Posts tagged running
Bloomberg editor to speak on 2012 election at Flagler College forum
Sep 1st
With November inching closer, the 2012 election race is beginning to reach its boiling point.
Mark Silva, deputy managing editor for government news at Bloomberg News
in Washington, believes the race may come down to the wire with states such as Florida being the decision makers.
“Florida’s long-fought 2000 election is what decided that election,” said Silva, who will kick off Flagler College’s 2012 Forums on Government and Public Policy lecture series at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11 in the Lewis Auditorium at Flagler College. “Florida again will be among a handful of states that determine the outcome this year.”
The topic of Silva’s talk will be “Election 2012: Too Close to Call?”
At Bloomberg since 2010, Silva oversees a team of reporters and editors covering the White House, Congress and the 2012 election campaign, as well as other agencies such as State, Defense, Justice and the Supreme Court.
According to Silva, the upcoming election will be close despite playing out against the backdrop of a struggling economy and more than three years of unemployment running at over 8 percent.
“Presidents have not typically been reelected in modern times with that much unemployment,” said Silva. “Yet President Barack Obama enjoys a high degree of personal popularity — the public’s favorable view of him exceeding the job approval ratings he gets. At the same time, Romney is a disciplined and also well-financed candidate backed by super-PACs whose fundraising and TV ads have enabled the Republicans to go toe-to-toe with Obama on the air.”
And while Silva believes that economic factors and demographics across the country will play a part in who wins the 2012 election, it will be the voters in swing states such as Florida that will make the difference.
“Florida is a true swing state,” said Silva. “They voted for Obama in 2008, George W. Bush twice, Bill Clinton for reelection in 1996 but not election in 1992, George H.W. Bush twice, Ronald Reagan twice, Jimmy Carter once, but not for reelection.”
Silva says voters should also keep an eye on North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada and Ohio.
“The economy is better in Ohio than it is nationally, and even in Florida, which has suffered among the worst
in the collapse of the housing market, the economy has shown signs of improvement,” said Silva. “Ultimately, the way voters feel about their own economy in these swing states, and what they’ve decided about all this negative TV advertising, will determine who wins the White House.”
Lewis Auditorium at Flagler College is at 14 Granada St. in St Augustine. Forums are free and open to the public, but seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign language interpreters are provided. Call (904) 819-6400 for more information or visit the Forum on Government & Public Policy events website.
Source: Flagler College
“Snow White and the Huntsman” an Expensive Piece of Nothing
Jun 9th
“Expensive Piece of Nothing”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Snow White and the Huntsman is the second movie about Snow White to come out in two months, and the title indicates that Hollywood is running out of variations on how to make each one different.
Instead, the filmmakers should be concerned about how to make each one better, because this one isn’t.
This time, the evil Queen is played by Charlize Theron, and she even gets a name, Ravenna.
The Huntsman is played by Chris Hemsworth, whom you will recognize as the actor playing Thor in some other action movies, but he doesn’t get a name, just a back story.
And the grownup Snow White is played by Kristen Stewart, whom you will recognize from a lot of other movies.
Once again, we see how it all began, and after Ravenna becomes the stepmother of young Snow White, Ravenna tells her, “I could never take your mother’s place.”
And once again, Snow White is placed in prison by the Queen, high up in the north tower of the castle.
My comment was “Boring!” even before the movie got one-third of the way through.
So, the variation this time is not that the Queen has the Huntsman take Snow White out into the woods to kill her, but Snow White escapes from the castle and the Queen has the Huntsman go into the woods to find Snow White and bring her back.
Now, Charlize Theron chews the scenery as Ravenna, the evil Queen, and that is not easy to do when the scenery is made out of stone walls.
By this time the movie has become a swords and sorcery story, and the woods contain all sorts of menacing things and even a monster.
Finally! About two-thirds of the way through, the dwarfs show up, but right away you notice that there is something strange about them, and the camera doesn’t stay on all of them long enough for you to count them.
Sure enough, you were right, and later in the story an explanation solves the mystery.
Another weird thing about the dwarfs, however, is that you get the nagging feeling that when they are shown in closeup, you think that you recognize the actors playing them, but those actors aren’t actual little people.
Snow White and the Huntsman is an expensive piece of a nothing movie.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“The Ides of March” Shows Dirty Politics
Oct 13th
Official Website
Movie Trailer
“Excellent Portrayal of Dirty Politics”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Ides of March is one of the best movies of the year, but one of the most difficult to enjoy, one of the most rewarding, but also one of the most frustrating, and one that should be seen by everyone who follows politics, but is also a handbook for what not to do in politics.
And expect to hear its name often at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2012.
Now, about the title. To the person who wrote “WTF the title? It doesn’t even take place in March,” I say, “Google it, Dude.” It is a famous expression from a famous play by a very famous author.
George Clooney produced, co-wrote, and directed the movie. He also stars as Gov. Mike Morris, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
The action takes place in Ohio, where the Democratic primary election is coming up, and we are told, “As goes Ohio, so goes the nation.”
Ryan Gosling plays Stephen Myers, Gov. Morris’s press secretary; Philip Seymour Hoffman plays his campaign manager; Paul Giamatti plays the campaign manager for the Democratic rival running against Gov. Morris; Evan Rachel Wood plays an intern working for Gov. Morris’s campaign; and Marisa Tomei plays a reporter for The New York Times.
Stephen is very good at his job and is told that all the reporters love him, even the ones who hate him. However, when the rival’s campaign manager arranges a secret meeting with Stephen, tells him that Stephen is working for the wrong man, and offers to hire Stephen to come work for him, a chain of events are set in motion that will change Stephen’s idealistic views of Gov. Morris.
And then when Stephen learns a secret about Gov. Morris that could damage his campaign severely and perhaps even ruin the governor, Stephen has to battle his own idealistic views, because he can use that information either to further his own career or to damage the governor’s reputation.
We are told that loyalty is the only thing valued in politics and the only thing that can be counted on. We are also told that if you stay in the political business long enough, you become jaded and bitter.
The Ides of March can do the same and is an excellent portrayal of dirty politics.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
