Coach SunglassesWisconsin's law taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from
most public workers was struck down Thursday by a circuit court judge but the ruling will not be the final say in the union fight that brought tens of
thousands of protesters to the Capitol earlier this year.
The state Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for June 6 to decide whether it will take the case. Republicans who control the Legislature also could pass
the law a second time to avoid the open meeting violations that led to the judge's voiding the law Thursday. (See TIME's photoessay: ("Showdown in Wisconsin")
Gov. Scott Walker pushed for the law as a way to help balance the state budget that was projected to be $3.6 billion short when he introduced the proposal in
February. coach handbags outlet His spokesman, Cullen Werwie, said the governor would have no comment on
the ruling.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and his brother, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, said in statements they believe the Supreme Court will
rule in their favor. "This overdue reform is still a critical part of balancing Wisconsin's budget," Scott Fitzgerald said.
Wisconsin Department of Justice executive assistant Steve Means said the ruling was disappointing and that he was confident the Supreme Court would overturn
the decision. The Justice Department argued that the lower court judge had no authority to block enactment of a bill passed by the Legislature.
Ismael Ozanne, the Dane County district attorney who argued for striking down the law, did not immediately return a message.
While Walker and Republican legislators have said they legally passed the bill, they say they would pass it again if necessary to have it take effect when
Walker's two-year budget begins July 1.
Still, the judge's ruling is a victory, said Marty Beil, executive director of the state's largest public employee union. hermes birkin"It tells legislators 'You can't be arrogant,'" Beil said. "You have to do it in the light of
day. You can't take stuff away from people in a backroom deal."
If the Legislature legally passes the bill, Beil said more legal challenges attacking its constitutionality will be filed.
Mary Bell, president of the state's largest teachers' union, said she hoped the judge's ruling would lead to lawmakers reconsidering passing the law again.
"It is not in the best interest of students, schools or Wisconsin's future to take the voices of educators out of our classrooms," Bell said in a statement.
"We've seen how this issue has polarized our state."
The last time the Legislature took up the issue, tens of thousands of protesters including many teachers descended on Madison in a vain attempt to persuade
lawmakers to reject Walker's proposal. Nike outlet The protests, which grew to as large as 85,000 people, lasted
for weeks and made Wisconsin the center of a national debate on union rights. Meanwhile, all 14 Democratic senators fled to Illinois to prevent a 20-member
quorum to pass the bill. The Senate then called a special committee meeting with roughly two hours' notice so it could amend the bill to take out spending
items that required a higher quorum to be present.
Once amended, the Senate passed the bill without the Democrats present and the Assembly followed suit the next day. The Assembly had previously passed the
more expansive version of the bill following a 61-hour filibuster by Democrats. Walker signed the stripped-down version into law on March 11.
On Thursday, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that Republican legislators violated Wisconsin's open meetings law by calling the meeting at such
short notice.
She noted the open meetings law typically calls for 24-hours' notice or, in cases with just cause, two hours. Sumi said nothing justified less than 24 hours
for the special committee and declared the law void. Coach BeltsShe had already put the law
Sarah Palinâs âLearningâ Tour: A Revolutionary Road Trip?
Coach OutletAt the annual Rolling Thunder event in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Sarah Palin will kick off a
week-long tour of U.S. historical sites. She will be accompanied by her husband Todd and daughter Piper. The tour will originate in Washington, D.C., and
will proceed north up the east coast, reads a statement from her PAC. More information will follow. Palin has no scheduled speeches or rallies, though there may be some events shes already been invited to along the way that she will participate in,
according to Tim Crawford, her PAC treasurer. Luxury Coach OutletIts a learning tour, Crawford says,
a tour of getting back to places that were key to the founding of this nation. There are a number of places from revolutionary war on that are significant
to our nations history in the northeast.
The tour, combined with a forthcoming independently produced film about her tenure as Alaskas governor, is sure to drum up speculation that Palin is
planning to run for President, something that would radically shakeup the current field of Republican contenders. She has always said that she would be an
unconventional candidate and the newly announced tour is certainly unconventional.hermes birkin One can
only imagine the mob scene when the bus, emblazoned with Join the Fundamental Restoration of America, pulls up to Gettysburg with hundreds of reporters
in tow.
Crawford would not confirm any of stops aside from Rolling Thunder. But north of Washington, there are some very obvious sites of historical significance. A
few possibilities: Antietam in Maryland, Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, the site where Washington crossed the Delaware River, the Liberty Bell and Constitution
Hall in Philadelphia, the Boston Tea Party and perhaps most important politically Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where Paul Revere delivered his warning of
the coming British invasion. Nike outlet Well soon know whether Palins trip is also an indication of major
DVDs in the 'Disney Vault': B.S. Manipulative Marketing at its Best (Worst?)
