Small business consulting is what Carngi Multimedia founder is ...

What has become of the Carnigi Brand? A pass name remembered by it's brief social wave within Richmond, Va.?Well where should we begin? First there's the party scene within the city. We feel like the essence of the city, has yet to be captured. Since founder David Frampton has lived here, there has always been this talk about how bad the city is. Him being a New York native, his eyes saw differently of the city ?he now lives his young adult life. There are plenty of places some one can get a bite to eat. There are plenty of clubs you can visit, if you sporatically have a need to party....and I am talking about at ANY TIME. "So if they exist why don't I know about them" you ask?

There may be a communication issue with the entire city as a whole. I'm not saying that everyone is crazy. What I am saying is that we as a city are not familiar with many areas of the city. Richmond is not a small city, and it is not a full on "country town"...no?stereotype?intended. The thing is in order to understand what exist within this city, you have to do your research. Most of you probably think it would be difficult to find places to explore. Where I assume you haven't looked at is a free style magazine, or even ?bought a Richmond magazine. Yes Richmond has a magazine and it is legit. Just recently the local Style Weekly newspaper?deemed "Richmond's alternative for news, arts, culture and opinion", provided enough information one what's always present within the city. You can pick one up on mostly any corner of downtown Richmond.?


We think some things have yet to be changed here. What's been happening for many years before, is still the main case why the city has not fully placed it's self on the scale it belongs. The people blame the city, and quietly the city blames the people. For the youth to get more involved, the information has to be communicated throughout the internet. It has to come across on all forms of media, and it has to provide a constant resource for what's going on within the city. ?Truth is, it's really boring lol..the information that is. Excitement brings instant change, and with that comes a different outlook on this city.?


As a matter of fact, this city is the home of a lot of our past and present history makers. It's home of some of the most known Universities within the U.S. What were going to do is change the entire outlook of a great city. Some times things have to be placed directly in front of us, in order for a united appeal to be there. So let's watch what the future brings us for the city and the company. Carnigi never left....it just became Carnigi Multimedia Inc.?

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Interest in archery programs is sky-high in the Portland area ...

The economy might be cool but flinging arrows is hot right now in the Portland area.

Archery stores, instructors and program directors are looking at waiting lists and full archery ranges and thinking ... expansion.

At Mt. Scott Community Center in Southeast Portland, home of Portland Parks and Rec's only archery program, program director Jesse Wiper says interest in the Tuesday night classes and open shoot on the historic roller skating rink has quintupled in the last two years.

At Archers Afield store and shooting range in Tigard, owner Jim Kneeland says sales were up 17 percent last year and they're up 10 percent for the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year. His shooting range, with 28 lanes, is packed on weekends. It's not bowhunters who are boosting those numbers, he says, but recreational shooters.

Is it a "Hunger Games" effect, from the books and movies?

Maybe a little, Kneeland says, "but we were already way busy before that." Archer Afield's business has increased every year since it opened in 1980, he says, though the past three years have seen unusually big jumps.

Trackers Earth, a Sellwood-based organization that offers classes on survival skills, tracking, kayak-making and other indigenous-influenced pursuits, has had archery as a core component of its program since it started in 2004, says founder Tony Deis, who describes the bow as having "a profound mythos for people." Trackers students use primitive handmade bows -- in some camps they make the bows themselves -- similar to Katniss's style of bow for hunting in the "Hunger Games" movie.

Trackers is definitely seeing a "Hunger Games" effect in its archery program, which is expecting to teach 750 or 800 kids this summer in various weeklong camps that include archery as a major focus. Participation by girls has jumped from 30 percent last year to 50 percent this year, says Deis, who applauds the trend and Katniss as a strong female figure. Trackers' logo has always been a female archer to encourage girls, "because we knew that survival skills is mostly a dude thing, unfortunately," Deis says.

At parents' request, Trackers even has planned a camp that's a benign version of "Hunger Games," where kids, wearing eye protection, sneak up on each other in the woods with foam arrows.

The pop culture boost in recent years started with "The Lord of the Rings" movies, says archery coach Mike Brown of Canby, a key point person in the state who teaches everyone from Boy Scouts to archery instructors. After the Middle Earth movies came out, he describes teaching 40 kids a day in camps, "and they'd all be yelling 'I want to be the (archer) elf!'"

