Nevada Caucuses Open Thread

Posted: February 4, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 2012 presidential campaign, 2012 primaries, open thread, U.S. Politics | Tags: , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Mr. 1% addresses a campaign rally in Colorado Springs

I thought I’d put up a thread about the Nevada Caucuses. Official results will be coming in soon, but as of now it looks like another big win for Romney. Reuters:

Early vote results reported by CNN showed Romney grabbing a big lead. With 3 percent of precincts counted, Romney had 52 percent, well ahead of U.S. Representative Ron Paul’s 20 percent. Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich was in third with 19 percent and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum was last with 9 percent.

As for Mitt, he’s already in Colorado.

Flanked by four young grandchildren, a buoyant-looking Mitt Romney strode across the tarmac here [Colorado Springs] early Saturday afternoon, creating a perfectly posed American family tableau on the day that Nevadans voted for their choices to be the Republican presidential nominee.

He had reason to look upbeat; early returns from Nevada caucuses indicate a decisive win — which would make it the second state he has won in a row, and the third total — boosting the narrative of his inevitability, which briefly seemed in doubt after he was routed in South Carolina by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Colorado’s caucuses take place Tuesday.

Rick Santorum is also in Colorado and Ron Paul has moved on to Minnesota.

According to TPM, Newt Gingrich, who spent very little money or effort on Nevada, announced his upcoming campaign schedule just a short time ago, seemingly indicating that he plans to fight on.

Earlier, TPM reported that Gingrich had sent out an e-mail to supporters saying “we still have 45 states to go.” Gingrich held a meeting with about 60 donors earlier this afternoon. Sugar daddy Sheldon Adelson was at the meeting, so I assume he plans to keep supporting Gingrich for now. The NYT reported today that Adelson is open to supporting Romney in the general.

Ron Paul is saying he believes he’ll come in second in Nevada. According to Chris Matthews on MSNBC Paul says he’ll get 25%. That wouldn’t be good for Newt, who really needs to come in second.

I’ll post updates in the comments, but please do treat this as an open thread.

Open Thread: SAG it!

Posted: January 29, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Live Blog, open thread | Tags: | 81 Comments

I thought the Sky Dancing community could use the momentary break from politics… please feel free to live-blog in the comments with us!

Via Reuters/The Wrap:

The Scrren [sic] Actors Guild will honor its own Sunday night at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center, live on TNT and TBS at 8 PM ET.

Exactly what comprises “its own” may be changing for the actors. Over the weekend, executive boards at both SAG and AFTRA approved a merger plan that would bring under one umbrella SAG’s roughly 120,000 members and AFTRA’s 70,000.  Both memberships have to approve the plan for it to take effect.

[…]

Presenters include Kathy Bates, George Clooney, Sir Ben Kingsley, Melissa McCarthy, Brad Pitt, Zoe Saldana, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Kevin Bacon, Kenneth Branagh, Kyle Chandler, Matt Czuchry, Patrick Duffy, Jean Dujardin, Tina Fey, Linda Gray, Judy Greer, Larry Hagman, Armie Hammer, Ed Helms, SAG President Ken Howard, Regina King, John Krasinski, Julianna Margulies, Natalie Portman, Maya Rudolph, Kyra Sedgwick, Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams.

(Reuters didn’t mention it but I see on the SAG site that Jessica Chastain, Don Cheadle, Bérénice Bejo, Glenn Close, Bryan Cranston, Viola Davis, and Shailene Woodley will be among those presenting as well.)

You can catch up on the red carpet arrivals on the SAG twitter feed.

And the nominees are….

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

  • DEMIÁN BICHIR / Carlos Galindo – “A BETTER LIFE” (Summit Entertainment)
  • GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King – “THE DESCENDANTS” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
  • LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / J. Edgar Hoover – “J. EDGAR” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
  • JEAN DUJARDIN / George – “THE ARTIST” (The Weinstein Company)
  • BRAD PITT / Billy Beane – “MONEYBALL” (Columbia Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

  • GLENN CLOSE  / Albert Nobbs – “ALBERT NOBBS” (Roadside Attractions)
  • VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark – “THE HELP” (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
  • MERYL STREEP / Margaret Thatcher – “THE IRON LADY” (The Weinstein Company)
  • TILDA SWINTON / Eva – “WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
  • MICHELLE WILLIAMS / Marilyn Monroe – “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN” (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

  • KENNETH BRANAGH / Sir Laurence Olivier – “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN” (The Weinstein Company)
  • ARMIE HAMMER / Clyde Tolson – “J. EDGAR” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
  • JONAH HILL / Peter Brand – “MONEYBALL” (Columbia Pictures)
  • NICK NOLTE / Paddy Conlon – “WARRIOR” (Lionsgate)
  • CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER / Hal – “BEGINNERS” (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

  • BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy – “THE ARTIST” (The Weinstein Company)
  • JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote – “THE HELP” (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
  • MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan – “BRIDESMAIDS” (Universal Pictures)
  • JANET McTEER / Hubert Page – “ALBERT NOBBS” (Roadside Attractions)
  • OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson – “THE HELP” (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

  • THE ARTIST (The Weinstein Company)
  • BRIDESMAIDS (Universal Pictures)
  • THE DESCENDANTS (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
  • THE HELP (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
  • MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (Sony Pictures Classics)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

  • LAURENCE FISHBURNE / Thurgood Marshall – “THURGOOD” (HBO)
  • PAUL GIAMATTI / Ben Bernanke – “TOO BIG TO FAIL” (HBO)
  • GREG KINNEAR / Jack Kennedy – “THE KENNEDYS” (REELZ CHANNEL)
  • GUY PEARCE / Monty Beragon – “MILDRED PIERCE“ (HBO)
  • JAMES WOODS / Richard Fuld – “TOO BIG TO FAIL” (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

  • DIANE LANE / Pat Loud – “CINEMA VERITE” (HBO)
  • MAGGIE SMITH / Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham – “DOWNTON ABBEY” (PBS)
  • EMILY WATSON / Janet Leach – “APPROPRIATE ADULT” (Sundance Channel)
  • BETTY WHITE / Caroline Thomas – “HALLMARK HALL OF FAME: THE LOST VALENTINE” (CBS)
  • KATE WINSLET / Mildred Pierce – “MILDRED PIERCE” (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

  • PATRICK J. ADAMS / Mike Ross – “SUITS” (USA)
  • STEVE BUSCEMI / Enoch “Nucky” Thompson – “BOARDWALK EMPIRE” (HBO)
  • KYLE CHANDLER / Eric Taylor – “FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS” (DirecTV)
  • BRYAN CRANSTON / Walter White – “BREAKING BAD” (AMC)
  • MICHAEL C. HALL / Dexter Morgan – “DEXTER” (Showtime)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

  • KATHY BATES / Harriet Korn – “HARRY’S LAW” (NBC)
  • GLENN CLOSE / Patty Hewes  – “DAMAGES” (DirecTV)
  • JESSICA LANGE / Constance – “AMERICAN HORROR STORY” (FX)
  • JULIANNA MARGULIES / Alicia Florrick – “THE GOOD WIFE” (CBS)
  • KYRA SEDGWICK / Dept. Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson – “THE CLOSER” (TNT)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

  • ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy – “30 ROCK” (NBC)
  • TY BURRELL / Phil Dunphy – “MODERN FAMILY” (ABC)
  • STEVE CARELL / Michael Scott  – “THE OFFICE” (NBC)
  • JON CRYER / Alan Harper  – “TWO AND A HALF MEN” (CBS)
  • ERIC STONESTREET / Cameron Tucker – “MODERN FAMILY” (ABC)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

  • JULIE BOWEN / Claire Dunphy – “MODERN FAMILY” (ABC)
  • EDIE FALCO / Jackie Peyton – “NURSE JACKIE” (Showtime)
  • TINA FEY / Liz Lemon – “30 ROCK” (NBC)
  • SOFIA VERGARA / Gloria Delgado-Pritchett  – “MODERN FAMILY” (ABC)
  • BETTY WHITE / Elka Ostrovsky – “HOT IN CLEVELAND” (TV Land)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

  • BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)
  • BREAKING BAD (AMC)
  • DEXTER (Showtime)
  • GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
  • THE GOOD WIFE (CBS)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

  • 30 ROCK (NBC)
  • THE BIG BANG THEORY (CBS)
  • GLEE (FOX)
  • MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
  • THE OFFICE (NBC)

Screen Actors Guild Awards 48th Annual Life Achievement Award

  • MARY TYLER MOORE

Okay, I’m not really up to speed on the SAG awards other than to say…

a) as far as TV awards go, I’m rooting for Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Betty White– she’s nominated twice! Work it, Sue Anne Nivens… neat little synchronicity for that and Mary Tyler Moore getting the Lifetime Achievement Award tonight.

b) Motion Pictures…my votes go to both The Help’s Jessica Chastain and Miss Viola Davis herself… Speaking of which, I don’t have an Iphone, but if I did, I would so totally buy this phone case (memorable line from the movie)… this cracks me up and gives me the warm fuzzies at the same time:

Turning the soapbox over to y’all…please have at it.

Open Thread: Karen Santorum’s Book Has Become Collector’s Item

Posted: January 16, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: open thread, Women's Rights | Tags: , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Recently, I wrote a post about Rick and Karen Santorum’s responses to their miscarriage. After this loss, Karen wrote a book called Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum. At the time, I looked up the book and it was selling cheaply on Amazon.

Some of you may know that I’ve become a bookseller, at least temporarily. Well, I should have bought a bunch of copies of Karen’s book when I had the chance. The book was published in 1998, and until recently used copies were selling for less than a dollar. Today, the cheapest price I could find was close to $100.00 on some foreign websites. New copies of the book begin at $2,5 on Amazon and nearly $900 on E-bay. This copy at Half.com was selling for $.75 plus postage just recently and is now listed at $891.00.

