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Read Slate’s complete Elena Kagan coverage.

Elena Kagan

As the Elena Kagan Bore’Em to Death Tour rolls on into Memorial Day weekend, it’s clear that almost no narrative about her is going to stick. A CBS poll released today shows that almost three weeks after her nomination for the Supreme Court, 72 percent of Americans have yet to form an opinion on her. And since she’s all but disappeared from the front pages, it’s not clear how we’re going to get to know her better before the confirmation hearings, which are scheduled for the end of June. The meta-narrative about Kagan seems to be that there is no meta-narrative about Kagan. This doubtless makes the White House very happy.

Efforts to unearth a judicial philosophy or any clear constitutional preferences continue to show Kagan to be equivocal, careful Replica BCBG Dresses, and impossible to know. That makes the search for a compelling Kagan narrative even more imperative. But there’s no there there. As my colleague John Dickerson pointed out a few weeks ago, the White House’s early effort to present her to America as champion of the little guy (and gal!) was destined to fizzle. Kagan has many great virtues, but being an ordinary American champion of ordinary American nonchampions probably isn’t one of them. Lacking Sonia Sotomayor’s up-from-poverty life story and John Roberts’ sprinkled-with-fairy-dust charm, Kagan has been halfheartedly sketched by her enemies as a snarling hater of the military, and by her friends as awfully nice. From a narrative standpoint, I’d call that a draw.

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Which is why the White House probably thinks its work here is done. The nominee will be confirmed with minimal bruising. And while Democrats are certainly wasting yet another opportunity to engage Americans in a debate about the courts, at least nobody is being hurt by this shallow conversation. Nobody, that is, if you consider the creeping sexism, looksism, and homophobia surrounding the Kagan nomination to be painless.

I don’t. I’ve been worried that with all this attention focused on Kagan’s wardrobe, gender, marital status, and dating history, we’ve once again allowed the public conversation about courts to be swallowed up by the kind of toxic race and gender stereotypes we heard during Sonia Sotomayor’s hearings. Leave it to call-in radio to show me why I am wrong.

Every time I’ve been on a radio show on the subject of Kagan’s wardrobe/softball playing/marital status, some twentysomething caller has taken me to school. It turns out, they invariably tell me Discount Christian Audigier Clothing, that twentysomethings just don’t care if their Supreme Court justices are black, white, Jewish, Protestant, gay, or straight. Every day someone under the age of 30 either sends me an e-mail or tweet or a Facebook post reminding me that those of us making a huge big fat media deal about the nominee’s race, religion, sexual preferences or marital status are quickly becoming cultural dinosaurs.

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By Bob Dietz/CPJ Asia Program Coordinator

Amid political
tumult in Islamabad, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and a team
of six ministers are in London for far-ranging meetings today through May 13. The
Pakistan-U.K. Enhanced Strategic Dialogue will review education, health, defense,
security, and cultural cooperation. CPJ has written a letter
to Prime Minister David Cameron to urge that press freedom conditions be raised
as well.

As we pointed out, Pakistan has been the world’s deadliest country for
journalists for two consecutive years. That record reflects fatalities from
both dangerous assignments and targeted murders.

In only one of the 20 journalist murder cases since January
2002 have any of the perpetrators been brought to justice. The partial
exception is that of the American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Daniel Pearl, in which
some of the people involved in his abduction and beheading were eventually brought
to trial. This abysmal record makes Pakistan one of the worst countries in the
world in combating deadly anti-press violence, according to CPJ’s 2012 Impunity
Index.

Twelve others have been killed since 2002 while covering dangerous
assignments. They lacked the protective gear and safety training that are standard
in many places in the world. Given those hard realities, here are some suggested
issues that could get a jump-start at the London sessions. They come from
discussions I’ve had with Pakistani journalists over the last few years:

In the context of defense and security cooperation, Britain could
offer Pakistan assistance in reversing impunity in the killings of journalists.
These murders have been attributed to government officials, criminal gangs,
wealthy business owners, and militant groups. Assistance to local police
investigators working on these unsolved cases–coupled with a commitment to increase
the forensic capabilities of local and national police–would go far in
protecting journalists. Increased law enforcement capacity is also in the
interest of the broader public.