Trends are one thing, but fads are another, says Brown, who worries that fads may not ultimately be good for the sport, because so much time and energy goes into teaching a vast majority of students who won't stick with it.

"Hollywood doesn't represent true archery," Brown says. "Archery is boring. It's a discipline. You have to like that kind of boringness." Olympic archery, he adds, "is a very, very hard discipline."

"Boringness" is one way to describe it, but a zenlike "relaxed focus," is another. Brown says the fine balance between focus and relaxation is, to him, the perfect state of mind, and what makes the sport so gratifying -- that and nailing the center of the target.

Kids like that part, too.

They "really like to see who can get closer to the bull's-eye," says Officer Hank Hays, who started a year-round archery program this year at the Police Activities League Youth Center on Northeast 172nd Avenue after the popular archery summer camp that PAL runs had to keep turning away kids. Hays is hoping to start a Junior Olympic program at PAL.

Part of what's making the sport "grow like crazy," Kneeland says, is that it's something parents can do with their children, especially with its appeal for pre-teens and early teens. Kneeland's Big Kids/Little Kids program for adults and kids mixes coaching tips and games to win small prizes.

"You should see these moms and dads out there trying to win a Tootsie Roll," he says.

To him, the Hollywood influence isn't so bad. Regal Cinemas called him recently to ask for an archery presence at Tigard Cinema and Sherwood Cinema on June 23-24 during the opening weekend of "Brave," an animated movie with another heroine who's an archer. Archers Afield will have staffers to talk about the sport in the lobby both afternoons, and those who sign up at the movie can get a discounted mini-lesson at the store.

Interest in archery is bound to take another leap with this year's Summer Olympics. Americans have struggled in archery at the Summer Games in recent years but Brady Ellison, from Arizona, has been the top-ranked male archer in the world in the past couple of years and is a gold-medal favorite. Olympic archery has been something of a prim, white-glove sport in the past, but Ellison grew up bowhunting and favors large rodeo buckles and inspirational tattoos.

Olympic archery events start July 27 at "Lord's Cricket Ground" in London.

Archery programs

(Equipment provided,
unless otherwise noted)

Trackers Earth, various five-day summer day camps for kids that include archery, based out of the group's Sellwood headquarters. 503-345-3312, trackerspdx.com ?

Police Activities League archery summer camp and Thursday practice sessions. Archery summer camp for ages 10-14 is June 18-25, $35. Year-round practice sessions, with coaching, are 3:30-5:30 Thursdays for members of the PAL Youth Center, ages 8-18; $50 membership for the summer. 424 N.E. 172nd Ave., 503-823-0250, www.portlandpal.org

Mt. Scott Community Center: Beginning and intermediate lessons for kids and adults, plus a one-hour open-shoot session afterward on most Tuesday nights. 5530 S.E. 72nd Ave. See schedule at tinyurl.com/
MountScottArchery; click on the summer catalog, Page 41.

Summer archery day camps in Canby for kids and adults. Various dates, including single sessions, in July and August. Register through Canby Community Education, 503-266-0040; tinyurl.com/canbyarchery ?

Chehalem Park and Rec District summer day camps, Newberg. 503-519-5747 or
www.cprdnewberg.org/SportsRecEducation/recreation.shtml

Drop-in coaching sessions for intermediates or better at the outdoor Sylvan Archers range, taught by Mike Brown, on most Monday evenings in July and August. Bring your own equipment. 503-314-8709 or sgm.archer@gmail.com.

Archers Afield shop in Tigard, lessons for k
ids and adults through Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District, plus the shop's Big Kids/Little Kids sessions. 11945 S.W. Pacific Highway, Suite 121 (back of the Dollar Tree building); 503-639-3553, www.archersafield.com

Other pro shops with indoor ranges, lessons
Broken Arrow, 2044 S.E. Adams St., Milwaukie; 503-654-8012, brokenarrowarchery.com
Archery World, 803 Grand Blvd., Vancouver, 360-693-7510, www.archeryworld.net

Public ranges
Washington Park archery range on Southwest Kingston Drive. Free.
Blue Lake Regional Park, off Northeast 223rd Avenue; $5 parking.

