Mitt Romney's Whiteboard Lecture on Medicare Reform

Schooling Obama.

At Hot Air, "Oh my: Romney busts out the white board on Medicare."

Bill Whittle's Afterburner: 'The Democrats Are Terrified' of Paul Ryan

A cutting --- and cutting-edge --- analysis, with humor.

Lebanon Abductions Escalate Conflict in Syria

This is pretty amazing.

At the New York Times, "In Lebanon, Sunnis Threaten Shiites as Kidnappings of Syrians Rise":

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Sectarian tensions escalated across Lebanon on Thursday as Sunnis in border towns threatened Shiites after several Shiite families who had already abducted more than 30 Syrians added several more to their hostage total.

The expanded kidnapping wave occurred as the war in Syria staggered on — with battles in Aleppo and dozens of bodies found in a landfill outside the Syrian capital, Damascus, according to activists — and it suggested that the threat of regional chaos was increasing.

Lebanon has long been a country where international rivalries play out, and Lebanese security officials said Thursday that Syria’s 17-month-old conflict had pushed Beirut and the border regions closer to civil strife.

“It’s a very critical moment,” said one senior security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the heightened tensions. “We are open to the fact that there are going to be surprises.”

Those surprises included more kidnappings. A group of Shiites from the Zeeiter tribe told reporters on Thursday that they had kidnapped four members of the Free Syrian Army from hospitals in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, which borders Syria. Another tribe in the area, according to local news reports, kidnapped four other rebel fighters just across the border inside Syria.

The abductions on Thursday came a day after members of the powerful Mikdad family abducted nearly 40 Syrians to avenge the kidnapping of a relative, Hassan Salim al-Mikdad, by Syrian rebels on Monday.

The families of 11 other Lebanese hostages held inside Syria have also kidnapped several Syrians, after conflicting news reports suggested that some or all the Lebanese hostages had been killed by a Syrian airstrike. By Friday their fate had become clear: four had been killed, the Syrian rebel commander said in an interview on Lebanese television.

And while the Mikdads told reporters on Thursday that they had stopped taking hostages, the cycle of tit-for-tat abductions seemed to be spreading. Residents of some Lebanese border communities said Sunnis had also threatened to start kidnapping Shiites.

More at the link.

Hmm, it's hard to dismiss the idea that a U.S.-led protection force in Syria could long ago have prevented this kind of escalation. Of course, it would have never been approved before the U.N. But the U.S. bombed Kosovo in the 1990s without U.N approval, so it happens. Would that have risked war with Russia? Perhaps, although we're practically back in the Cold War with Moscow as it is. And Mosow's a smidgeon of its former self under Soviet rule. I doubt we'd make it anywhere near DEFCON 3 alert, as we were in the 1973 Middle East crisis. But I think that's getting ahead of things. Russia would probably huff and puff these days, as U.S. forces proceeded to toppled the regime in Damascus and install a friendly regime committed to secular politics and democratization.

More from Max Boot, at Commentary, "Extremists Filling Power Vacuum in Syria."

An Open Letter to MSNBC's Touré on Real Racism

From Kira Davis:

Progressives are horrible people.

That was my dad's generation. And I was called "nigger" when I was in school. I still have progressives launching racist attacks on me, amazingly. But they're supposed to be tolerant. See: "It's Come to This: Progressives Reduced to Racist Slurs Against American Power."

PREVIOUSLY: "Niggerization."

BONUS: At Big Journalism, "Romney Camp 'Discussing' Racial Slam with MSNBC Execs."

The Media's Strangely Subdued Reporting on Family Research Council Shooter

From Jill Stanek, at NewsBusters:

I was camping yesterday morning when a friend alerted me via Twitter on my iPhone there had been a shooting at Family Research Council headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Frightened for my friends, I began scanning Google for news reports. Ten minutes later the first story popped up, stating an FRC security guard had been shot in the arm, and the shooter had been arrested.

A bit relieved, I went ahead with a planned day trip, tuning in to news radio in the truck to keep up with the latest. Nada.

I switched to WLS radio, the Chicago ABC affiliate. More nada.

I thought to myself had this been a shooting at a NARAL or GLAAD headquarters, or at a Planned Parenthood clinic, the journalistic world would have stopped. But because FRC is conservative, a shooting wasn’t so big a deal.

Continue reading.

No one was killed, so that explains a lot of it. But as I noted yesterday, had it been HRC rather than FRC, well, you know... See: "CNN Waited 2 Hours and 45 Minutes to Report Shooting at Family Research Council."

Paul Ryan Shirtless!

Forget about the non-existent #RomneyRyan war on women. This guy is hot. Even Gayle King at 'CBS This Morning' noted Ryan's great shape during her interview with Mitt the other day.

