If all you're after is a pair of mismatched heroes wisecracking their way through a series of explosive, well-mounted set pieces, look no further. September 10, 2013 | It's Independence Day without the aliens and a president partial to Air Jordans. July 4, 2013 | The special effects are scary-hairy enough to satisfy the midsummer "I wish to go to the moon" impulse. July 3, 2013 | The main flaw of White House Down is that it overstays its welcome, thanks in large part to a silly climax that seems to unfold in three laborious acts. Essentially a louder, sillier version of Die Hard, with John Cale standing in for John McClane, a precocious daughter standing in for the plucky wife, and, alas, no one even much trying to stand in for Alan Rickman's deliciously wicked Hans Gruber. June 28, 2013 | It follows the Emmerich template: a spectacle-tinged, compelling setup; a dumb, disappointing midsection; and a cheese-topped denouement that veers so close to self-parody that one is tempted to call it funny.
This Year’s White House Christmas Decorations Include Massive Sunny and Bo Yarn Dogs On Tuesday, the White House welcomed military service members, their families, and media for an early look at this year’s holiday decorations. Volunteers from 33 states, the District, and Puerto Rico worked over the Thanksgiving holiday to put up more than 70,000 ornaments. There are trees made out of pencils on a pedestal that reads “Let girls learn” in the library, garlands bedecked with faux fruits in the Green and Red rooms to celebrate the gift of fresh produce from the White House garden, Lego “gingerbread” houses representing every state and territory in the State Dining Room, and yarn models of the Obamas’ dogs that are taller than most people. After First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the military guests and encouraged tourists to “Come to the White House—it’s really cool!” she and the real First Dogs, Sunny and Bo, mingled with the guests while the kids decorated cookies and made other holiday crafts.
Scroll down for more highlights. Proposed EPA Cuts Could Devastate the Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Plan Cherry Blossom Phases Before Peak Bloom, Ranked DC Lobbyist Will Hire Actors to Reenact Seth Rich’s Murder The Washington Post Is Unclear on the Concept of Generation X 17 Ways the Washington Post Has Avoided Calling Trump a Liar DC’s Cherry Blossoms Will Hit Peak Bloom March 14-17 Five Kitchen Products Every Adult Should Own A Play About Valerie Plame Has Come to Washington Restaurant Hangs “You Need A Boyfriend” Sign Amid Feud With Neighbors What a Nursing Mom Getting Ready for Pageant Season Eats in a Day March 2017: 50 Great Places to Work We Can’t Stop Staring at the Food at This Stunning Greek Garden Wedding A Surprisingly Bitter Battle Over Paid Parking Comes to RestonTwo hundred years ago today, a 36-year old America declared war, for the second time, against Great Britain. The plan was to conquer Canada and wrest North America for the United States once and for all.
But, by pretty much all measures, the war was a total mess… It began in confusion, with the United States declaring hostilities unaware that one of its major war aims was already addressed. And it ended that way, too, with a last, pointless battle fought weeks after a peace treaty was signed. Civilians on both sides suffered, there were horrible massacres, and even more bungling by generals than is customary in warfare. reads The Star’s The War of 1812 shaped Canada forever. The British and American armies, supplemented by militia and First Nations warriors, pushed back and forth for nearly three years, temporarily trading territory along the Niagara river, and hitting each other at their cores. York, now Toronto, was captured and looted. And Newark, now Niagara-on-the-Lake, was burned. British forces attacked Washington and torched the White House. Such a violent history is surprising to many, given that Canada and the US now act more like siblings than neighbors.
Turns out this cheerful outlook may be due more to forgetfulness than reconciliation. The Wall Street Journal’s Alistair MacDonald writes, Many Canadian children grow up learning their forebears triumphed after American aggressors tried and failed to invade what was then a British colony. For Americans, a fledging nation forced Britain to respect U.S. sovereignty, allowing it to focus on its expansion westward. Time’s Ishaan Tharoor adds, For the Americans who do know something about it, the War of 1812 is a string of myths, isolated, picture-framed snapshots of heroism. It’s that smoke-shrouded naval bombardment that gave birth to the Star Spangled Banner. It’s when the British sacked Washington and burned down the President’s House—a humiliation somehow redeemed by First Lady Dolley Madison rescuing a canvas painting of George Washington. And, for those who were particularly attentive in school, it’s the war when future President Andrew Jackson thrashed the British at New Orleans (a battle fought, unbeknownst to both sides, after American and British envoys had already settled peace terms across the Atlantic.)
Whatever snippets have been committed to memory, though, they don’t quite add up. “Americans have found a way of both forgetting and remembering various bits and pieces of the war,” says John Stagg, professor of history at the University of Virginia and author of The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent. “But what they’re left with, in and of itself, makes no sense. If history is written by the victor, and both sides consider themselves victorious, then even a torched presidential mansion can become a touchstone for patriots. How Canada Celebrates the War of 1812 The 10 Things you Didn’t Know About the War of 1812 Why Did Greenland's Vikings Vanish? Andrew Jackson Was a Populist Even on His Deathbed The Holocaust's Great Escape View Table of Contents Save 84% off the newsstand price! First & Last Name Conditions of Use & SaleEver wonder what it would be like to see the four female Supreme Court justices as adorable Lego figures?
You have artist Maia Weinstock for the “Legal Justice League,” featuring Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, and former justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Weinstock, who also serves as deputy editor at MIT News, created the custom set and uploaded the pictures to her Flickr account to celebrate International Women’s Day.Sadly, you won’t be able to buy your own Legal Justice League set. Lego rejected the proposed set for consideration because “it was in violation of their rule that they don’t accept sets related to ‘politics and political symbols,’” according to Weinstock. The guidelines for Lego Ideas do prohibit projects from being political, as well as religious, sexually suggestive, or drug-related. Acceptance projects also may not depict “death, killing, blood, terrorism, or torture,” nor may they promote or portray “racism, bullying, or cruelty to real life animals.”“It’s true, as a children’s toy brand, we refrain from any associations with active or current politics,” a Lego spokesman told The Daily Beast.