Club range
Sylvan Archers, on Southwest Bell Road, west of Wilsonville. www.sylvanarchers.org

Entry-level equipment

Cost: A full set of good entry-level equipment for children or adults, with accessories, costs about $250.
Recurve bows: Good starter bows in the $90 to $130 range include the Greatree Mohegan and the Samick Polaris. It's important to start with bows that have an easy draw weight of 15 to 20 pounds, even for adults, so you can learn good form without struggling to hold the bow at full draw. Bow length should about equal the height of the child. Adult bow lengths commonly range from 62 inches to 68 inches.
Arrows: Aluminum arrows are a good choice to start. Try Easton Jazz or Platinum arrows (about $56 to $66 a dozen). Let your local shop help you choose the correct size to match to you and your bow.
Accessories: Belt quiver; finger tab to keep the string from cutting into your fingers; arm guard; bowstring and a spare; bowstringer to string the bow safely; string wax.

-- Laurie Robinson

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Marco Rubio gets VP nod in conservative straw poll

Sen. Marco Rubio won CPAC's straw poll vote to be Mitt Romney's running mate. Rubio denies wanting the job, but would bring two important things to the ticket: his Hispanic background and tea party support.

By Mark Guarino,?Staff writer / June 9, 2012

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York May 31. On Friday, Sen. Rubio won a conservative straw poll vote for vice president.

Eric Thayer/Reuters

Enlarge

The vice presidential chatter around Marco Rubio intensified Friday evening when the Florida senator won a straw poll intended to test conservative inclinations about the best choice to be presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney?s running mate.

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Sen. Rubio earned 30 percent of the vote in the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll conducted in suburban Chicago at a one-day conference of the American Conservative Union, a national conservative advocacy group based in Washington. The summit attracted an estimated 2,000 people in Rosemont, a Chicago suburb.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was a distant second at 14 percent. US Rep. Paul Ryan (9 percent), US Sen. Rand Paul (8 percent), and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (7 percent) rounded out a list of 13 contenders, which included most of Mr. Romney?s former competition in this season?s Republican primary elections.

Rubio is a junior senator who supporters say makes an appealing presidential running mate because he has direct appeal to Latino voters. Plus, his 2010 senate campaign featured significant support from the tea party, a faction of the conservative movement that?s yet to embrace Romney whole heartedly.

For his part, Rubio has played down his potential role on the Romney ticket, at first saying he does not expect to be asked and later saying he would refuse if the opportunity were presented.

?I don?t want to be the vice president right now, or maybe ever,? he told an audience at an event hosted by the National Review in April. Still, he made a verbal slip: ?Three, four, five, six, seven years from now, if I do a good job as vice president ??I?m sorry, as a senator,? he said, laughing after correcting himself.

Despite only being in the US Senate since January 2011, Rubio has been active in GOP fundraising circles in which he has actively attacked President Obama for what he describes as failed campaign promises and policies. In late May at a party fundraiser in South Carolina, he told the audience Obama is the most ?divisive figure in modern American history.?

Rubio also is marketing his version of the ?Dream Act,? which would provide visas to undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children so they can attend school or work. Unlike the bill sponsored by Democrats, the Rubio version does not provide a pathway to eventual citizenship. Pushing the bill is considered a threat to the Obama campaign because critics say the president has largely been silent on the issue since taking office.

Notably at the bottom of CPAC?s vice presidential polling was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, currently riding a wave of popularity in his party after surviving a contentious and historic recall election Tuesday.

Gov. Walker polled at just 2 percent Friday. Many in his party say Walker?s win this week assures his role as a surrogate on the campaign trail for Romney this summer and fall, and some have not ruled out a spot for him on Romney?s short list of potential vice presidential candidates.

However, Walker said this week he is not interested in the job.

When asked in a CNN interview if he would accept the invitation, he responded by recommending US Rep. Ryan, a fellow Wisconsinite and chairman of the House Budget Committee.

?After a year and a half worth of [fighting the recall], I want to help Wisconsin move forward,? Walker said.

Neither Walker nor Romney attended the summit Friday.

Walker?s success in Wisconsin was referenced in several speeches made throughout the day and directed at Obama.