I don’t know who is buying the book–maybe slumming pro-choice readers or pious anti-choicers–maybe both. Since I began selling my book collection, I’ve sold a few old and scarce books for inflated prices, but never this inflated. I’m going to have to get better at foreseeing these kinds of trends!

Open Thread: End-of-the-Year Lists, 2011

Posted: January 1, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: open thread | Tags: , , , , , | 25 Comments

First Night ice scupture, Boston, Jan 1, 2012

The new year always brings with it lists of the most, the best, the worst of the previous year. And of course the lists of people who are no longer with us. Here’s a sampling of lists from around the internet.

There’s the NYT list of the top ten best books of 2011 based on their 100 notable books list.  First is The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, and second is Stephen King’s book on the Kennedy assassination, 11/22/63.

The New Yorker has a list of the best films of last year. They liked Scorsese’s children’s movie Hugo best. Here’s a list (very different) from Rotten Tomatoes. They also liked a children’s movie, The Muppets.

Here’s a list of some of the famous people who died in 2011 (compiled from various lists around the ‘net)

Anne Francis
Dana Wynter
Jack LaLanne
Jane Russell
Elizabeth Taylor
Sidney Lumet
Peter Yates
Jackie Cooper
Harmon Killebrew
Phoebe Snow
David Nelson

James Arness
Jeff Conaway
Arthur Laurents
Jack Kevorkian
Clarence Clemons
Gil Scott Heron
Randy Savage
Peter Falk
Amy Winehouse
Bubba Smith

Cliff Robertson
Andy Rooney
Anne McCaffrey
Ken Russell
Joe Frazier
Dorothy Rodham (Hillary’s mom)
Betty Ford
Harry Morgan
Vaclav Havel
Al Davis
Steve Jobs
Tim Hetherington (photographer, died in Libya)
Christopher Hitchens
Kim Jong-Il
Osama bin Laden


Who did I leave out?

What about the worst political gaffes of 2011? The Week has a list. Not surprisingly, Republican presidential candidates hold several places on the list. Number one was from Michele Bachmann:

1. Michele Bachmann: The Founding Fathers “worked tirelessly” to end slavery
In January, the Minnesota congresswoman said “we know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States.” Then in June, Bachmann doubled down on her claim that the slave-owning authors of the Constitution worked to end slavery, citing the efforts of John Quincy Adams — who was 9 when the Declaration of Independence was signed. “I hate to be a stickler for reality,” said Steve Benen at Washington Monthly, but “to use the possible beliefs of a 9-year-old boy as evidence that the Founding Fathers ‘worked tirelessly to end slavery’ is simply absurd on its face.”

Which political gaffe was your favorite? I’d have to go with Herman Cain not knowing anything about Libya or Rick Perry not knowing the names of the cabinet posts he wants to eliminate.

Neutrinos

At Wired, there’s a list of the top scientific discoveries of 2011. Number one, was faster-than-light neutrinos, a discovery that most scientists dismissed. Another biggie was learning that we all have Neanderthal DNA. And of course there was the possibly earth-like planet that could support life. Check them out!

I’ll end with this one. At the Daily Beast I learned that Boston was America’s drunkest city in 2011. They list the top 25. The number two drunkest city is also in Massachusetts–Guess which one, Pat? Springfield! Interestingly, most of the drunkest cities seem to be in cold-weather areas.

What interesting end-of-year lists have you seen over the past few days? Please share. Or talk about any old thing you want.

                          
HAPPY NEW YEAR, SKY DANCERS!!!!

Open Thread: Hillary’s Historic Visit to Myanmar

Posted: December 1, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Myanmar, open thread | Tags: , , , , , | 24 Comments

Hillary arriving in Myanmar yesterday

Today’s Guardian UK reports on Hillary’s first in-person meeting with Nobel Prize winning activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy campaigner and Nobel prize winner, had dinner with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Thursday night in a diplomatic residence in the port city of Rangoon.

The extraordinary meeting came at the end of Clinton’s first full day of her historic trip to the isolated south Asian state, the first by a top-ranking American official for more than 50 years.

[….]

Aung San Suu Kyi

Clinton’s trip comes after changes in Burma that have astonished many observers. Aung San Suu Kyi has been freed after more than 20 years of house arrest and prison, and tentative moves have been made to reduce censorship and create new laws permitting limited political demonstrations.

Last year saw parliamentary elections which, despite being rigged to give the pro-regime party a huge majority, were nonetheless welcomed by observers.

Though the military dominates most institutions and much of the economy, many senior figures believe Burma, currently under US and European Union sanctions, needs to reintegrate the international community, analysts say.

Here’s a video about the visit, uploaded to You Tube by Reuters early this morning:

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