Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 994

'The Conjuring' Spooks the Summer Box Office

Welcome to the Box Office Report, where the movies will always be the best option when it's literally too hot for life. 

1. The Conjuring (Warner Bros.): $41.5 million in 2,903 theaters

Did you know that it was really hot out this week? The heat was unbearable! (The temperature, we mean.) And so people flocked to the movies, and they chose a spooky tale from a reliable director to take their mind off the rest of the world. Why? Who knows, honestly. James Wan was the guy behind Saw and 2010's Insidious, which has been one of those "you should finally get around to seeing this" movies for The Box Office Report ever since it came out, so his pedigree helped things. But otherwise this was a sharp left turn from the big-stakes, big-destruction that's dominated the theater this summer. Maybe that's why. 

2. Despicable Me 2 (Universal): $25.1 million in 3,820 theaters [Week 3]

This will go down as the summer of the minions. They cannot be stopped at this point. None of the kids movie challengers on the horizon pose any real threat to its place as king of the castle. Neither Disney's Planes or Sony's Smurfs 2 will come close Despicable's total domestic take, which is currently north of $275 million. 

3. Turbo (Fox): $21.5 million in 3,806 theaters

Because somehow a movie about a fast snail didn't light audiences on fire. This could have been Ryan Reynolds' second life as a children's movie star, injecting his career with a new energy doing voice work for every CGI kids movie on the block. Unfortunately that won't be the case. Poor kid. 

4. Grown Ups 2 (Sony): $20 million in 3,491 theaters [Week 2]

5. Red 2 (Lionsgate): $18.5 million in 3,016 theaters

Old people shooting things was more popular with movie-goers than a movie about ghost-hunting dead policemen played by Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges. Poor Ryan Reynolds loses, again. 

       

McCain Goes After 'Stand Your Ground'; Cruz Avoids 2016 Talk

Arizona Sen. John McCain said he wants states to review "stand your ground" laws after the George Zimmerman acquittal during his appearance on CNN's State of the Union. And yes, he wants his home state to review the law, too. "I can also see that Stand Your Ground laws may be something that needs to be reviewed by the Florida legislature or any other legislature that has passed such legislation," McCain said Sunday morning. When asked by host Candy Crowley if his advice applies to Arizona too, McCain said it did. "Yes, I do and I’m confident that members of the Arizona legislature will," he said. He was then asked if he agreed with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's position that the President's view of "stand your ground" laws were another attempt at gun control. "I respect his view, but I don’t frankly see the connection," McCain said.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tried to downplay any speculation about a potential run to be the Republican Presidential nominee in 2016 on ABC's This Week. "We are having a national debate about which direction the country should go, and what I am doing now is trying to participate in that national debate," Cruz said, from Iowa, one of the states where campaigning traditionally begins. Besides, he just landed in the Senate! He's still getting his feet under him. "I’m not focused on the politics. I’ve been in the office all but seven months. The last office I was elected to was student council. So this has been a bit of a whirlwind." Of course there's also a small debate over whether or not Cruz, who was born in Calgary, Alberta, is eligible to run for President. He tried to blow that debate off. "My mother was born in Wilmington, Delaware. She’s a U.S. citizen, so I’m a U.S. citizen," he said at first, but that wasn't enough: "I’m not going to engage in a legal debate. The facts are clear," he added. "I can tell you where I was born and who my parents were. And then as a legal matter, others can worry about that. I’m not going to engage." Sorry, Ted: your presidential dreams may be dashed by the law. 