As for those journalists covering dangerous assignments Windows 7 Key, Britain
could offer two forms of assistance that would have immediate impact:

Getting helmets, body armor, and other
protective gear into the hands of at-risk journalists would be an immediate and
cost-effective way of protecting lives. In the past, there have been problems getting
this gear through Pakistani customs, an issue that could be resolved by the
talks in London.By helping bear the cost of security
training to individual journalists–and preparing Pakistani trainers to pass on
that knowledge to the larger press corps–British aid could go far in saving
lives. Journalist organizations and media companies have taken steps to improve
training, but more assistance is needed.

And here is one other proposal: In cooperation with international
aid donors and partnering with a Pakistani academic institution of appropriate
stature, Britain could help launch a graduate school of journalism in Pakistan.
Many newsroom managers say they are hiring journalism students who are eager
but not fully prepared. The problem is partly caused by the explosion of demand;
Pakistani media has been going through a protracted period of growth for quite
a while. But many of Pakistan’s media and communications schools don’t seem to
have the budgets or the programs, in English, Urdu, or Pashto, to meet the
industry’s demand for newsroom-ready reporters. And if that graduate school of
journalism should also host a journalists’ safety training program, who would
find fault with that?

Bob Dietz Windows 7 Key, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan McAfee Product Key, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

Follow CPJ on Twitter: @pressfreedom

Follow CPJ on Facebook: @committeetoprotectjournalists

Part 2 of a 4 part series

The Hartford Ballet, 1972-1992

After leaving the Joffrey Ballet, Uthoff choreographed and performed with Lisa Bradley in the First Chamber Dance Company of New York and also took a teaching position at SUNY Purchase to gain some financial security. The couple was still in the public eye, performing at venues like Jacob’s Pillow when Uthoff heard about a possible opportunity in Hartford, Conn. Enid Lynn, director of the school there who had been a dancer with Martha Graham, leaped at the chance to get such a well-known dancer and choreographer to come to Hartford to start a professional dance company. Astonishingly replica watches, this was not even 10 years after he arrived in New York as an aspiring teenager. This is where Uthoff began the pattern that would shape the rest of his career.

Uthoff is 4th from left on this LP sleeve with members of the Chamber Dance Co. of New York

Apparently this collector’s item is available for download… HERE

Uthoff’s established professional reputation helped to draw early attention to the works he choreographed for the smallish company of 10-14 dancers. They were able to book engagements at important venues like Jacob’s Pillow and with these early shows, Uthoff was able to draw interest and attention to Hartford with positive reviews in the New York Times and other important publications. Pretty soon there was a viable professional company in Hartford and the troupe’s reputation and performance schedule expanded quickly. The Hartford Ballet was the busiest touring company in the country at that time with a grueling schedule. Tours frequently ended with fewer dancers than started out.

The Job of Artistic Director

Uthoff eventually withdrew from the drain of performing with the company to focus on choreographing new works and making plans for the development of the young company. This meant buying occasional pieces of known choreography by established names like Balanchine that he felt would fit his company and showcase its talents while giving him something familiar to shape his programs around. He needed a few popular ballets with guaranteed audience appeal. It was important to Uthoff that he be able to solicit outside choreographers to come and create pieces on the company’s own dancers which helped to shape the identity of the Hartford Ballet. Uthoff’s strength is, as he sees it, that he is always able to take in the big picture. It was never just about his personal achievements. He always took the responsibility of directing a company with profound seriousness. He has an intuitive sense of when to take a back seat and let others have the spotlight. This is important in order to let everyone grow.

A Hartford Courant feature article from 1978

During his 20 years in Hartford, Uthoff never stopped working at the important jobs of audience development, grant writing, funding, repertory expansion, community outreach, drawing in outside choreographers and securing bookings. At the time Uthoff left Hartford, the ballet school had more than 700 students and provided them with a first class dance education. Above all, Uthoff is mindful of fiscal responsibility. He believes that a company that can’t pay for itself won’t, and probably shouldn’t, stay in business. There were plenty of ups and downs as the NEA grants which had supported the company’s extensive national tours in the early days dried up but Uthoff and Enid Lynn patiently built the Hartford Ballet and its school into a highly respected and financially sound artistic entity.

Romeo and Juliet — Choreographing New Works

Michael Uthoff and I have something unexpected in common. We both met Rudolf Nureyev while working as supernumeraries in productions of Romeo and Juliet. Uthoff held a banner in the Royal Ballet’s production at Lincoln Center in the 1960s. Uthoff and Nureyev became good friends and remained so until Nureyev’s death. I met Nureyev while filling in as a townsperson in his own production staged with the London Festival Ballet at the Kennedy Center in the 1970s. We laughed over my memory of Nureyev having an attendant always waiting for him in the wings with a tray that held a hairbrush, a mirror and his favorite Elvis thermos full of hot tea. We were both surprised by how much conversation took place on stage during performances and how much of it was incredibly profane. This coincidence lead us to talking about Uthoff’s own setting of Romeo and Juliet on the Hartford Ballet back in 1980 which he later re-staged on Ballet Arizona in 1999.