?Mr. President, did you hear Scott Walker won in a landslide? It?s hard for me to say that without gloating. I wonder if it worries anybody at Team Obama. I think it might,? said US Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

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In London? Grab a pint and follow Apple's WWDC keynote with the London MUG

If you're here in London next week, feel free to drop on by the Wood Pub in Marylebone this coming Monday to follow Apple's 2012 WWDC keynote. The London Mac User Group is hosting the get together, which begins at 17:45 (GMT) on June 11th. While there won't be a live feed of the keynote, the London MUG will have three projector screens hooked up with live streams covering the keynote from TUAW and other sites.

The event officially runs until the end of the keynote (probably about 19:30 GMT), but we're sure a lot of people are going to stick around to discuss all the new products Apple is rumored to be unveiling on Monday. If you're not a member of the London Mac User Group there will be a ?3 entrance fee to cover the costs, but those in attendance will be eligible to win a raffle prize: a 120 GB SSD hard drive.

The Wood Pub is located at 21 Balcombe Street, Marylebone, NW1 6HE. The closest London Underground station is the Marylebone tube stop on the Bakerloo line.


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Weekly Ketchup: WB and DC Comics Prepare for Justice League Push

This week's Ketchup has lots of superhero news, as well as news for the RoboCop reboot, Darren Aronofsky's Noah, Stephen King's IT, a new sequel for the Jackass franchise, and a movie with Jamie Foxx as the POTUSA.


This Week's Top Story

DC COMICS AND WARNER BROS' MASSIVE PLANS, POST THE AVENGERS

If this week's Ketchup was written in a completely different way, this one story could have nosed out nearly all other movie news of the week. However, it all really falls into one basic story angle, which is that the folks at Warner Bros are apparently sort of freaking out that The Avengers is the #3 box office success of all time, recently beating out both The Dark Knight and the final Harry Potter (both Warner Bros movies). The Avengers is of course the result of a long strategy on the part of Marvel Studios to create a Marvel Universe on the big screen in which the events of solo superhero movies then come together in a team movie, and also in each other's solo movies, etc. And so, WB and DC are apparently looking at doing that, too.... eventually. First up, there was the news that Warner Bros has hired one of the writers of ABC's Castle, Will Beall, to start work on a Justice League script. Will Beall also wrote this fall's Gangster Squad for Warner Bros, and has previously worked for the studio on scripts for the planned Logan's Run remake and Lethal Weapon 5. Of course, this is far from WB's first attempt at a Justice League movie, as Mad Max director George Miller actually almost filmed one back in 2007, until the WGA strike got in the way. Warner Bros has also hired one of the writers of Green Lantern, Michael Goldenberg, to work on the long-in-development Wonder Woman movie. Ah, but Warner Bros' plans for DC Comics superheroes don't just end at The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel, Justice League and Wonder Woman. Nope, another report this week gave the more complete list as also including Aquaman, The Flash, Green Arrow, Lobo, Shazam, Suicide Squad, and maybe a reboot of 2010's Green Lantern, too (whether that would be with or without Ryan Reynolds is unknown). Basically, that means that Warner Bros is now in active development on six of the Justice League's "Big Seven," with only J'onn J'onnz, AKA the Martian Manhunter, not having his own movie... yet.

Fresh Developments This Week

#1 STEPHEN KING's IT TO BE SPLIT INTO TWO MOVIES

There hasn't been much news since 2009 about Warner Bros' plans for a feature film based upon Stephen King's 1986 novel IT, except that Guillermo del Toro remake in 2010 that he wished he had the time to direct. Perhaps Warner Bros was waiting to see if GDT would eventually find the time in his calendar, but now, two years later, the studio is moving forward with a different director. Cary Fukunaga, the director of last year's visually stunning remake of Jane Eyre (and 2009's Sin Nombre), has signed with the studio to direct and cowrite the adaptation of IT, with the twist being that the 1,100+ page novel will be adapted as not one, but two movies. Cary Fukunaga's writing partner will be Chase Palmer, an unproduced screenwriter who has previously worked on Paramount's now-scrapped plans to reboot Frank Herbert's Dune. IT was previously adapted as a two part ABC mini-series in 1990, starring Tim Curry as the evil clown-shaped monster Pennywise who terrorizes a group of friends both as children and thirty years later as adults.


#2 SAMUEL L. JACKSON IN ROBOCOP: HE'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR?

