29English ALANBAA Sunday, 27 January, 2013

Analysis Movies Does anyone actually believe First Steve Jobs movie gets red in a ‘second-term curse’? carpet premiere -- Just as farm- ident Barack Obama on ers plant and reap with how to best avoid the sec- Lindsay the seasons, political jour- ond-term curse, their diag- nalists consult the cal- nosis and advice isn’t sec- Lohan endar for the best time ond-term-specific. They Lindsay Lohan’s Court to scatter seed and har- hypothesize that the scan- Case Transferred to Judge vest, with second-term dal-industrial complex Who Advised Her to Be inaugurations being the may be “gearing up to “MoreMature”http://eonli. preferred juncture to de- derail President Obama’s ne/14bpr3L ploy temple-tapping dis- second term,” but what cussions of the “second- they offer is a general- term curse,” the notion ized formula a president that special doom awaits can use to beat his polit- any modern president who ical critics and naysay- wins the White House a ers no matter what term Kutcher as young Jobs second time. he’s serving. Like most predictions, I doubt that, deep down, Reuters -- The first movie about this one is for suckers. To Fabiani and Lehane be- Apple’s legendary co-founder got a begin with, the definition lieve in the curse or that warm reception at its world premiere of a second-term curse they believe in presidential on Friday, just 15 months after Steve has become so elastic that “hubris” or “overreach,” Jobs’ death. Victoria anything from a few pol- et empire. Two guys with White which pundits and politi- “jOBS,” starring “Two and a Half icy setbacks to death can Sifting Nexis, we learn House experience, David cians also love to cite, and Men” actor Ashton Kutcher as the Beckham be interpreted as fulfill- that most of the talking Plouffe and Joe Lock- which President Obama tech and computer entrepreneur who Victoria Beckham to ment of the curse. Even heads and writers con- hart, gave the curse a acknowledged the day af- revolutionized the way people listen Launch Online Shopping the definition of a second templating the curse in gentle nahhhh brush-off ter his re-election. “I’m to music and built Apple Inc into an Site Victoria Beckham term has been debased the past couple of weeks this week, while a pair more than familiar with international powerhouse, got a red http://eonli.ne/14bdcUH by those who call vice have done so to refute of Clinton administra- all the literature about carpet roll-out at the Sundance Film presidents who complete it. Writing in The Atlan- tion insiders, Mark Fa- presidential overreach in Festival ahead of hitting U.S. the- a dead president’s term tic, legal scholar Akhil biani and Chris Lehane, second terms,” he said. aters on April 19. and win one on their own Reed Amar points out came closest to giving “We are very cautious “jOBS” chronicles 30 defining years — Theodore Roosevelt, that “the idea of a sec- the curse a full-frontal about that.” of the late Apple chairman, from an Calvin Coolidge, Harry ond-term curse fails to embrace this week with With the exception of experimental youth to the man in Truman and Lyndon John- account for basic prob- their USA Today op-ed President Richard Nix- charge of one of the world’s most son — two-termers. ability,” that the curse is that blamed botched sec- on — who was eternal- recognized brands. It is the first of Also, as David Green- probably more about the ond terms on the “scan- ly damned by Yahweh two U.S. feature films about Jobs, berg recently argued in regression to the mean dal-industrial complex.” and Satan, all the deities who died in 2011 at age 56. The New Republic, the than anything else. At In their view, the com- of the Hindu pantheon “Everybody has their own opin- audit of supposedly failed Bloomberg View, Al Hunt plex — equal part press, and every god record- ion about Steve Jobs, and they have Marisa second terms usually ne- rejects the curse in his bad public servants who ed in Roman, Greek and something invested in a different part glects to mention the tri- first paragraph. Histo- embarrass the president Norse mythology for his of his story. So the challenge is to de- Tomei umphs, such as President rian Douglas Brinkley and hyper-partisans who many transgressions — cide what part of his story to tell, and Marisa Tomei Not Engaged Bill Clinton’s foreign pol- has debunked the curse exploit presidential mis- no second-term president not disenfranchise anybody,” direc- to Prometheus Hunk Logan icy successes in Kosovo as mythology in multi- cues — can be neutralized has ever been the recipi- tor Josh Stern told Reuters ahead of Marshall-Green http://eonli. and Northern Ireland in ple venues in the past by a White House prac- ent of a curse. And it fol- the screening. ne/WS6GwJ his second term, President week (CBS This Morn- ticed in damage control: lows that no successful “Hazarding a guess and ventur- George W. Bush’s wind- ing, WSJ Live, the New First, confess to mistakes first-termer should ever ing into too much speculation is al- ing down of the Iraq war York Times and CNN), as made; next, avoid pan- believe himself blessed. ways dangerous, especially with a in his second and Presi- did Doris Kearns Good- ic; and finally, maintain When encountering these character who is so well-known,” dent Ronald Reagan’s re- win on Meet the Press the president’s power-en- words in political jour- Stern added. treat from “Strangelovean and The Today Show (“I hancing credibility. nalism, consider yourself The film, co-starring Josh Gad and apocalypticism” that cre- think we’ve made too Although Fabiani and warned that heaps of filler Dermot Mulroney, begins with Jobs ated a soft-landing place much of second-term Lehane frame their op-ed are about to follow. the dreamer, the poet and the occa- for the collapsing Sovi- curses”). as instructions for Pres- By Jack Shafer sional drug user in college, and his initial ideas for Apple Computers, before his vision took on a life of its own. Julie Benz Politics Much of the drama is