Uthoff has choreographed a lot of ballets during his career and it would take a very long time to write about them all. But here is just one, because every ballet has another story behind it. Sitting down with him many years later, I took advantage of the opportunity to ask him why he walked around the studio with the orchestral score in his hands. During the entire process, it was seldom more than a few feet from him. Prokofiev’s score for the ballet is arguably the most perfect one ever written but, as Uthoff explained, he needed to make several cuts to fit his vision of a leaner and more dramatically taut ballet. He needed the score on hand to keep track of those cuts as he didn’t have a recording with the cuts to work from. Much of the action is clearly and specifically written into the music and has to be followed. There was simply no changing the Death of Tybalt, for example. All of the cuts he made had to be individually tracked to make sure that all the music was covered choreographically. It takes supreme confidence to make cuts in Prokofiev’s score. Uthoff’s Romeo and Juliet brought some important new elements into play, not the least of which was tight layering of the dramatic flow.

One of his innovations was to move the Mandolin Dance to the first act to show that Romeo’s original intent in going to the House of Capulet was to pursue Rosaline, not Juliet. Another new innovation at the time was to layer hanging, painted mesh scrims on the stage which would only become visible when front-lit. When back-lit, they became transparent. Dousing the lights on the front scrim allowed for another, subsequent scene to take place immediately behind it without stopping the music or changing scenery. It was a highly complex and innovative lighting scheme which, in addition to saving money on sets, allowed for quicker and smoother transitions between scenes. The final ballet had a running time of just two hours and each scene flowed briskly and seamlessly into the next. Said Uthoff finally, “I would put my Romeo and Juliet up against anyone’s.” This is the sort of thing I refer to when I say that Uthoff does not engage in false modesty.

Uthoff’s selection of dancers for his companies was idiosyncratic. He never had a specific type of dancer he preferred to work with and seems to have little patience with uniformity. The Hartford Ballet dancers ranged in size from under five feet to over six feet tall. “We could never do ballets that required a perfectly straight line but I never wanted that anyway. I have to find a dancer relatable and interesting, first of all,” said Uthoff. “They have to love to dance and move around because that passion is what makes them watchable.” That was, and is, more important to him than pure technique and it made his companies more compelling to watch repeatedly than most. It also meant that he had to be flexible. “I never hesitated to change choreography to accommodate a new dancer,” he added.

While choreographing Romeo and Juliet, Thomas Giroir, the dancer Uthoff had cast as Romeo was injured and Uthoff briefly contemplated a return to the stage. After abandoning that idea, Uthoff looked at the company and there was only one dancer suited for the part. William Parton was 19 years-old and not yet ready for a lead role as he had limited stage experience. Nonetheless, Uthoff gave Parton the part and then modified the choreography to suit him and a new Romeo was born. Parton rose to the challenge and it changed the arc of his career.

The Importance of Programming

The perfect repertory program was always Uthoff’s goal. He wanted the audience to come and see four works performed by his company and have a fulfilling theatrical experience. Uthoff’s model of the perfect program came about when he had put together a program featuring Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante replica watches, Lotte Goslar’s Leggieros, his own Tom Dula, and Land’s Edge, created by dancers from Pilobolous Dance Theater. The reason this worked so well, according to Uthoff, is that it gave the audience one familiar classical dance from Balanchine, one comic piece by Goslar, then Uthoff’s own homespun regional American piece and then, to finish, a dramatic work that gave the audience a strong cathartic experience.

This epiphany came after a different program in which he had placed a jazzy new work by Christian Holder last in a program with Land’s Edge just before it. Holder’s piece received a tepid response because the audience had been emotionally drained by the preceding one. When he changed the order the next night, everything clicked and the result was a standing ovation. Giving the audience a fulfilling experience is more important to Uthoff than receiving applause for his own work and that ovation was his proudest moment. For him it stands above any of his personal achievements as a dancer and choreographer and it is what he strives to do today while programming for Dance St. Louis.