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House Speaker John Boehner refused to tell CBS's Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer whether he supports a path to citizenship in an immigration reform bill or not. Schieffer asked him repeatedly whether he would support a bill with a path to citizenship, clearly growing frustrated with the Speaker, but Boehner wouldn't budge. Initially Boehner would only speak about the need for immigration reform in broad terms. "Bob, we have a broken immigration system. The legal immigration system's broken, we have a problem with 11 million people who are here without documents, 40 percent of them, by the way, came here as legal immigrants," Boehner said. Boehner said that immigration is "a very big problem," before explaining that the bipartisan Senate immigration bill that includes a pathway to citizenship is a problem, too, because border security. "And what I've committed is that one, the House does not like the Senate bill. It's one big, massive bill that in my opinion doesn't have enough serious triggers to protect our border," he told Schieffer. But the veteran host pressed the speaker to stop dodging him: "Are you not going to answer that question?" he asked. Boehner's response was as noncommittal as you'd expect. "I'm not going to predict what's going to be on the floor and what isn't going to be on the floor. And that's what you're asking me to do. I can't do that. And I don't want to do that," he said. "My job in this process is to facilitate a discussion and to facilitate a process, so the American people can see what we're doing and so the members understand that we're dealing with this in a deliberative way." Schieffer tried one last time: "Do you, Mr. Speaker, yourself personally favor a bill that has a path to citizenship for those 11 million?" And, again, Boehner made it both about him and not about him. "It's not about me. It's not about what I want," he said, before making it all about him: "If I come out and say, 'I'm for this and I'm for that,' all I'm doing is making my job harder,' he said. "My job as the leader of the House is to facilitate this conversation and this process that involves members on both sides of the aisle, involves the American people." Finally the two men moved onto a more enjoyable topic, one that Boehner might actually talk about. Schieffer asked Boehner what he thinks will be his legacy as speaker. Boehner's proposal: "He was fair to all and protected the institution." We're sure some observers would disagree. 

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder defended authorizing Detroit to file for bankruptcy on NBC's Meet the Press. "This was a very tough decision, but it’s the right decision because ultimately what we need to do is get better services for the 700,000 residents of Detroit," the Republican governor said. "There were no other viable options." Snyder tried to explain the bankruptcy as 60 years of "kicking the can down the road," but he was optimistic that things could turn around in the future. But Snyder said his biggest concern is for the retirees in Detroit and making sure they aren't left behind. "One thing that we’re asking for is the judge right up front to appoint someone to represent the retirees," Snyder said. "The bankruptcy is about the unfunded portion of the pension liability," he added. "The funded piece is safe."

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

Mark Leibovich, reporter for The New York Times and author of the Washington party book This Town, told Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace that the response to his box has been mixed. From outside the beltway, he's only heard praise and flattering words. But inside Washington is another story altogether. "It’s been a combination," Leibovich said. "The criticism from inside Washington has been, 'How dare he?'" Leibo, as his insider-y friends call him, said the praise from outside Washington mostly thanked him for exposing "the carnival" of Washington. "It’s very easy to do well rather than doing good," was how Leibo explained the way Washington works now. 

       

Meet Marvel's Next Avengers Villain

Marvel debuted the title for the next Avengers sequel, and therefore tipped the crowds of cheering comic book fans to film's next villain, during their busy Comic-Con panel last night. The new movie will be called The Avengers: Age of Ultron, borrowing the title from a recently finished comic book arc by Marvel's golden boy, Brian Michael Bendis. Ultron is a classic Avengers villain who first appeared during the 1960s. Created in the comics by one of the founding Avengers, Hank Pym (aka Ant-Man, who has his own movie coming out soon), the sentient robot is constantly trying to take over the world, much to the Avengers' chagrin. Marvel executives also played a quick trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, showing off a wild fight scene between Cap and an elevator full of S.H.E.I.L.D. agents that had everyone talking afterwards. They also confirmed that movie would focus on Bucky Barnes and the story arc written by Ed Brubaker that began in 2005 and culminated, eventually, in a new Captain America. (We doubt they'll do that much Cap history in this movie, though.) [Vulture]

Quite literally the entire cast of X-Men: Days of Future Past showed up to their panel in Hall H, a seperate affair from the rest of the Marvel universe, on Saturday night. The X-Men franchise is produced by Fox because of pre-existing deals. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult were all there, along with their new friends Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, and Peter Dinklage, among others. They didn't give away any new information about the movie. But Jackman used the panel to thank the studio for casting him as Wolverine and launching his career. Ian McKellan spoke about California's Prop 8 being defeated by the Supreme Court recently. "I feel safe here now that you’ve gotten rid of Proposition 8," he told the crowds. "Looking for a husband. It’s nice to meet you Michael," he said, turning to Fassbender. The Fass blew him a kiss and the crowd went nuts. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Nerds of a certain stripe are also freaking out over the trailer for astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Fox will debut its 13-episode reboot of the classic Carl Sagan series, Cosmos: A Personal Journey, in the Spring of 2014. The trailer shows off some very nice looking photography and CGI work, with not-so-subtle odes to the original series, Planet Earth, and Terrence Malick. It's absolutely beautiful, though, and if you have even a passing interest in those things you'll likely be intrigued.  [The Verge]

       

What Happens When Kevin Rose Goes Head-to-Head with a Raccoon

A fight broke out in the wee hours of Saturday morning that involved a Google partner hurling his combatant down a flight of stairs. And while this seems like a sordid tale worthy of an item in a gossip column, it's not. Because the combatant thrown down the flight of stairs was a raccoon. 

