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Over the past 20 years, the Walt Disney Company has spent billions acquiring the worlds most recognizable intellectual properties, including Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar. Its not just putting those assets to use on the big screen. Increasingly, those properties are an ever-larger part of the companys theme parks, including Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida. Last August, Disney announced an expansion of its parks, and now, at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin this month, Disney has provided more details about new experiences and rides coming to those parksand yep, the upcoming theme park experiences are all about Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar. Heres what to expect. Fly like Iron Man at Stark Flight Labs Disneys most valuable property in recent years has been Marvel. One of the cinematic franchises most popular and recognizable characters is Iron Man, made famous by Robert Downey Jr.s portrayal in numerous films. Its no wonder then that Disney is getting ready to launch a new Iron Man-themed experience at its Avengers campus in Disney California Adventure Park. The new experience is called Stark Flight Lab, and it will allow people to try out some of Iron Mans toys. Walt Disney Imagineering reveals newly unclassified details for the new Stark Flight Lab attraction, inspired by Tony Stark's beloved robotic friend DUM-E, setting up shop in Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure. https://t.co/Wkvnq0C01X pic.twitter.com/lvrz1qDnJO— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) March 8, 2025 Part of the experience will see guests sit in ‘gyro-kinetic pods’ and roll along a track before stopping in front of a giant robot arm, says Disney. This robot arm will hoist you into the air where youll make several high-speed maneuvers inspired by Iron Man and some other Avengers.” Mandalorian and Grogu movie tie-in One of the biggest Hollywood tentpoles of 2026 is expected to be The Mandalorian & Groguthe first new Star Wars film in nearly seven years by the time it debuts on May 22, 2026. Disney, never one to miss a cross-promotional opportunity, will also launch a new experience at its Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction in Disneyland. JUST ANNOUNCED! The new Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run adventure featuring Mando and Grogu will debut May 22, 2026 at Star Wars: Galaxys Edge at Disney Parks! https://t.co/RRNZ9lsYBm #SXSW pic.twitter.com/SYY9aO23pE— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) March 8, 2025 While details were scarce, Disney said the attraction will be based on scenes from the film. This isnt going to retell what happens in the movie its more like participating in something thats happening just off-camera from what you see in the film, Mandalorian & Grogu director Jon Favreau said. Pixars Cars and Monsters get new rides, too Finally, Disney previewed two new Pixar-themed experiences at its parks. First up is a Cars attraction coming to Disney World that the company first announced last August. The company showed concept sketches of some of the race cars that will be part of its off-road racing ride. A closer look at early concept sketches and new race car personalities designed by @Pixar for the brand-new Cars attraction coming to Frontierland at @WaltDisneyWorld. https://t.co/RXOT36XOod #SXSW pic.twitter.com/2hGdhQXJBp— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) March 8, 2025 But perhaps the most exciting for amusement park thrillseekers is the new ride based on Monsters, Inc. The ride, based on one of Pixars most popular films, will feature a first for Disney theme parks. The upcoming door ride will feature the first-ever suspended coaster at a Disney Park, and the first-ever vertical lift, the company said in a blog post. Walt Disney Imagineering shares a new look at the Monsters, Inc. coaster loading area and first-ever vertical lift that will hoist riders in the air like never before as they zoom into the door vault! https://t.co/9Rwf0YtRGX #SXSW pic.twitter.com/fnTaDIA6AR— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) March 8, 2025 While Disney previewed the experiences above at South by Southwest, it has not announced a release date for any of the above attractions besides the new Mandalorian and Grogu experience, which opens in May 2026.
Category:
E-Commerce
Canada’s next prime minister has helped run two Group of Seven economies in crisis before and now will try to steer Canada through a looming trade war brought by U.S. President Donald Trump, a threat of annexation, and an expected federal election.Former central banker Mark Carney will become prime minister after the governing Liberal Party elected him its leader Sunday in a landslide vote with 85.9% support.Carney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until his successor is sworn in in the coming days. Carney is widely expected to trigger an election the coming days or weeks amid Trump’s sweeping tariff threats. Canada ‘didn’t ask for this fight’ “We didn’t ask for this fight. But Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” Carney said. “The Americans, they should make no mistake, in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”Carney said Canada will keep its initial retaliatory tariffs in place until “the Americans show us respect.”Carney navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada and when in 2013 he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694. His appointment won bipartisan praise in the U.K. after Canada recovered from the 2008 financial crisis faster than many other countries. He helped managed the worst impacts of Brexit in the U.K.The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged.Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can. Canadian nationalism surges The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Party’s chances in a parliamentary election expected within days or weeks, and Liberal showings have been improving in opinion polls.“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country. Think about it. If they succeed they would destroy our way of life,” Carney said. “In America healthcare is big business. In Canada, it is a right.”Carney said America is “a melting pot. Canada is mosaic,” he said. “America is not Canada. And Canada will never, ever will be a part of America in any way, shape, or form.”After decades of bilateral stability, the vote on Canada’s next leader now is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with the United States.