The Hartford Ballet and its school were a source of pride for Michael Uthoff and Enid Lynn, who had worked very hard to build it over 20 years. Although he left it in sound financial condition and with a substantial base of followers, it survived Uthoff’s departure by just seven years replica watches, closing down permanently in 1999. More than anything, he was saddened by the prospect of the more than 700 students who were left without access to a great dance education. It is unfortunately impossible to name all the great dancers that the school turned out. Uthoff became visibly emotional on the subject of the Hartford company’s demise but he was less sentimental about the shuttering of many other regional dance companies across the country. His feeling is that “a company has to have a damned good reason for existing or it won’t be able to do the things it has to in order to survive.”

Speaking further on the topic of the necessity of vision and ambition in leadership, Uthoff says, “You have to feel that you will die if you don’t get to do it.” Anything less than that total commitment just isn’t enough to keep a dance company going. Uthoff feels that too many regional companies came about as a result of an unemployed former dancer trying to keep drawing a paycheck. Many of these companies are now gone and Uthoff sees this as generally a good thing. Without a real mission and something to say, the company is just an ego trip or a copy of the things that everyone else is doing. When everyone is doing the same thing it’s just another tedious exercise in mediocrity. To do better means to constantly work to put the best performances you can on stage, drawing the best performances out of the dancers you have rather than the ones you might wish to have.

After 20 years in Hartford, Michael Uthoff felt that it was time for a change in leadership for the company and time for him to reach out for new horizons. Ballet Arizona came along in search of a new artistic director at just the right time.

Susan Walsh/AP Photo

President Obama is teeing up interest rates on federal student loans as the new focus of his election-year drive to draw contrasts with Republicans.

In his weekly address, Obama says he will embark on a public campaign over the next few weeks to pressure lawmakers to act to keep rates at their current levels — 3.4 percent — before they double, by law, on July 1.

The rate change would affect an estimated 7.4 million students Custom Tattoo Machines, who would each see an additional $1,000 in debt per year at the higher rates, according to the White House.

“We should be doing everything we can to put higher education within reach for every American — because at a time when the unemployment rate for Americans with at least a college degree is about half the national average Rotary Machine Tattoo, it’s never been more important,” Obama says. “But here’s the thing: it’s also never been more expensive.”

Obama says that on average Americans now have more student loan debt than credit card debt — a prospect which he says is dissuading some lower-income families from considering higher education.

“In America, higher education cannot be a luxury,” Obama says. “It’s an economic imperative that every family must be able to afford.”

The president will visit college campuses in North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa next week to leverage popular support for his plan and to pressure Congress to extend rates at current levels.

He says failure to do so would be a “tremendous blow” and something that’s “completely preventable.”

Some Republicans oppose extending the lower student loan rates in part because of the high cost to taxpayers, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates at $6 billion each additional year.

“Bad policy based on lofty campaign promises has put us in an untenable situation,” said Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., who chairs the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

“We must now choose between allowing interest rates to rise or piling billions of dollars on the backs of taxpayers,” he said. “My colleagues and I are exploring options in hopes of finding a responsible solution that serves borrowers and taxpayers equally well.”

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Friday that the administration was eager to work closely with Congressional Republicans to find a compromise.

“I think we need to get the immediate issue dealt with now Tattoo Machine Price, but let’s all work together as a country to work on the long-term issue as well,” Duncan said. “We need to pay for it. We’re committed to paying for it.”

Still, Obama claims in his address that some Republicans’ position on student loan rates reflects broader opposition to government funding for programs and initiatives to help the middle class.

“We cannot just cut our way to prosperity,” Obama says of House Republicans’ budget proposals. “Making it harder for our young people to afford higher education and earn their degrees is nothing more than cutting our own future off at the knees.”

“Congress needs to keep interest rates on student loans from doubling, and they need to do it now,” he says.

SHOWS: Good Morning America

Remember the days when you went to proper birthday parties? The kind where you walk away with one tenth of the pass the parcel, sickly sweet cake wrapped in lurid napkins and a party bag with toy cars and lollipops? Weren’t they the days? Well, I am pleased to inform you that such retro delights are not dead and gone forever, thanks to the multi-talented, bespectacled wonder that is Amy Lamé, and her Unhappy Birthday.