It's a classic Saturday night story of a man defending his best friend who got into a fight. We've all been there, right? Well, Google Ventures partner and Digg founder Kevin Rose found himself intervening on behalf of his dog, Toaster, in a back-and-forth tilt with a raccoon around 1 a.m. on Saturday. Rose could hear Toaster "crying and yelping in pain" so he decided to see what was happening outside. The following video captures the end of the fight:

So, um, that happened. And it was the best raccoon-tossing video ever, obviously. A quick recap: Rose picks up the raccoon and hurls that thing down a flight of stairs with no hesitation for his own well being. Raccoons are dirty, vile creatures. Few would have the courage and, frankly, the stones to act the way Rose did. Toaster is OK, though the Internet was urging Rose to get him checked for rabies after his squabble with the raccoon. 

A video like this naturally became an overnight internet sensation after people started discovering it Saturday evening. The video caught fire on Reddit, obviously. And it captured the hearts of tech and non-tech people alike last night: 

Startup founders: If I were an investor in your company I would throw a raccoon attacking you down the stairs. http://t.co/WYyDuTWz6i

— Jacob Brody (@jacobbrody) July 21, 2013

This GIF of Kevin Rose throwing a raccoon on infinite loop. http://t.co/13mYwsHHc6

— MattHardigree (@MattHardigree) July 21, 2013

Watched the Kevin Rose raccoon video and want him to be the sentry at my cottage on Raccoon Highway. Anyone know how I can make this happen?

— Leah Reich (@ohheygreat) July 20, 2013

I grew up in Tennessee, Florida, and Georgia. It taught me that sometimes you just have to throw a dang raccoon.

— edsbs (@edsbs) July 20, 2013

The fate of the raccoon remains unknown. We don't know what happened to the tossed 'coon after Rose followed it down the stairs at the end of the video. It could have survived and walked away or, well, met a more untimely demise. But it will live forever in this GIF: 

And in this parody Twitter account: 

You know, we were the original dumpster diving hipsters. I just don't feel like we get enough credit for that

— Tossed Raccoon (@TossedRacoon) July 21, 2013

Bonus points for using an avatar from The Raccoons. 

       

The Tipping Point in the War on Leaks

The United States government has faced criticism for its aggressive war against classified information leaks from within its normally well-secured walls. But there was a tipping point, just after Obama took office, when the administration decided something must be done about leaks. 

The New York Times' Sharon LaFranierre did a thorough report on the origins of the administration's crackdown on national security leakers. The answer lies somewhere in a combination of new faces running national security and a series of embarrassing leaks that happened immediately after the Obama administration was installed. It was a perfect storm that led to this war on leaks we've heard so much about.

Under Obama's former director of national intelligence, Dennis C. Blair, the war against leaks started just after the new President took office. It became very clear, very early that they had a leaking problem on their hands. 

According to Mr. Blair, the effort got under way after Fox News reported in June 2009 that American intelligence had gleaned word from within North Korea of plans for an imminent nuclear test — a disclosure that eventually led to the indictment of Mr. Kim. The report infuriated the Central Intelligence Agency not only because it indicated that the United States was privy to the private discussions of North Korean leaders, but also because it was broadcast mere hours after a classified report with that information had been distributed to intelligence officials.

The immediate leaking of such important intel combined with the new faces running national security pushed an aggressive assault on leaks to the forefront. The way the government was looking at leaks had already started to change. During Blair's first few months in office, he ordered a review of the cases brought against government officials for leaking national security threats during George Bush's second term. There were 153 cases and no indictments. Some cases had suspects that were never charged. A fraction of the cases were turned into FBI investigations.  "He was dismayed by what he found," the Times reports.

And that's when things started to change within the administration. "A tipping point was reached in 2009," one source told the Times. Blair, FBI director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Eric Holder were being scolded in private meetings with Senate leaders, like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, for the continued torrent of leaks. "We had to do 50 push-ups and promise to do better," Blair told LaFranierre. Blair's response was to put his right-hand man, Robert M. Bryant, his counterintelligence executive, in charge of stopping leaks. They also trimmed the investigation review period from a few months down to three weeks. Whether or not their efforts are producing results, beyond twice as many prosecutions as all previous administrations combined, is up for some debate. 