Coach OutletEvery now and again, Disney pulls movies out of the marketplace and places them out of consumer reach in the vaunted "Disney Vault." On the surface, this makes no sense: Why would a company, which obviously makes money by selling products, make it impossible for customers to buy the products? But what this piece of marketing engineering really does is cook up instant consumer demand, giving Disney fans a compelling reason to buyand buy right nowthat otherwise wouldn't exist. Eric Felten, in the WSJ, writes about the "scarcely scarce scarcity" created by Disney's marketeers, explaining that "the dreaded vault isn't so much about creating excitement as it is about creating fear."replica coach outlet The idea is that fans of movies like "Snow White" and "Fantasia," which both went into the vault in Aprilbut which you can borrow from Netflix, the local library, or, chances are, every one of your neighbors with kidswill be more likely to buy these movies if they're scared a time will come when (God forbid) they cannot buy these movies. At least until the new-new, freshly digitally remastered, freshly repriced edition comes out, of course. Felten aptly compares Disney's unpredictable DVD removal practices to experiments conducted on lab rats: cheap hermes birkinThe old behaviorists found that if a lab rat knew it would get a pellet every time it hit the lever, the rat would take his time, collecting his food only when he wanted it. But if the payoff was randomized and the rat didn't know which hit of the lever would deliver, the poor, anxious lab animal could be counted on to keep up a steady tattoo. cheap nike shoes storeHow ironic: Mickey Mouse treating us all like easily manipulated rats.
Coach OutletWith a title like L'Amour Fou, Pierre Thoretton's documentary about fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his life partner Pierre Berge promises a wild ride, a story of mad love. They had a relationship that endured throughout 50 years of glamorous living, business triumphs and failures, infidelities and Saint Laurent's drug and alcohol abuse as well as his chronic, often crippling depression. Arrows first flew, Berge tells us, at a fashion dinner in 1958; they soon moved in together, sharing homes until 1976, at which point a worn-out Berge retreated to a hotel just down the street. But they remained a couple in an emotional sense and married in a civil ceremony shortly before Saint Laurent's death in 2008. It was Berge who closed Saint Laurent's eyes for the last time. In short, there was plenty of mad and crazy love between them, but this melancholy documentary (in limited release) represents their partnership as a sort of still life: a thing quieted first by aging and then by absence. Whereas Italian fashion icon Valentino was larger than life in The Last Emperor, Matt Tyrnauer's jazzy 2009 documentary, Saint Laurent in L'Amour Fou is mostly a rather sweet and anguished ghost. Luxury Coach Outlet There are tantalizing glimpses of him at 21, he drolly tells an interviewer that he's "not unhappy" with his first collection but it doesn't feel like a full portrait. (This is the third Yves Saint Laurent documentary; two from 2002 concentrated on his career.) Thoretton focuses on the literal and figurative dismantling of the life Saint Laurent shared with Berge: an auction of their joint possessions. The central image that emerges is of Berge, who, having lived in the shadow of the fashion giant for five decades, steps out of it and walks sadly but resolutely away. (See a TIME video on Yves Saint Laurent's art collection.) hermes birkinWhile there is never any doubt about their bond, the mad love of Thoretton's title could also refer to the constant, fevered acquisition and adoration of beautiful objects. Whether in Marrakech, Morocco, on the Left Bank or in the French countryside, their homes were crammed with paintings, sculptures and vases. Busy as he was turning out two collections a year, Saint Laurent was also busy decorating: filling up spaces, creating moods within places (their country home paid homage to Marcel Proust, with rooms named for characters from Remembrance of Things Past). And he spent a lot of time languishing in them, Berge says, too depressed to entertain any of his glamorous friends (Andy Warhol, Catherine Deneuve and Mick Jagger all appear in archival footage, and Thoretton interviewed Saint Laurent's twin muses, Loulou de la Falaise and Betty Catroux). nike dunk shoesAs the camera pans over a tasteful library in Saint Laurent's Paris apartment, with Warhol's portraits of Saint Laurent peeking down from a high shelf, Berge says the designer was particularly fond of this room. "It offered him a little more privacy, away from all the masterpieces we owned," he explains. It's a real "Say what?" moment; while everyone knows money can't buy happiness, the notion that Saint Laurent, lover of beauty, needed a refuge from his more monumental possessions is startling. In his 2002 retirement speech, much of which is shown here in fuzzy black and white, Saint Laurent spoke of needing "aesthetic phantoms to live," of chasing, seeking and tracking them down but he did not mention needing rooms in which to hide from them. L'Amour Fou makes you contemplate your own clutter with an eye to a yard sale. Whether it's a Brancusi sculpture looming over the living room or a stereo that works properly only half the time, ultimately it's all just stuff, right? When Thoretton pans over Saint Laurent's former bedroom or living room, tellingly, it's dull and flat, not nearly as interesting as vintage shots of angular Saint Laurent posing among objects. Coach Totes Bags The point he's making is clear, but he hammers it home with a few too many shots of crowded-but-empty rooms.