Amy Lamé is, in my humble opinion, our best New Jersey export. Yes, that’s right, even better than Snooki and her silicone lot put together. Not only has Lamé written for an inordinate amount of publications, ranging from the Independent to DIVA and everything in between, she also graced our fair isle with the Olivier-award winning collaborative (although I’m not sure anybody’s all too sure what that means these days) named Duckie, and has endlessly entertained us with one-woman shows titled to titillate (see Cum Manifesto). But this year, Lamé turns her attention to her biggest obsession: Morrissey, he of silky baritone, gravity-defying quiff, and slightly warped views on the gravity of Norwegian massacres.

So it is apt that we begin milling about a foyer in Camden adorned with rare, beautiful black and white photographs of the man himself – a pleasant bonus to the evening’s entertainment. After graciously accepting a party hat Cheap Tattoo Supplies, party popper and ‘rehydrated potato snack’ from the lovely Amy, the audience is ushered into a darkened room Tattoo Machine Power Supply, where we take our seats around a large, alter-like table. Feeling every inch the excitable five-year-old, Lamé begins with a Morissey-fuelled jolly round of pass the parcel. Unhappy Birthday simultaneously revolves around a selection of Morrissey numbers and the aforementioned parcel, which provides a prop for each new set piece. The structure is flawless, and not only keeps tensions high, and the audience utterly involved (if a little terrified), but keeps the show from drifting off into art-house obscurity. We are treated to such oddball delights as Moz-e-oke (Morrissey themed karaoke, a must for any Unhappy Birthday worth its salt), sanitary towel art work, and a mandatory prayer to Morrissey (not advisory for those opposed to idolatry, but bloody funny for everyone else).

Depressingly often, performance art hangs by a thread to its original intention, becoming self-involved and inaccessible. Luckily for Lamé, Unhappy Birthday dishes up just a couple of awkward, slightly disconnected moments, which can be difficult to decipher. The program runs a little long for a one woman show on one topic, and one obsessive topic only, and occasionally smacks of Arts-funded box ticking, but on the whole, Lamé’s larger-than-life bubblegum-rock star demeanor keep the punters chortling, and party spirits high.

It is difficult to imagine anyone being able to dislike Lamé, and this is the real ace in her pack. She’s the kind of woman you want to organize your Birthday, someone you’re itching to get on your Facebook friends list, or have ‘gin and red velvet’ afternoon tea with. The great thing about Unhappy Birthday is that you leave nursing the feeling that you’ve done just that. It’s not particularly high art Tattoo Kits For Cheap, there’s little talent involved (in the traditional sense of the word), but it is a fantastically entertaining, retro throwback of a knees up, and if you like your theatre raucous, ridiculous and insanely affable, Lamé is undoubtedly the girl for you.

Unhappy Birthday is at Camden People’s Theatre.

University of AlabamaMark Weaver, professor of metallurgical and materials engineering, and Greg Thompson, associate professor of metallurgical and materials engineering, standing in front of the Local Electron Atom Probe, or LEAP.Beginning Sunday, The University of Alabama will host more than 180 scientists for an international conference focused on research into field emission and atom probe microscopy. Before coming to Tuscaloosa this year, the International Field Emission Symposium met in Sydney, Australia Cheap White Herve leger, in 2010 and in Rouen, France, in 2008.

“This conference brings together leading scientists around the world to our campus for in-depth scientific discussions,” said Gregory Thompson, an associate professor in the department of metallurgical and materials engineering. “It speaks volumes on the direction The University of Alabama research is heading.”

Thompson helped organize the week-long conference, that will feature scientists from Poland, England, Belgium, France, Germany, Taiwan, Australia, Japan and other nations. The University of Alabama in 2007 was just the fourth U.S. university to install a powerful microscope called the Local Electron Atom Probe, or LEAP, and it still is the only university in the Southeast with this technology.

The LEAP lets Thompson and others study the chemical structure of materials like semiconductors and high-strength Replica Hale Bob Dresses, low-weight steels, as part of a focus on nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Most of the scientists coming for the symposium will stay in vacant university dorms, and on May 24 they will have the opportunity of a field trip to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville.

For more information about the conference, see www.ifes2012.ua.edu.

2010 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni – Click above for high-res image gallery

It was eleven in the morning on a typical Thursday when my phone rang. “How’d you like to drive the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni in Beverly Hills at 3:00 pm… with Valentino Balboni?” Aside from screaming “YES!!!” at the top of my lungs, all sorts of thoughts started to crowd my brain. What should I wear? Should I shave? Do I address him as Valentino? Mr. Balboni? Your majesty? And most of all, am I worthy? Normally at car events, you wind up talking to a bunch of MBA-types and, no offense Tattoo Supplies, but really, who cares? You drink too much, brag too much, dress how you like – it simply doesn’t matter. But this was Valentino Balboni. Respect is demanded. Then I got a text message from Drew Phillips Tattoo Supplies, our resident ace photographer. “No flip flops.” Right.