On Friday, Times reporter James Risen was ordered to testify against one of his alleged sources. The government believes CIA official Jeffrey Sterling was the person who leaked classified information about a U.S. plan to pass bad information to Iran. The information, which was classified, ended up in a report and subsequent book written by Risen.

The Department of Justice is also investigating Marine General James Cartwright for allegedly leaking information about the Stuxnet virus to The New York Times' David Sanger. You also may have heard about the cases against Wikileaks source Bradley Manning and the former National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, who leaked classified documents to the Guardian and Washington Post. A few weeks ago, NSA head Keith Alexander told ABC's This Week that "clearly the system did not work."

The administration is leading an unprecedented war on leaks, to varying degrees of success. 

       

Woody Allen Won Out Over William Faulkner in Court

Sony Pictures had the lawsuit against Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris filed by William Faulkner's estate dismissed by a federal Mississippi court judge on Friday because, well, a poorly used nine word quote is not grounds for a fair use lawsuit. 

At one point in Midnight in Paris, Owen Wilson's struggling novelist protagonist says: "The past is not dead! Actually, it's not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner. And he was right. And I met him, too. I ran into him at a dinner party." The line Wilson quotes is from Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun, and his estate wasn't happy with being included in the movie without getting some compensation. So Faulkner Literary Rights LLC filed suit against Allen and Sony Pictures for damages and some of the movies profits. But the funny thing is, Wilson's character didn't even get the line right. The actual text reads: "The past is never dead. It’s not even past."

So the whole lawsuit was over a nine-word line that wasn't even quoted right. 

Unsurprisingly, Mississippi judge Michael P. Mills dismissed it in a 17 page ruling delivered on Friday. "At issue in this case is whether a single line from a full-length novel singly paraphrased and attributed to the original author in a full-length Hollywood film can be considered a copyright infringement," Mills wrote. "In this case, it cannot."

Faulkner's estate tried to argue the line "describes the essence of Requiem," and therefore qualified for qualitative importance. Mills didn't see it that way, and his response is kind of hilarious. "Qualitative importance to society of a nine-word quote is not the same as qualitative importance to the originating work as a whole," he wrote. "Moreover, it should go without saying that the quote at issue is of miniscule quantitative importance to the work as a whole. Thus, the court considers both the qualitative and quantitative analyses to tip in favor of fair use." The judge also implied the Faulkner estate probably profited from being mentioned in the movie. 

Unlike the past, this lawsuit is dead.

       

The 'Catching Fire' Trailer Doesn't Disappoint

Unveiled during one of Comic-Con's most hotly anticipated panels, the trailer for the next Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire, showed a much more expensive looking movie while keeping the spirit and characters from the first movie intact. (Or, the ones who survived at least.)

The new trailer catches up with all of the old characters and sets the stakes for the big 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games. Since we saw that at the end of the last movie, Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss and Josh Hutchersin's Peeta are in a fake relationship for television now. Gale is still involved in this love triangle somehow, too. But things are afoot in these Districts of Panem, and Katniss may be the change people need. That's why Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Donald Sutherland, all white-haired and full of pomp and menace, are conspiring to get rid of her. We also get quick flashes of the new characters, like Finnick, who is shirtless, natch.

We also get a shot of the new Hunger Games arena, which is much more impressive this time around. Everything seen in this trailer is full and lush; it's shiny in the right places and dirty where it needs to be. The Hunger Games stage (hi, Stanley Tucci!) looks more extravagant than it did in the last movie. It has a very Oscars feel to it. Just from seeing this new trailer, many have noticed the sequel received an obvious budget after the first movie's success. 

This is the first shot in what will surely be marketing blitz before the November 22 release. Enjoy: 

       

Of Course There's a Python Loose on the Dartmouth Campus

One of the local fraternities lost a pet recently, and now the citizens of Hanover, New Hampshire are quivering with playful fear and mocking the nearby trouble making Ivy league school. But, in their defense, strange animals get loose on college campuses all the time. A three-foot ball python has been missing from the coed Tabard fraternity house on Webster Avenue since Thursday, and the snake hasn't turned up yet. Police warned the public that the slithering snake may have escaped out of a fraternity window and to be on the lookout on Saturday morning.

Don't worry, the snake is not poisonous and it doesn't eat babies or small children for lunch. Your cats and dogs should be safe, too. But if you live in the area, be aware that the three foot python slithering in the bushes isn't your imagination, and you should call the police immediately. 