The MGM/Sony story-within-the-story reboot of RoboCop continued to accumulate an impressive cast this week with the addition of Samuel L. Jackson as Pat Novak, a "charismatic media mogul." This is a new character, but it might give us a hint as to new ground that the story might cover. The near future world of the original 1987 film included frequent images of a television landscape dominated by a comedian whose catchphrase was "I'd buy that for a dollar!" Australian actress Abbie Cornish (Limitless, Sucker Punch) has also been cast as Officer Murphy's wife, who is under the belief that her husband is dead, and not a very expensive new cyborg. Samuel L. Jackson and Abbie Cornish have already been preceded by Joel Kinnaman (AMC's The Killing) as Officer Alex Murphy and Gary Oldman as the scientist behind the RoboCop cyborg techology. Jose Padilha (Elite Squad, Bus 174) will be directing the RoboCop reboot, which is scheduled to start filming in Toronto in September, aiming for a release date sometime in the summer of 2013.


#3 WILL HERMIONE GRANGER BOARD THE ARK IN NOAH?

Director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler) is well into the casting of his Biblical epic Noah, and this week, that resulted in three major roles being cast. Young actors Douglas Booth (Pip in the recent Great Expectations mini-series) and Logan Lerman (3:10 to Yuma) have been cast as Noah's sons Shem and Ham, respectively. Soon after, Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame was announced as being in negotiations to play a character named Ila, who is a romantic interest for Shem. Possibly not coincidentally, Logan Lerman has ties to two of his cast mates, as he was in 3:10 to Yuma with Russell Crowe (who plays Noah), and he will also be seen in The Perks of Being a Wallflower with Emma Watson. The reunions may not end there, as Jennifer Connelly is also rumored to be in talks to join the cast as Noah's wife, which will be the second time for her, after also playing Russell Crowe's wife in A Beautiful Mind.


#4 HOPEFULLY NOT A PRANK: PLANS FOR JACKASS 4: BAD GRANDPA REVEALED THROUGH DOMAIN REGISTRATIONS

The Jackass film franchise continues to be a lucrative investment for Paramount Pictures, and the RT Tomatometer scores for the second and third movies were even "Fresh." So, it's perhaps not surprising that a website this week discovered that the studio has purchased over a dozen domains this week with addresses like jackass4movie.com, jackass4badgrandpa.com, and badgrampa.com. All of that suggests that Paramount is planning on releasing a movie called Jackass 4: Bad Grandpa (or alternatively, Jackass 4: Bad Grampa). That title is a reference to one of their pranks, in which Johnny Knoxville puts on fairly convincing "old man" makeup and then goes out in public and embarasses himself. So, the next question is whether Jackass 4 will focus solely on such "Bad Grandpa" pranks, and not on other non-old-man stunts as the first three movies also did. One reason that Knoxville and friends might be making the change to focusing on "Bad Grandpa" might be their own advancing ages, and the increasing likelihood that they could seriously injure themselves. Johnny Knoxville turned 41 this year, and Ryan Dunn died last year in a (non-Jackass-related) alcohol-related automobile accident at the age of 40.

Rotten Idea of the Week

#5 GUY RITCHIE'S NEXT PERIOD PIECE REINVENTION MIGHT BE TREASURE ISLAND

Back in 2010, the world found out that Warner Bros was developing a "stylized adaptation" of Robert Louis Stevenson's pirate novel Treasure Island when director Paul Greengrass dropped out of the Fantastic Voyage remake to possibly focus on it. Well, we're now two years on, and Greengrass is apparently no longer involved, but instead, one of WB's current favorite directors is. Guy Ritchie, the director of the two recent Sherlock Holmes movies, has attached himself to direct the new Treasure Island. Newcomer screenwriter Alex Harakis has also been hired to start work on adapting the screenplay. One should count this story as a "borderline" Rotten Idea, as Guy Ritchie's RT Tomatometer scores are just about evenly divided.