It’s believed that Valentino Balboni has driven 80% of all Lamborghinis ever made.
In case you’re not sure what all the drama is about, Valentino Balboni spent four decades as a test driver for Lamborghini. In fact, for several of those years he was the test driver. Not only has Balboni been at the helm of every prototype Lamborghini since 1973, but most of their production cars got a quick lap around the streets of Sant’Agata with Valentino at the helm, just to make sure they were up to Lamborghini snuff. Still not clear as to why the man’s such a big deal? It’s believed that Valentino Balboni has driven 80% of all Lamborghinis ever made.

Balboni was instrumental in the development of the Gallardo, Lamborghini’s most successful model of all time with over 9,000 sold. Lamborghini has just released a very special and very limited edition of the Gallardo, dubbed the LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, after their own living legend. Just 250 will be produced and all are rear-wheel drive – a first for Lamborghini in nearly a decade. But how did this car come to be? I was lucky enough to spend ninety minutes in a Lamborghini Valentino Balboni with Valentino Balboni asking him exactly that. Plus a whole lot more – click on the jump to read all about it.

Related GalleryFirst Drive: 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

These days, the news from Georgia is all bombing campaigns and Russian occupation, but for an odd and magical week in the summer of 2006, I was part of Mikheil Saakashvili’s great and tragic fantasy of an independent, America-loving Georgia.

My boyfriend at the time was a sometimes travel writer who had wangled a magazine assignment to write a shopping guide to Tblisi, and he brought me along. We were two Americans without credentials, connections, or, quite honestly Cheap Chanel Dresses, value. There was no reason for anyone to notice us, much less the president of a small nation.

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We spent the first few days, Fodor’s in hand, cooing at early Christian churches and Ottoman baths. And then one night, during the intermission of a puppet show about the Battle of Stalingrad, we got a panicked call. The president had heard the American media was in town—us. Although I hadn’t known that Georgia was a country until the travel writer told me he’d gotten us a free trip there, I was suddenly at the Chancellery Building in Tblisi meeting President Saakashvilli—call him Misha, he implored.

The travel writer and I, having risen so precipitously and incongruously in status, were desperately trying to sound knowledgeable about Georgian history (courtesy of our Fodor’s research). Misha Discount Emilio Pucci Dresses, who possibly hoped that the travel writer could unleash hungry packs of tourists with his shopping guide, eagerly explained his dreams for Georgia’s hip and sexy future. He had already painted the concrete Soviet-era housing blocks in bright colors Buy Herve Leger v neck, ordered a pagoda from Japan, and started building himself a White House—all of which had been good for public optimism and business. But what was he to do with the homely national stadium? He turned to me, and I suggested that he get artist Christo to wrap it up. An order was immediately given to find Christo.

Surely there was something charming and even democratic about a nation’s political leader taking tips from an unemployed travel writer and his flighty girlfriend about how to make his democracy look cool (as well as pretty), but Discount BCBG Dresses, alarmingly, it also suggested that Saakashvili thought American-style PR would make his nation safe and strong.

At dinner (suddenly all our meals were with him), Misha told us we must be his guests at the Black Sea resort of Batumi, the capital of Adjara.

The travel writer and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili

The next day, Misha, accompanied by eight CIA-trained bodyguards Cheap Karen Millen Dresses, flew us in a vintage Soviet chopper to what looked like a Bond villain’s compound on the beach. After I changed into my femme fatale bikini, an armed guard escorted me from the dacha to the beach, where Misha was riding a jet ski. I hesitated just a moment before I clung to the president for dear life (only briefly wondering whether the travel writer had traded me for access to high places).

But pretty girls were not this potentate’s fatal flaw. Misha was much more desirous of … restaurants. He was obsessed with their meaning and importance. The more restaurants he could build, the better. He didn’t believe the Russians would attack a place that looked like Chicago.

A typical Georgian meal

The travel writer and I watched Misha and the mayor of Batumi play tennis, and then the four of us—these new democrats and we accidental representatives of the Western media—went to a new restaurant on a boat. Adjara, Misha explained, was one of the secessionist provinces. It had been a black hole of corruption backed by Russia until 2004, when he ousted Adjara’s despot DKNY Dresses sale, Aslan Abashidze, after various military face-offs. Misha said he knew how to protect his nation from Russia and undermine the Russian-backed secessionists—it was all about the Georgian people learning how to enjoy life and have fun.

