cruz, Ellen Page, Judy Davis, Roberto Beginini, and Alec
Baldwin.
THE ONE ARTICLE TO READ ABOUT THE MEXICAN ELECTION - The Wilson
Center's Andrew Selee, on PRI's win and the U.S.-Mexico relationship:
"Mexico's elections have brought back the PRI, an authoritarian party that
ruled Mexico for seven decades. This possibility had worried many observers and
politicians in the United States, and yet ... it will make little difference
for the U.S.-Mexico relationship. This is largely a tribute to how deeply
interdependent the two countries are ... The PRI has been known in the past for
its anti-American rhetoric and distrust of the United States. However,
circumstances over the past 20 years have completely changed the relationship
... Mexico has developed a vibrant export-oriented economy that is growing at a
respectable 3-4% a year. Its major destination for exports is ... the United
States.
"States ranging from Texas to
Nebraska, Michigan, Tennessee and New Hampshire depend heavily on the trading
relationship with Mexico. Indeed, the growing Mexican economy is helping to
fuel the expansion of jobs in these states ... Policymakers in both countries
have a vested interest in managing these economic ties ... The new government
will almost certainly want to deepen cooperation against drug traffickers."
"Mexico's president-election to
shift drugs war focus with 40,000-strong force, Enrique Peña Nieto, the
45-year-old candidate of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary party
(PRI), who won the election, said it was essential to put Mexicans' concerns
before anything else. '[Violence] is the most sensitive issue for Mexicans,' he
told the Financial Times in his first interview with an international
newspaper. 'Mexico cannot put up with this scenario of death and kidnapping.
... There will be no pact or truce with organised crime.
"Peña Nieto beat his closest
rival by just over 5 percentage points ... More than 55,000 people have died in
during the past five years, and the murder rate in Latin America's
second-largest economy has almost tripled from eight per 100,000 inhabitants to
more than 22 today."
CALIFORNIA DREAMING - "Now San Bernardino bankrupt: The city,
facing the possibility of missing payroll, becomes California's third in weeks
to authorize a Chapter 9 filing," : "The city's fiscal crisis has
been ... exacerbated by escalating pension costs, lucrative labor agreements,
Sacramento's raid on redevelopment funds and a city reserve that is tapped out
... City Hall was packed for Tuesday's emergency council meeting, which had
been called to discuss San Bernardino's bleak finances. Bankruptcy was expected
to be discussed as one option but an actual vote to file was not anticipated.
... San Bernardino's tax revenues have declined by as much as $16 million
annually over the last few years, primarily because of drops in sales and
property taxes.
"The city joins ... Stockton and
Mammoth Lakes ... Stockton, a Central Valley agricultural hub, ... tried to
remake itself during the last decade as a refuge for former San Francisco Bay
Area residents. It spent money on a marina, a high-rise hotel and a promenade.
They flopped. Residents also got swept up in the boom years, snapping up new
tract homes on the city's outskirts. Soon, many of them were empty, victims of
the nationwide foreclosure crisis.. ... Days later, the High Sierra town of
Mammoth Lakes ... filed for bankruptcy [because] the town could not afford to
pay a $43-million breach-of-contract judgment in a lawsuit brought by a
developer .... nearly three times ... Mammoth Lakes' annual operating
budget." The cities of Pomona, Vernon, and Compton could be next.
BIRTHDAYS
THIS WEEK – Birthday
wishes and thoughts this week to: Spencer Davis (70), Bob Dole (89), Will
Ferrell (45), Don Henley (65), Nelson Mandela (94), Brian May (65), Angela
Merkel (58), Patrick Pugliese …famous roller hockey goalie, Carlos Santana
(65), Robin Williams (61).
JACK
ASS OF THE MONTH – This month’s Jack Ass is not a particular person
but a type of person. You all know the person or persons: a boss who does not
accept responsibility for his or her actions, the boss who passes the buck, the
leader who does not lead but follows, the leader who takes short cuts and the
easy way out, and finally the supervisor
who has no clue what their subordinates do for him or her.