But there's a chance the pet is still inside the frat house, hidden in a corner or crevice outside of view. "We’ve had people lose snakes and they live in their house for quite a while just hiding," veterinarian Christine Pinello explained to the Valley News. "They’ll eventually find a snake alive or dead." Besides, humans are much larger than a three foot snake. "The python is probably scared," Pinello said. 

Some online were proud, horrified, or scared for their well being, and then there were others who just found the whole thing a little ridiculous: 

Police are looking for a missing python at #Dartmouth. I am so proud of my alma mater. http://t.co/l97afH271w

— Alexander Nazaryan (@alexnazaryan) July 20, 2013

Uhhhh apparently there is a missing python on the Dartmouth College campus (10 minutes from me). Yikes.

— Erica (@ebravesluvr) July 20, 2013

Dartmouth men cant be that smart if somehow their python escapes out of a frat house... #notleavingmyhouse

— Jaydn Dodge (@Jaydn_Dodge) July 20, 2013

Ah! We got a big ol' snake on the loose! Police looking for missing python at Dartmouth College http://t.co/cWzNtapqQc via @pressherald

— Hillary Anne Hayes (@HillaryAHayes) July 20, 2013

It's probably a good thing Dartmouth doesn't have a mascot. That would probably be target #1 for the freed gigantic python.

— Peter Jacobs (@peterajacobs) July 19, 2013

The Dartmouth fraternity scene has developed a pretty horrid reputation over the years. If you ask some, the greek culture is gross and dangerous and will make you puke. On the other hand, some see what Dartmouth's frat community has become and call it art. They have perfected the idea of a college fraternity and they're owning it, lost pythons and all.

That said, this may be the best Dartmouth python reaction of all:

Someone needs to do @_FloridaMan, but with "Dartmouth Frat." http://t.co/RSzrvoiDEg

— The Gurgling Cod (@TheGurglingCod) July 20, 2013

In case you don't know, Florida Man is a popular Twitter account that pushes forward all of the crazy news stories about the screwed up people who live in Florida. That's how far Dartmouth fraternities have come: they're bordering on Florida level-craziness. 

But an animal loose on campus isn't actually that bad in the grand scheme of things. A moose was seen galloping across the Dartmouth campus earlier this month. (Though, it should be noted, the moose was never living in a frat house.) And a bear was roaming through the University of Central Florida campus this month, too. A Florida Gulf Coast University grad told The Atlantic Wire baby alligators were a regular fixture of the campus lifestyle there. Wild animals on are just as common to the modern college experience as essay all-nighters and keg stands. This isn't completely Dartmouth's fault. 

       

A Superman and Batman Team-Up Is Warner's Next Big DC Move

Update, 4:54 p.m.: And Zach Snyder made it official during Warner's last Comic-Con presentation. (Seriously, it had a hint of Apple's "...one last thing" shtick.) Snyder confirmed Cavill will be back as Superman and that no Batman is confirmed yet. Snyder said he was searching for something he could show fans that would indicate what the movie (that is still being written, mind you) will be like when it's complete. For that, he brought out Harry Lennix to read this quote, per Slashfilm: 

 “I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to come, in all your most private moments, I want you to remember your hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you.”

That's from the end of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, the book that has set the tone for Superman and Batman's relationship for close to thirty years. That little bit of information has comic book fans peeing their pants in anticipation already.

Update, 2:49 p.m.: The Hollywood Reporter says the Superman and Batman combo will kick-off a three year rush in DC comics movies, culminating with the debut of the Justice League. Apparently a Flash movie is slated for 2016 and Justice League will hit theaters in 2017. 

Original: The move won't officially announced until the Warner Brothers panel at Comic-Con officially starts, but word has leaked that the long-fabled (and once scrapped) Superman and Batman team-up will be the company's big counter to Marvel's Avengers sequel. 

The L.A. Times' Hero Complex blog reports DC Comics and Warner will announce the Man of Steel follow up this morning, slated with a release for 2015. Do you know what else comes out in 2015? Marvel's next Avengers movie, so this will likely set up a showdown for the summer between two massive heavyweights. Ali-Frazier didn't have this fire power. 

Hopefully you enjoyed Man of Steel, though many did not, because they're going to reassemble the creative team to helm the follow-up: Zach Snyder will direct, with David S. Goyer handling the script. Henry Cavill will be back in the red-and-blues tights but it's unclear right now who will wear the cape and cowl. It likely won't be Chirstian Bale, so, if you'll recall the ending of Dark Knight Rises, it's a safe bet that Joseph Gordon Levitt will be prominently involved.