“These are dark days, dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust,” Carney said. “We need to pull together in the tough days ahead.”Trump has postponed 25% tariffs on many goods from Canada and Mexico for a month, amid widespread fears of a broader trade war. But he has threatened other tariffs on steel, aluminum, dairy, and other products.Carney picked up one endorsement after another from Cabinet ministers and members of Parliament since declaring his candidacy in January. He is a highly educated economist with Wall Street experience who has long been interested in entering politics and becoming prime minister, but he lacks political experience.Trudeau previously offered to make him finance minister. Carney has said former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper also offered to make him finance minister. Former Goldman Sachs executive Carney is a former Goldman Sachs executive. He worked for 13 years in London, Tokyo, New York, and Toronto, before being appointed deputy governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003.In 2020, he began serving as the United Nations’ special envoy for climate action and finance.The other top Liberal leadership candidate was former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who received just 8% of the vote. Trudeau told Freeland in December that he no longer wanted her as finance minister, but that she could remain deputy prime minister and the point person for U.S.-Canada relations. Freeland resigned shortly after, releasing a scathing letter about the government that proved to be the last straw for Trudeau.Either Carney will call an election in the coming days or weeks, or the opposition parties in Parliament could force one with a no-confidence vote later this month.Trudeau urged Liberals supporters to get involved.“This is a nation-defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given,” Trudeau said. Rob Gillies Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Before leaving office, former President Joe Biden declared the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) the law of the land. The 28th Amendment, which declares that Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex, is operative, according to ERA advocates. Now that Biden acknowledged the ERA, the next steps are celebration and implementation, says Kati Hornung, cofounder and executive director of VoteEquality!, a nonpartisan group promoting equal rights for all. The American Bar Association passed a resolution in October 2024 affirming the 28th Amendment achieved every requirement for ratification under Article V of the Constitution. ABAs resolution urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to support implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment and urges all bar associations and the legal community as a whole to support implementation of the ERA. However, there are skeptics. When Congress proposed the ERA in 1972, they made it a conditional proposal to add language to the Constitution, if and only if, it was ratified within seven years, says Stephen E. Sachs, the Antonin Scalia Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. The original deadline for ratification was 1979 but Congress voted to extend that to 1982. Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA in January 2020. If people are supportive of it, they need to go back to the beginning, they should propose it again and we’ll see if the country wants to ratify it, Sachs says. Despite skepticism by opponents, ERA advocates say they are moving forward with implementation. Federal, state, and local jurisdictions should begin reviewing their laws for sexism and sexist language because any statute contrary to the ERA would be unconstitutional. Meanwhile, plaintiffs can cite the 28th Amendment in discrimination cases. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), an outspoken advocate for the ERA, is working on a bill that would require a review of federal laws to eliminate any sexism or sexist language. “If this administration wants to go after womens rights, well see you in court, says Sen. Gillibrand. State ERAs could provide more protection Yet, for there to be broad-based acceptance of the ERA, advocates will need politicians and judges to endorse this idea, says Ting Ting Cheng, director of the ERA project at Columbia Law School Center for Gender and Sexuality Law. Given all the upheaval happening in Washington, D.C., Cheng admits the ERA might not gain any additional political champions at the moment. But, Cheng says, that doesnt mean the ERA isnt the 28th Amendment. No executive order will undo the ratification of 38 states, she says. Executive orders cannot override the United States Constitution, federal statutes, or established legal precedent. Instead, Cheng believes there may be more opportunity for success in the current political climate at the state level because 28 states have their own ERAs with language that is more inclusive and expansive than the language in the 28th Amendment. Most state ERAs include a broader definition of sex to include sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression, she says. For instance, New York State recently passed an ERA that states, No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in [his or her] their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state, pursuant to law. State ERAs have been used to challenge and overturn abortion restrictions. In Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico, state ERAs were used to protect public funding for abortion. In addition to protecting women, state ERAs can be used to push against federal policies targeting trans youth healthcare and immigration, Cheng says. People are not thinking creatively about state ERAs, Cheng says. The passage of these state ERAs are not under dispute and, in many cases, they can provide more protections than the federal ERA, she says. States could become gender justice laboratories, she adds. States are finding their statues are biased against women Several states without ERAs, including Arizona and North Carolina, have completed reviews of their state statutes to find potentially outdated or discriminatory language in anticipation of the 28th Amendments enactment. ERA Task Force AZ issued a 652-page report Equality for All that proposes changes to state statutes to comply with the federal ERA. Many suggested changes include adopting neutral terms such as person instead of masculine terms such as men or chairman, says Dianne Post, cochair of ERA Task Force AZ. The most serious problems we found were in criminal law, in healthcare related to abortion, and family law, she says. A copy of the report was sent to every state legislator but, so far, none of the proposed changes have been made, Post says. She anticipates several bills will be introduced this legislative session. Meanwhile in North Carolina, the ERA-NC Alliance conducted a review of its state statutes and found more than 21,000 gender specific terms that needed further review, according to Audrey Muck, the alliances copresident. One of the most concerning is the term femme coverture, which means a married woman has no independent legal rights and cannot enter contracts or own property without her husbands permission, and is still in the states code of law. The Alliance brought that issue to the North Carolina General Statutes Commission and the Commission is seeking a technical correction. With or without the ERA, any state would want to make sure their statutes apply equally to men and women, says Greg McConnell, chief pro bono officer at Winston & Strawn LLP, the law firm that helped the ERA-NC Alliance review its state statutes.
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E-Commerce
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