#4 JAMIE FOXX WILL BE THE PRESIDENT IN WHITE HOUSE DOWN

The trailer for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained debuted online this week, featuring Jamie Foxx in the title role. Also, this week, we found out about another of Foxx's upcoming roles, and it's one that adds him to a proud cinematic and television tradition made most famous by Morgan Freeman and that guy from those insurance commercials. Jamie Foxx is going to play the President of the United States of America in the action movie White House Down. Jamie Foxx, however, is not the reason this is one of the Rotten Ideas of the week. Nope, that has more to do with it being directed by Roland Emmerich, he of the big disaster movies like 2012, The Day After Tomorrow and Godzilla. Maggie Gyllenhaal has also been cast as one of the Secret Service agents working alongside the already cast Channing Tatum, who will be the movie's actual leading man. In other Channing Tatum news, he confirmed this week that he is indeed signed (along with Mila Kunis) to star in Jupiter Ascending, the next science fiction action film from directors Andy and Lana Wachowski. That film's premise was also revealed online this week, and the gist is that it involves aliens who are monitoring humanity's progression up the evolutionary ladder, towards our eventual place as dwellers among the stars. Mila Kunis will play a Russian immigrant toilet scrubber who possesses the exact same genetic profile as the Queen of the Universe, which makes her a threat.


#3 CAPTAIN AMERICA SEQUEL: YOU, ME AND BUCKEE, AND THE BLACK PANTHER RUMORS, TOO

Their names had been mentioned as being in contention a while back, but this week, Marvel Studios confirmed that the directors of the Captain America sequel will be Anthony and Joe Russo. The Russos are best known for their work on TV shows like Community, Arrested Development and Happy Endings (which they cocreated), but they also directed such films as You, Me and Dupree and Welcome to Collinwood. As great as those TV shows are, You, Me and Dupree is... the opposite, and that's mostly why this is one of the week's Rotten Ideas. Anyway, the currently untitled Captain America sequel is scheduled to hit theaters on April 4, 2014, and it's expected to continue the story of how Steve Rogers reacts to waking up to the modern world, following the events of The Avengers. In other Marvel news, this is a good place to mention that one of the hot stories online this week was the rumor that the other Marvel movie in 2014 will be Black Panther. Black Panther is, of course, a classic member of The Avengers, whose setting of the technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda would make a great cinematic setting. However, Marvel was quick to debunk this report as being just a rumor. Which is not to say that Marvel isn't indeed developing a Black Panther movie... just not in time for a 2014 release date, probably.


#2 THE LATEST NON-NARRATIVE MOVIE SOURCE IS... THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS

There's been very little success for movies based on non-narrative books (What to Expect When You're Expecting opened in the #5 spot, for example), but Hollywood continues to try them as source material, regardless. The latest example is The Guinness Book of World Records, which Warner Bros is currently negotiating a rights deal for. As the title suggests (for those few who aren't familiar with it), The Guinness Book of World Records has, since 1955, been keeping track of all varieties of people, places, things and achievements that can be measured qualitively or quantitively. This movie concept also shares some traits with Ripley's Believe It or Not!, which Paramount Pictures has been trying to get made for several years now, but at least in that case, there was the author Robert Ripley to use as a central character. The job of trying to create a narrative thread for a two hour movie has been assigned to screenwriter Danny Chun, who has worked as a writer and producer on several episodes each of The Office and The Simpsons.


#1 ISAAC NEWTON, ACTION HERO

Some people, it appears, have never heard of Hudson Hawk. Admittedly, the reason for that movie's box office demise may have more to do with the singing duo of Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello, but it did also feature a premise based on the action/adventure appeal of the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci. And anyway, somehow, I'm making a logical bridge between Da Vinci and famed physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton. The reason is that producer/director Rob Cohen, who has many credits, but is best known for The Fast and the Furious franchise, is developing an action adventure movie based on the life of Sir Isaac Newton. Yes, really. The basis for this idea is that a lesser known fact about Newton was that he spent decades as the "chief detective and head of the British Mint," during which time he spent much of his career helping track down counterfeiters, and helping the Crown convert from silver to gold currency. Sir Isaac Newton also later on became an infamous eccentric, most likely because of prolonged mercury poisoning as a result of decades dabbling in alchemy, which sounds like a much more interesting premise for a movie. Anyway, Rob Cohen is going to work on the script himself, while also overseeing a "graphic novel" (AKA a comic book) based on the script. This is the week's Most Rotten Idea not so much because of the idea of a movie about Sir Issac Newton, but because it's a Rob Cohen action movie... about Sir Isaac Newton.

For more Weekly Ketchup columns by Greg Dean Schmitz, check out the WK archive, and you can contact GDS via Facebook.

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Famous judge spikes Apple-Google case, calls patent system ...