Yes there are plenty of these types to go around. Why they
are in a position of leadership? The simple answer is their supervisors have no
clue. But the realistic answer is that in many professions, industries,
vocations – why rock the boat? I am sure there are people reading this blog who
know of these Jack Asses, in fact some people reading this blog are those Jack
Asses but can’t figure it out.
Figure it out people, for everybody’s benefit.
NBC Sports,
"Facts about the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London": "The official dates of the Games of the XXX Olympiad
are Friday, July 27, through Sunday, August 12, 2012. The Games will last 17
days, including one day for the Opening Ceremony, and span three weekends with
the soccer preliminaries, there are 19 days of competition. ... London will be
the first city to host the Olympic Games three times (it previously hosted in
1908 and 1948). ... The 2012 Olympics will welcome approximately 10,500
athletes and 204 countries. ... There will be 302 official events on the 2012
Olympic program, 259 more than were on the 1896 program 116 years ago. ... The
London Games will take place across 34 competition venues.
"Four sports - fencing, gymnastics, swimming and track & field -
have appeared in every modern Olympics. ... The United States has won a medal
in every sport on the 2012 Olympic program except for badminton, table tennis
and team handball. (Rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline, disciplines in which
the U.S. has never won an Olympic medal, are both under the sport heading of
gymnastics.)... There will be 8.8 million ticketholders at the London Games.
... It took three years to construct the Olympic Stadium, which is 53 meters
high and contains 10 tons of steel."
LOW
TAX RATES - "Americans paid the lowest tax rates
in 30 years to the federal government in 2009, in part because of tax
cuts President Obama sought to combat the Great Recession,
congressional budget analysts said Tuesday. ... [A]t the very moment anti-tax
protesters were emerging as the most powerful force in American politics,
handing Republicans landslide control of the U.S. House, the data show that
people were sending the smallest portion of their income to the federal
government since 1979."
CHINA's BLUES - China's GDP growth slowed to its
slowest rate in 3 years, the country's National Bureau of Statistics has
reported, adding to a growing list of signs that the world economic recovery is
slowing. Decelerating trade and manufacturing slowed the country's growth to
7.6 percent in the most recent quarter, a development that could push Premier
Wen Jiabao to step up the central government's stimulus efforts as it prepares
for a perilous political transition.
DRIVING THE WEEK - President
Obama is in Cincinnati today for an economy-themed event. He visits Texas on
Tuesday for fund-raisers and campaigns in Florida on Thursday and Friday ... VP
Joe Biden is in NYC on Tuesday for a DCCC event ... Mitt Romney is in
Pennsylvania on Tuesday where he will step up efforts to brand Obama a
"crony capitalist" who rewards top donors with political goodies. ...
Romney is in Ohio for an event on Wednesday ...
... Fed Chair Ben Bernanke is on the Hill on Tuesday
(Senate Banking) and Wednesday (House Financial Services) for his semi-annual
testimony on the economy and monetary policy. Lawmakers will have plenty of
questions about whether the Fed will take any more steps to boost growth.
Republicans will suggest the central bank risks inflation if it does more and
Dems will say it risks long-term, above 8% unemployment if it doesn't. Bernanke
is also likely to face Libor and Dodd-Frank implementation questions,
especially on the Volcker Rule ...
House Financial Services has a hearing on Thursday at
10:00 a.m. on the impact of Dodd-Frank on "families, communities and small
businesses." ... House Financial Services has more Dodd-Frank hearings
Thursday afternoon and Friday ... Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein speaks on
the U.S. and global economies on Wednesday before the Economic Club of
Washington, DC in conversation with Carlyle's David Rubenstein (open press) ...
CFPB has a field hearing in Detroit today on the credit reporting industry.
Top economic data include industrial production on Tuesday
(expected to rise 0.3%); Housing starts Wednesday (expected to rise to 745K
annual pace from 708K); Philly Fed on Thursday (expected to improve to -8.0
from the recessionary -16.6 last month) ... Goldman Sachs reports earnings on
Tuesday, Bank of America on Wednesday and Morgan Stanley on Thursday, among other
second quarter results.
Next week, words of the month and restaurant review.
Until Next Monday, Tchau.
Claremont, CA
July 16, 2012
#III-12, 117
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