based around Julie Benz’s 3 Rules for the early 1980s, and Jobs’ ideolo- Maintaining Healthy gies for the Apple Lisa and Macin- Hair tosh computers, which ended up per- http://eonli.ne/14aLbg7 Britain: The annoying forming poorly for the company and led to Jobs being fired. Kutcher’s Jobs is seen as the rock European star of the tech world, admired but misunderstood in his early days as Reuters -- Truly, Brit- hind that of the United he constantly tried to think outside of ain is not just a bad Euro- States for 20 years. As the box and bring a notion of “cool” pean, but a very annoy- Klaus Schwab, the ex- to his brand. ing one. David Cameron ecutive chairman of the The audience on Friday warm- half-admitted as much World Economic Forum, ly applauded the film following the in his speech in Davos has said, to use the word screening. Wednesday, when he “union” in this context is Kim quipped, “frustrated as misleading. Some of the [our European partners] northern countries, like Kardashian no doubt are by Britain’s Finland, Germany, Swe- Nature Kim Kardashian and Khloé attitude.” den and the Netherlands, Kardashian Odom Slam Re- The U.K. joined the Eu- score high in competi- port of Father Robert Kar- ropean Union late, spend- tiveness. The southern- Dung beetles dashian’s Alleged Diary, ing more than a decade ers score low, with France Defend Kris Jenner after the end of the World somewhere in between. http://eonli.ne/WS0VPD War II arrogantly believ- The Union yokes togeth- look to the stars ing that Europe was too er extremely dissimilar Reuters -- A species of South Afri- small for it. When it did countries, which, in some can dung beetle has been shown to use join under a Conservative cases, have become more the Milky Way to navigate, making government, the next La- dissimilar. To improve it the only known animal that turns bour government under the competitiveness of to the galactic spray of stars across Harold Wilson demanded and then a referendum on the problem. all, and to bring the lag- the night sky for direction. a renegotiation and a ref- membership. At the heart of Cam- gards up so the disparity Researchers have known for sev- erendum on membership If European leaders are eron’s speech is a recog- between north and south eral years that the inch-long insects – which produced a fair- only “frustrated,” as Cam- nition of this as well as is less stark, is essential. use the sun or moon as fixed points ly convincing yes. eron suggested, they’d be a recognition that it is a But it’s also hard, and too to ensure they keep rolling dung balls Another Conservative using a polite word. problem not just for Britain little attempted. in a straight line - the quickest way government was elected At root, beneath the but also for all EU mem- The greatest of Cam- of getting away from other beetles at David Beckham’s Son in 1979, under Margaret debates, there is a polit- bers. The crucial passage eron’s issues is democra- the dung heap. Brooklyn Plays With Chel- Thatcher. It brought end- ical-philosophical divide. was where he ticked off cy – or its lack. Camer- But scientists have puzzled over how sea Soccer Club, Maybe less conflict with Brussels. The founding members – the great issues: on was right once more the beetles, which perform an orien- Tried Out http://eonli.ne/ Thatcher lost her leader- France, Germany and Ita- “First, the problems in when he argued that: tation dance on top of their dung balls WRBIEV ship, partly because of a ly, with the smaller states the euro zone are driving “There is a growing before setting off, achieve a straight battle within the Conser- of Belgium, Netherlands fundamental change in frustration that the EU line on moonless nights. vative Party over Europe. and Luxembourg – ac- Europe. Second, there is is seen as something that To prove the Milky Way theory, Her successor, John Ma- cepted, at least in theory, a crisis of European com- is done to people rather scientists at Johannesburg’s Wits Uni- jor, took the UK into the that once the Union was petitiveness, as other na- than acting on their be- versity took beetles into the universi- European Exchange Rate created, their states’ pow- tions across the world soar half. And this is being in- ty planetarium to see how they fared Mechanism – then abrupt- er would wither and the ahead. And third, there tensified by the very solu- with a normal night sky, and then one ly left it in 1992. Labour new state’s power would is a gap between the EU tions required to resolve devoid of the Milky Way. came back in 1997 with a grow. This was not how and its citizens which the economic problems. “The dung beetles don’t care which European Union enthusi- most British politicians has grown dramatical- People are increasingly direction they’re going in. They just ast, Tony Blair, as leader saw it. They saw instead ly in recent years. And frustrated that decisions need to get away from the bun fight – but wouldn’t adopt the a market mechanism and which represents a lack taken further and further at the poo pile,” Wits professor Mar- Bethenny euro. These days, the To- a union of convenience, of democratic account- away from them mean cus Byrne said. “But when we turned ries are back and are deeply not the creation of a new ability and consent that their living standards are off the Milky Way, the beetles got Frankel skeptical. This week their state power. Yet at least to is yes felt particularly slashed through enforced lost.” Bethenny Frankel’s Es- leader, Prime Minister Da- some extent, that’s what acutely in Britain.” austerity or their taxes are And on cloudy nights without a tranged Husband Jason vid Cameron, took a leaf has happened: The EU Second, European com- used to bail out govern- moon or stars? Hoppy Steps Out Solo out of Wilson’s book, de- does exercise substantial petitiveness has dropped ments on the other side “They probably just stay at home,” http://eonli.ne/14d4zsQ manding a renegotiation power. And the power is further and further be- of the continent.” Byrne said.