A U.S. judge yesterday threw aside a much-anticipated trial between Apple and Google-owned Motorola Mobility over smartphone patents. The decision and a blog comment by the same judge could prove to be a watershed moment for a U.S. patent system that has?spiraled?out of control.

In his remarkable ruling, U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner stated that there was no point in holding a trial because it was apparent that neither side could show they had been harmed by the other?s patent infringement. He said he was inclined to dismiss the case with prejudice ? meaning the parties can?t come back to fight over the same patents ? and that he would enter a more formal opinion confirming this next week.

The order is extraordinary not only for what it said but for who wrote it. For the unfamiliar, Richard Posner is a legend in legal and academic circles and possesses a resume that makes the typical Supreme Court Justice look like a slouch. He teaches at the University of Chicago and ordinarily sits on the influential 7th Circuit Court of Appeals but, in an unusual development, was assigned to a lower court last December to hear the Google-Apple patent case.

The case is just one of many patent disputes tying the legal system in knots as large companies tangle not only in court but at the International Trade Commission in an effort to ban each others? products from the market. Critics say the patent system, which awards 20-year monopolies, has run amok thanks to a flood of questionable patents for software, business methods, emoticons and even one for ?swinging on a swing.?

In a series of earlier rulings in the Apple case, Posner didn?t mince words as he used plain language to beat up the over-reaching arguments of both sides:

[re a slide-to-unlock patent] Apple?s .. argument is that ?a tap is a zero-length swipe.? That?s silly. ?It?s like saying that a point is a zero-length line.

Motorola?s contention that the term has a ?plain and ordinary meaning? is ridiculous; Motorola seems to have forgotten that this is a jury trial.

In his ruling to dismiss, Posner noted that a trial would ?impose costs disproportionate to the harm ? and would be contrary to the public interest.? Posner?s cost-benefit assessment is likely rooted in a worldview anchored in law and economics ? a Chicago-school of thought that equates court decisions with maximizing efficient economic outcomes.

This week, Posner also lashed at the patent system in a blog he shares with economist Gary Becker. In a post about the declining strength of American institutions, he concluded:

The institutional structure of the United States is under stress. We might be in dangerous economic straits if the dollar were not the principal international reserve currency and the eurozone in deep fiscal trouble. We have a huge public debt, dangerously neglected infrastructure, a greatly overextended system of criminal punishment, a seeming inability to come to grips with grave environmental problems such as global warming, a very costly but inadequate educational system, unsound immigration policies, an embarrassing obesity epidemic, an excessively costly health care system, a possible rise in structural unemployment, fiscal crises in state and local governments, a screwed-up tax system, a dysfunctional patent system, and growing economic inequality that may soon create serious social tensions. Our capitalist system needs a lot of work to achieve proper capitalist goals.

Posner?s decision to descend from the 7th Circuit to oversee the Google-Apple trial suggests he wished to step in and do something directly about the patent system. (Ordinarily, Posner would never hear a patent case as all patent appeals are sent to the DC-based Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; that court has maintained an ideological bias in favor of patent owners despite repeated rebuffs by the Supreme Court).

The backlash against the misuse of patents is coming not just from Posner and the Supreme Court but other federal judges as well. Judge James Robart blasted Motorola and Microsoft in Seattle last week, noting that??The court is well aware that it is being played as a pawn in a global industry-wide business negotiation.?

It?s unclear how Apple and Google will respond to Posner?s surprise pounding of them. Both companies have so far said nothing and may be waiting for the other shoe to drop via Posner?s formal opinion expected next week. The?judge wrote yesterday that he may change his mind but the overall tenor of the first opinion suggests this is unlikely. You can decide for yourself here:

Posner Order
(Image via University of Chicago)

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White House to host Israel's Peres

The Forward reports the details of the White House official dinner with Israeli president Shimon Peres:

President Obama will honor Israeli President Shimon Peres with a White House dinner after he awards him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The dinner, to take place on June 13, will have 140 guests, including ?former Presidents of the United of States of America, Secretaries of State, Prime Ministers and ministers, senior diplomats and senior figures from the arts, culture and economy in the United States,? according to a statement issued Thursday by Peres? office.

Peres will also receive the presidential medal of freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

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Moraga Country Club reverses decision; Cal swim coach, sex abuse survivor allowed to lead swim clinic

The Moraga Country Club board of directors on Thursday apologized and reversed its decision to ban a Cal swim coach and rape survivor from conducting a free swim clinic at the pool after an avalanche of criticism in the latest controversy in a small East Bay town besieged by a sex abuse scandal.