After dinner, Misha took us to a state-run summer camp, where children put on a spontaneous talent show and begged for autographs (including mine)—then it was back to the dacha. We said our fond goodnights as Misha went into his heavily guarded room. Down the hall, I slipped between rough Soviet-grade sheets, making a mental note to tell Misha about how much more enjoyable life could be with a high thread count.

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2010 Infiniti G – Click above for high-res image gallery
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When the team over at Inside Line reported on Tuesday that the 2011 Infiniti G Series sedan will be offered with a turbocharged 2.5-liter V6 borrowed from the JDM Skyline 250GT (sold as the Infiniti G on our shores) White Herve leger sale, we were left scratching our heads. Understanding that the car was intended to be an entry-level (and fuel-efficient) competitor to the BMW 328i and Lexus IS250 Cheap White Herve leger, arming it with a 280-horsepower turbocharged powerplant simply didn’t make sense.

With a genuine apology for an erroneous report Discount Marc Jacobs Dresses, IL is now reporting that the turbocharger will be left back in Japan. Sans turbo Herve Leger sale, the Infiniti G25 will arrive with a normally-aspirated 2.5-liter V6 rated at 210 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque. That’s more like it… maybe. According to our tipster, the engine will be rated at 235 hp and 187 lb-ft of torque. Don’t memorize those numbers either Buy BCBG Dresses, because our sources say it’s 222 hp and 194 lb-ft of torque. Bottom line: There will be no turbocharged engine under the hood of the upcoming Infiniti G25. Thanks for the tip Dr. J!

[Source: Inside Line]

Boris Yeltsin Cheap White Herve leger

When I arrived in Moscow in the summer of 1992, as the Boston Globe’s new bureau chief, Boris Yeltsin’s reforms were in full swing; the Communist Party, already swept out of power, was on trial; and the new Duma looked like it might become a serious parliamentary power. So, I called on the head of Russia’s leading pro-democracy organization. Which cities, I asked him, should I go visit? Where were his movement’s chapters taking off, possibly even taking control?

He thought about my question silently for two minutes. (That’s a long time to think silently; try it.) Then he called one of his colleagues on the phone and talked—or Cheap Christian Audigier Clothing, mainly, continued his silence—with him for another five minutes.

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Right then, I knew that there were no such cities, no such chapters—that there was no democracy movement of any consequence in all Russia.

That moment came to mind when I read of Vladimir Putin’s ploy to extend his power beyond next year’s election—choosing not to run for a third consecutive term as president (which the Russian Constitution prohibits) but rather to run for parliament as the head of his wildly popular Russia Unity Party and thus very likely to re-emerge as prime minister.

It all goes back to Yeltsin—or, actually, to Peter the Great, Czar Alexander II, Lenin Cheap Herve leger strapless, Stalin, Khrushchev. All the Russian leaders who mounted reforms or revolutions through the centuries did so from the top down. (The name of Lenin’s party, the Bolsheviks, which means “the majority,” was never an accurate description.)

Yeltsin came to power as an authentic rebel and a genuine advocate of Western-style reforms. But ultimately he remained a product of the Communist system through which he had risen. And he veered away from free markets and democracy quite early in his reign, once he realized their full implications.

He allowed and tolerated a startlingly free mass media (at least in his first few years as president), but he never associated with a political party, never encouraged the formation of independent unions or professional courts. In short, he never created the institutions of a democracy. The reforms were wholly linked to Boris Yeltsin and were thus easily reversed either by him or by some successor. This failure wasn’t an oversight on Yeltsin’s part; it was deliberate.

As early as July 1992, barely a half-year into his reign as president of post-Soviet Russia, Yeltsin began to issue decrees that greatly expanded his executive powers. The liberal newspaper Moskovski Novosti (Moscow News) ran a story Replica DKNY Clothing, headlined “Boris Yeltsin’s Quiet Coup,” that condemned his measures as “one more step toward the establishment of a dictatorship.” Yuri Afanasiev, a prominent democratic activist and a key ally in the parliament, wrote in Rossiya (Russia) that Yeltsin was now “preoccupied exclusively with how to stay in power.”