Volcanic Deja Vu? One Year Later, Iceland Faces Another Eruption
Coach OutletBetter learn how to pronounce this name: Grimsvotn. It could be the cause of much travel grief if the eruption continues. If Eyjafjallajokull were any example, Iceland's volcanoes have the power to disrupt the world travel scene. And yesterday, it appears the tiny nation's hidden volcanoes are at it again. This time, the culprit was Iceland's biggest and most active volcano, Grimsvotn. (PHOTOS: The eerie beauty of Iceland's volcanoes) The eruption began Saturday, shooting a plume of ash more than 12 miles into the sky. Scientists noted that it was Grimsvotn's largest eruption in more than 100 years. Luxury Coach Outlet And as its name notes (in English, at least), the fallout could be grim indeed. "(It was) much bigger and more intensive than Eyjafjallajokull," University of Iceland geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson told the AP. However, a combination of factors could help mitigate this eruption as compared to the April 2010 blast at Eyjafjallajokull, which impacted travel plans for 10 million people worldwide. Gudmundsson says the ash is coarser than last year's, meaning it will dissipate and fall to the ground faster, leading to clearer skies quicker. hermes birkin He also noted the winds were not as strong as they were last April, so the ash is less likely to be blown for miles. Nonetheless, Iceland's main international airport, Keflavik, was shut down this morning amid fears that the ash might damage jets' engines. The halt grounded 11 airplanes in Iceland, affecting about 2,000 passengers. Nike outlet Authorities have set up a no-fly for 120 nautical miles in all directions of the eruption. Scientists are optimistic that the worst will be over in two or three days.
Coach SunglassesLos Angeles Lakers fans must have hoped that their team's implosio in the 2011 NBA playoffs during coach Phil Jackson's likely last season was the end of this year's Staples Center soap opera. As it turns out, that was wishful thinking. Now, suddenly, the Lakers' faithful are witness to a more bizarre melodrama. Their legendary Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has in recent days taken to Twitter and other media outlets to express his genuine displeasure that the Lakers have not yet erected a statue in his honor outside the Staples Center, where Magic Johnson, Jerry West and longtime Lakers announcer Chick Hearn are all bronzed, along with Wayne Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya. (See TIME's Q&A with Abdul-Jabbar.) Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, has never been a charmer, and he would be the first to admit it. But his griping about the statue has already raised lots of eyebrows. Luxury Coach Outlet"I don't understand it," Abdul-Jabbar told the Sporting News regarding the statue issue. "It's either an oversight or they're taking me for granted. I'm not going to try to read people's minds, but it doesn't make me happy. It's definitely a slight." In a statement, Abdul-Jabbar later said, "I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgment of my contribution to Laker success. I guess being the linchpin for five world-championship teams is not considered significant enough in terms of being part of Laker history." Among the slights, says Abdul-Jabbar: he was forced to take a pay cut as a special assistant coach in 2009 while Jackson earned $12 million per year (a Lakers spokesman has said Abdul-Jabbar's responsibilities were reduced and that his salary was adjusted to reflect that). Former teammate Magic Johnson has been fully embraced by the Lakers.cheap hermes birkin He even became part owner, though he sold his share last year. Meanwhile, Abdul-Jabbar says he feels like an outsider. "They just treated me like I was some stranger," he tells TIME. On the flight back from Orlando after the Lakers won the 2009 NBA Finals, Jabbar, who is 7 ft. 2 in., says the team made him coil up in a small seat while there were roomier seats available in the area where players and other coaches were lounging. Many observers are not going to have much sympathy for Abdul-Jabbar, who can seem like yet another retired star clinging to glory days and starving for recognition while the world moves on without him. The Lakers have indicated that Abdul-Jabbar is next in line for a statue, though he says he heard that promise two years ago. But perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to kick the man. "It's not like I want a statue and I'm jumping up and down about that," says Abdul-Jabbar. "It's an accumulation of things. nike dunk shoesThe principle of not being recognized is something that can really burn." (See the top 10 U.S. sports strikes and lockouts.) In his six years as a special assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar has received some credit for helping Lakers center Andrew Bynum develop into a low-post threat. And Abdul-Jabbar, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009 it's in remission isn't some ex-jock who just sits around at card shows, trying to profit solely from his name. He's an established cultural figure, whose experiences encountering racism and subsequent conversion to Islam got people talking about race and religion.Coach Belts He has written six books, including several on African-American history, and has just produced a thoughtful documentary now available on Netflix, On the Shoulders of Giants, which tells the story of the Harlem Rens, a successful barnstorming all-black team from the 1930s. (And who could forget his immortal cameo as pilot Roger Murdoch in Airplane!? "Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes." )