After the reversal and public apology, the Monday clinic organized by the club swim coach is back on and Kristen Cunnane will attend.

"I thought it was really heartfelt and I am going to do the clinic Monday and I'm really looking forward to it," said the 30-year-old NCAA assistant women's swim coach of the year. "I'm grateful for all the support I have (there)."

Cunnane, who began her swim career at age 4 at the

club, had been invited to teach the clinic, only to be rebuffed Wednesday. For Cunnane -- who testified in court in December against a former Moraga middle school teacher who was sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually abusing her over a three-year period -- the snub drove home the difficulties faced by victims who come forward.

Cunnane's detailed personal account of her sexual abuse from age 14 to 17 was the subject of a May 27 story in this newspaper.

In a statement from board President Thomas Engberg about 24 hours after he unilaterally canceled Cunnane's appearance, he apologized to her and wrote:

"I made the decision, as board president, to cancel her proposed swim clinic so that I could make certain that our

board of directors was aware of her clinic. I did it because there has been a significant amount of coverage of her courageous stand against child abuse and I wanted to make certain that the board would be prepared should coverage of her clinic take place. I have since spoken with the board and it has approved her clinic."

However, an email the newly appointed President Engberg wrote late Wednesday night said he acted because he was contacted by upset country club members, including another board member.

"The judgment was mine," Engberg wrote in an email to board members and top staff obtained by this newspaper. "After calls and emails yesterday (Tuesday) from members, including Ruth Burke, I directed staff to cancel the event. There is much more to the story than meets the eye. My judgment was that (Cunnane) should never have been invited to speak in the first place, that there was no time to poll the swim team leadership or board, and that, notwithstanding her incredibly sad story, canceling was the less risky alternative. I learned of the issue late last night (Tuesday) and felt a decision had to be made early today (Wednesday)."

Burke is a Moraga Country Club board member and also a PTA member at Los Perales Elementary School in Moraga. Cunnane and others familiar with the cancellation of the swim clinic were told that some parents sympathized with retiring Los Perales Principal Bill Walters and did not want the country club to show support for Cunnane.

Walters has been criticized for not alerting police in 1994 after a female Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School student complained she had been sexually abused by a teacher there. That teacher, Dan Witters, later was accused of molesting other students and killed himself soon after.

This newspaper uncovered documents showing Walters' failure to report multiple allegations against Witters.

The principal announced his retirement shortly after the district released the documents.

It

was Joaquin Moraga P.E. teacher Julie Correa, originally charged with 28 felony sexual abuse charges and facing 100 years in prison, who sexually abused Cunnane and who also failed to report alleged Witters abuse against Cunnane.

"There were some people supportive of Walters and it was probably a concern that it could look like MCC was taking a stand," said Jeff Raleigh, a country club member who volunteered to field calls from the media Thursday.

"This was a mistake, no doubt about it," said Raleigh, who has known Cunnane since she was 5. "The board was not happy with the way this thing went down."

Calls and emails from a reporter to Engberg and Burke were not returned.

At least one board member and its liaison to the Moraga Country Club youth swim team expressed concern over Engberg's decision in an email, calling it a "major black mark on MCC."

"I believe the board deserves more detail than you are offering as there are very significant numbers of swim team members who are extremely angry with this decision to cancel," he wrote late Wednesday after the story appeared on this newspaper's website.

The swim club board, separate but still under the country club's trustees, also sent a letter to the board when it heard of the cancellation, calling it an "egregious mistake."

"Kristen is coming to MCC solely to speak about SWIMMING. She is a former MCC swimmer, a UCLA graduate, Olympic Trials swimmer, and Cal swim coach," wrote swim team co-chairwomen Susan Strong and Natalie Souza. "Kristen should not be ostracized because she was victimized as a child. This seems not only unethical, but horrifically cruel."

Cunnane swam at the club from ages 4 to 17, breaking many records and starting her coaching career there.

In a town priding itself on its youth swim teams, other clubs rallied around Cunnane after hearing of the initial ban. Some called for boycotts against the Moraga Country Club and others asked for the club to invite Cunnane to speak to their young swimmers.

Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.

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