Let R.I.P.D. rest in peace and other eye-catching headlines
I'll get to the latest big-budget film to lay an egg at the office in a second, but first I need to finish something I started yesterday. I promised more commentary on the D.C. Council passing a big-box retailer living wage ordinance and somehow I managed to excise that graph from this morning's blog.
Federal government sets the minimum wage. States can observe that or set a higher one. Counties can follow the state or set a higher one. Cities can do the same, follow the federal, state or county minimum wage or establish a higher one. Many cities have these living wage laws and they really aren't all that different from the minimum wage laws. Certain areas or employers are mandated to pay their employees more than the standard minimum wage.
What's wrong with the one in D.C.? Because it targets WalMart. Now conservatives are trying to make this a partisan issue because the law targets only non-union employers with a store of 75,000 square feet, who generate $1 billion in annual revenue. So Apple, Starbucks and other employers considered to be "liberal" are exempted. The big supermarkets like Safeway are exempted because their workforce is unionized.
Now if this is what the D.C. Council wants to do and what they believe their constituents want, fine and dandy. But don't gripe because WalMart's response was to scrap plans for three of the six stores they'd intended to locate within the District. You give a business a strong disincentive to compete and they will locate elsewhere. The higher wage has to be passed on to the customers in higher prices and when their competitors are exempted from this requirement, you're creating an unfair environment for them to do business in.
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"R.I.P.D." stars Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Mary-Louise Parker and Kevin Bacon. Strong cast. Unfortunately it isn't a good movie and it may be the biggest "flop" of 2013. More on its results in its opening weekend further down in the weekend box office wars report.
United Airlines says they will save $200 million in annual fuel costs because they are installing "winglets" on their planes. If they can save that kind of money, why didn't they do this sooner?
The San Diego Sheriff's department has set up a hotline for those who were victims of sexual harassment by Mayor Bob Filner. Isn't there a citywide sexual harassment line for city employees and people interacting with them already?
Tiger Woods appears to have put at least one feud behind him, after he and former caddy Steve Williams shook hands at the British Open.
Now we know who is the villain in the upcoming sequel to last year's "The Avengers". The question is, who will be cast as "Ultron". If you want to know more about the nature of Ultron, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultron
In East Cleveland, OH a suspect is in custody in connection with the discovery of three bodies. The mayor says they may find more and they are dealing with a "sick individual."
Bruce Willis reportedly refused to share an on-screen kiss with John Malkovich in "Reds 2."
The low budget horror film "The Conjuring" won the weekend box office wars with $41.5 million (on a budget of $20 million) in its opening weekend. "Despicable Me" finished 2nd with $25 million. The new animated film "Turbo" was third with a disappointing $21.5 million, "Grown Ups 2" had a big drop-off from last weekend and came in 4th with $20 million. "Red 2" did okay with $18.5 million in its first weekend, while "R.I.P.D." finished 7th with only $12.7 million. "Fruitvale Station" added 27 screens and still pulled in a per screen average of over $21,000. But it was "The Act of Killing" that won the per screen average. The documentary about mass murders in Indonesia opened on only one screen and pulled in over $28,000.
Federal government sets the minimum wage. States can observe that or set a higher one. Counties can follow the state or set a higher one. Cities can do the same, follow the federal, state or county minimum wage or establish a higher one. Many cities have these living wage laws and they really aren't all that different from the minimum wage laws. Certain areas or employers are mandated to pay their employees more than the standard minimum wage.
What's wrong with the one in D.C.? Because it targets WalMart. Now conservatives are trying to make this a partisan issue because the law targets only non-union employers with a store of 75,000 square feet, who generate $1 billion in annual revenue. So Apple, Starbucks and other employers considered to be "liberal" are exempted. The big supermarkets like Safeway are exempted because their workforce is unionized.
Now if this is what the D.C. Council wants to do and what they believe their constituents want, fine and dandy. But don't gripe because WalMart's response was to scrap plans for three of the six stores they'd intended to locate within the District. You give a business a strong disincentive to compete and they will locate elsewhere. The higher wage has to be passed on to the customers in higher prices and when their competitors are exempted from this requirement, you're creating an unfair environment for them to do business in.
* * *
"R.I.P.D." stars Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Mary-Louise Parker and Kevin Bacon. Strong cast. Unfortunately it isn't a good movie and it may be the biggest "flop" of 2013. More on its results in its opening weekend further down in the weekend box office wars report.
United Airlines says they will save $200 million in annual fuel costs because they are installing "winglets" on their planes. If they can save that kind of money, why didn't they do this sooner?
The San Diego Sheriff's department has set up a hotline for those who were victims of sexual harassment by Mayor Bob Filner. Isn't there a citywide sexual harassment line for city employees and people interacting with them already?
Tiger Woods appears to have put at least one feud behind him, after he and former caddy Steve Williams shook hands at the British Open.
Now we know who is the villain in the upcoming sequel to last year's "The Avengers". The question is, who will be cast as "Ultron". If you want to know more about the nature of Ultron, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultron
In East Cleveland, OH a suspect is in custody in connection with the discovery of three bodies. The mayor says they may find more and they are dealing with a "sick individual."
Bruce Willis reportedly refused to share an on-screen kiss with John Malkovich in "Reds 2."
The low budget horror film "The Conjuring" won the weekend box office wars with $41.5 million (on a budget of $20 million) in its opening weekend. "Despicable Me" finished 2nd with $25 million. The new animated film "Turbo" was third with a disappointing $21.5 million, "Grown Ups 2" had a big drop-off from last weekend and came in 4th with $20 million. "Red 2" did okay with $18.5 million in its first weekend, while "R.I.P.D." finished 7th with only $12.7 million. "Fruitvale Station" added 27 screens and still pulled in a per screen average of over $21,000. But it was "The Act of Killing" that won the per screen average. The documentary about mass murders in Indonesia opened on only one screen and pulled in over $28,000.
posted by me at 5:21 PM
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