These comments, which reflected a widespread disillusionment among democratic activists, were a bit overblown. Compared with the regimes of a few years earlier, compared even with Mikhail Gorbachev’s era of glasnost and perestroika, Yeltsin’s Russia was a haven of personal freedom—freedom of speech, freedom of mobility Replica BCBG Dresses, freedom of trade. But it never made the leap to political democracy—which is something else entirely.

His economic reforms were also short-circuited. In August 1992, with Yeltsin’s assent, the Russian Central Bank bailed out the country’s large, state-owned factories to the tune of 1 trillion rubles (about $6.6 billion at the time). The move pushed the inflation rate to 70 percent per month. It rewarded the most inefficient industries. (In some cases, the raw resources they consumed were of greater value than the products they manufactured.) And it put an end to the radical free-market reforms being pushed by his young prime minister Buy DKNY Clothes, Yegor Gaidar.

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In his book Sad Monsters, Colbert Report writer Frank Lesser explores “monsters who are sad, misunderstood, discouraged, lonely Girard Perregaux Replica Watches, and in many cases demonized, particularly the demons.” Lesser’s 39 essays include two that originally appeared in Slate, ” The Yeti Wears Prada” and ” How To Find the Genie of Your Dreams.” In the piece excerpted below, he delves into the secret world of unicorns. Read more at sadmonsters.com.

Hey, preteen girls, put down the rock ‘n’ roll music records and listen up! If you give up your virginity before you get married, you’ll miss out on something far better than sex: befriending a unicorn.

The little-known fact is, every abstinent teen gets her own unicorn as her BFF. Why do you think good girls don’t mind 9 p.m. curfews? I’ll give you one hint: unicorn slumber parties!!!

You see, in medieval times, a virginal maiden would sit alone in the woods until a unicorn, enchanted by her purity, approached and laid its head in her lap. At which point, the waiting hunters would reveal themselves Replica Ferrari Watches, and presto—unicorn kebabs. Of course, nowadays most unicorn meat comes from factory farms, which means wild unicorns can spend their free time teaching virtuous girls how to wear makeup without looking cheap.

The only reason abstinence promoters don’t tell everyone about this is because then we’d run out of unicorns.

However, one night of mind-blowing, soul-shattering ecstasy means you’ll never in your life enjoy this magical creature’s gentle nuzzling. (It feels like taking a bubble bath full of giggling puppies Wholesale Replica MB&F Watches!) And unlike a sex-crazed boyfriend, a unicorn will never “use” you. Sure, sometimes you and your unicorn will have movie night plans to watch My Friend Flicka, and he’ll come over to your place and immediately want to lay his head in your lap Wholesale Replica Omega Watches, and then after a couple of hurried minutes of lap cuddling he’ll make up some excuse about how he has a lot of work to finish before rushing out the door. But it’s worth it, because unicorns eat your nightmares.

Frank Lesser considers the unicorn

I know about the joy of unicorns firsthand. When I was a teenage girl, my best friend was a majestic unicorn. Arondel would let me ride him and braid his mane, and we’d stay up all night dishing about our Bible crushes. (For the record, I was crazy about Judas. I guess I like the bad boys!) Of course, now that I’m married to my Lutheran summer camp counselor Peter, Arondel and I only meet up for coffee a couple of times a year, and the conversation always feels a bit forced.

You might be wondering, “If you’re telling the truth, then why haven’t I ever seen a unicorn before?” That’s a very good question. You’re a very smart little girl. Good luck trying to find a husband!

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The reason there are so few unicorn sightings today isn’t because they are mythical creatures that never existed Best place to buy Replica MB&F Watches, but because of modern society’s moral depravity. This is why you will never see Lady Gaga riding a unicorn. In fact, she’d be lucky if she got to split a milk shake with a narwhal.

Don’t fret if you’ve already given in to temptation. Unicorns are forgiving creatures—to a point. If you’ve had fewer than four sexual partners, and you pray really hard to God to restore your virginity, and you take a purity pledge, you won’t get to pet a unicorn, but it might still accept your Facebook friend request. However, if you’ve had more than four partners and you so much as wave to a unicorn, the beautiful creature will gore you with its deadly horn. Harsh, but it is a fate far better than the crippling sexual diseases you no doubt contracted as a result of your harlot’s escapades.

Of course, if you’re no longer a virgin Replica Graham London Watches, there are still plenty of other mythological creatures who’ll be your friend. Like the Minotaur. He’s a great listener, providing you speak loud enough that he can hear you over his cud-chewing.

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