The bridge from one continuity to the next was already planted in Man of Steel, in case you were wondering. And Goyer has explained that Man of Steel was made so other superheroes could exist within its universe. "In our world, the 'Man of Steel' world, Zack has gone on record saying that we’re implying there are other superheroes in this world. But I don’t know that they’ve come forward yet. The idea is that Superman is the first one," Goyer told Bleeding Cool last month.

So! This kind of a huge deal, right? Superman and Batman coexisting on the screen is a fanboy's dream, obviously, but it could be seen as a little shallow after all of the teasing and promising of a Justice League movie. Cavill threw some cold water on that idea a few week ago, though, so he may have been deliberately lowering your expectations. This way DC gets two marquee names in the title and there's no need for any requisite origin stories from all of the new characters. That would have been exhausting. They can get to sniping and biting and playfully hating each other while being best friends right away. 

This is actually DC's second attempt to bring Superman and Batman together in one movie. There was a previous project, before Batman Begins and even Superman Returns, when Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne were to appear together fighting bad guys in 2004. Nothing ever came of it, obviously, much to some fans' dismay. 

Comic fans are also wondering which incarnation of the Batman/Superman relationship will they adopt for the new movie. DC Comics just launched a new crossover series written by Greg Pak, though it seems unlikely that story will jump to the screen so soon. Luckily there are years and years of squabbling to take inspiration from. 

       

Remembering Helen Thomas

Tributes have started rolling in for Helen Thomas, one of the first women to break into Washington's notoriously (to this day) male-dominated press corps. Her death was announced on Saturday by the Gridiron Club. Thomas was 92 years old. 

The seasoned Capitol Hill reporter covered the White House for 49 years, spanning ten Presidents. Her first White House beat was covering the youthful idealism of the Kennedy presidency in 1960. Her career ended during a time of similar hope in the wake of the election of Barack Obama. Working for United Press International and Hearst Newspapers, she covered Nixon in China and the Reagan assassination attempt and, well, just about everything else that had to do with 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and its occupants. 

But Thomas's career came to an abrupt end in 2010 when she was videotaped making unflattering remarks about the Israel at a White House party. "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," she said on the tape, while speaking with a rabbi. "Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not Germany, it's not Poland." The famously opinionated reporter quit her job as a Hearst columnist shortly after the scandal. 

But Thomas will be remembered for breaking barriers for women trying to report in Washington throughout her lengthy career. This is a small, incomplete list of pioneering positions and distinctions Thomas held during her illustrious tenure as a reporter. Nevertheless, they are testament to her manifold achievements:

She was the first woman to be a White House bureau chief for a major wire service. She was the first woman officer for the White House Correspondents' Association. She was the first woman president of the White House Correspondents' Association. She was also the first woman to join The Gridiron Club, a who's-who fraternity of Washington power-playing journalists. 

Journalist started sharing their best stories of the pugnacious Thomas as news of her passing spread on social media: 

Opening of every White House news conf for years: "First question to Helen" RT @AP: Helen Thomas, pioneer for women in journalism, has died

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) July 20, 2013

Any woman who has had the privilege of sitting in the front row of the White House briefing room owes huge debt of gratitude to Helen Thomas

— Julie Pace (@jpaceDC) July 20, 2013

For a time, Helen was the only reporter assigned a seat by name in the WH Briefing Room: front row center.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) July 20, 2013

i'll choose to remember Obama giving Helen Thomas cupcakes on her birthday over the last controversial days http://t.co/pqR9ivEytB

— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) July 20, 2013

Helen Thomas -- someone I can tell my daughters to look up to. RIP.

— Kelly Dwyer (@KDonhoops) July 20, 2013

A pioneering life in American journalism has ended: veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas has died at age 92.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) July 20, 2013

RIP Helen Thomas. She paved a path for many women jounalists who followed. She would have been 93 next month.

— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) July 20, 2013

But perhaps the best anecdote passed along was the image of an aging Thomas showing she still had plenty of spirit left:

Enduring image of Helen Thomas: Literally kicking the door to the WH press office when the Clinton folks had yet to open it one morning.

— Steve Holland (@steveholland1) July 20, 2013

That's Helen Thomas in a nutshell. She will be missed, both on Capitol Hill and throughout the nation.