And at PolicyMic, "Paul Ryan Shirtless: How the Romney VP Pick Became a Ryan Gosling Viral Sensation."

IMAGE CREDIT: Stoaty Weasel.

'Troops of Tomorrow'

So I'm clicking around on YouTube last night, cruising through some punk clips, and I find an upload from The Exploited's 1985 concert at The Olympic Auditorium. That was something else. I remember hanging out in the back, staying clear of the massive mosh pit. What a memory. The flyer's here, "The British Are Coming."

Below is a studio version of "Troops of Tomorrow," the title track off the band's second album, released in 1982.

I loved their sound, but The Exploited had issues. When I first saw them play, at The Lingerie nightclub in Hollywood, Wattie, the lead singer, started waling on the guitarist, and then the whole stage was in brawl. And that was it. Concert over. We (me and my buddies) were so f-king pissed. The club was half full. I was standing right at the stage. It was going to be fabulous. But Wattie was drunk off his ass and it ended up being a waste. Not a total waste, if I recall, since my buddy Victor and I met up with some smokin' beautiful women whom we'd met previously as some other gigs. (Victor was the drummer in the band F-Beat (which included Right Wing News blogger Michael Fell on base.) Here's an old Flipside Fanzine interview with Wattie from 1984, and he talks about the fight at The Lingerie:

Frank: Last time you were here you didn't get to play your scheduled show here in L.A. so you were gonna play a free show at a Roller Rink, what happened with that?

Wattie: Me and Gary got in a fight and I knocked his front four teeth in. We were still gonna play, we were still pals and stuff, but it cost us $400 to get his face stitched up. Gary had really bad breath, and he was picking on the drummer right, 'cause he was drunk, and he stuck his face near mine. And if I'm drunk, if somebody puts their face near me I'll just hit them, I'm paranoid about that...

(Wattie tells us how Carl "lost" his guitar in Spain: the Exploited did some minor damage and were asked to pay a lot for it. When they refused, the police were called who arrested the band and put them in jail. By then the bill had doubled, the Exploited gave them all the money they had plus Carl's guitar and they got out. He finally got a new guitar after their four shows in L.A.)

More at Wikipedia.

PREVIOUSLY: "The Exploited - 'Hitler's in the Charts Again'."

Facebook Shares Fall to New Low as Investors Dump Holdings

At the Wall Street Journal, "Facebook Shares Fall to New Lows as Lockup Ends":

Facebook Inc. shares sank 6.3% to a record low on Thursday, falling below $20 a share on a day when some early investors were allowed to unload their stakes, adding further pressure on the beaten-down stock.

Rules expired Thursday that had restricted some early investors from selling down their stakes after Facebook's initial public offering. More than 271 million Facebook shares became eligible for sale Thursday, though holders could also choose to keep some, or all, of their stakes. Any additional shares would add to the 421 million already in circulation.

Facebook declined $1.33 to $19.87 on the Nasdaq Stock Market at 4 p.m. Thursday, after hitting a record intraday low of $19.69.

The prior closing low of $20.04 was hit Aug. 2. Upward of 141 million shares had traded by 3:30p.m. New York time, more than triple the stock's daily average over the past 30 days, according to the WSJ Market Data Group. That was greater than the full-day activity in all but two sessions: the first two days Facebook was public and the day after it reported second-quarter results in July.

"It's basically supply and demand," said Evercore Partners analyst Ken Sena. "You have a lot of supply of shares coming to market, so even to those who feel that the stock is priced attractively at these levels, there's no reason to step in and buy."

More at the link.

Politically Correct Olympics on Verge of Fascism

From Yulia Latynina, at the Moscow Times, "The Most Politically Correct Olympics in History":

The London Games have gone down in history as the most politically correct Olympics ever. Moreover, it was political correctness in its worst form — on the verge of fascism.

First, the leadership of the Greek Olympic Committee removed triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou from the games for the following joke she made on Twitter: "With so many Africans in Greece … the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!"

The joke is certainly offensive, but ruining someone's life over this matter — someone who has spent her whole life preparing for this competition — is pure fascism. It is the Ministry of Love punishing thoughtcrime.

In another case, a member of the German rowing team, Nadja Drygalla, was forced to drop out of the competition because of a comment that was made on Facebook. But she had nothing to do with it. It was her boyfriend, a former neo-Nazi, who complained of having to travel on a train "with blacks and Pakistanis."

Maybe the Olympic Ministry of Truth can answer one question for me: Why should Nadja Drygalla answer for the contents of her boyfriend's Facebook page?

What's next?

Disqualifying an athlete for the actions of his father? Or because another athlete's grandfather served in the SS? Or maybe because somebody's great-grandfather suppressed the Sepoy Rebellion in India?

But the most surprising aspect is the shameless double standards of the International Olympic Committee, or IOC. The Ministry of Love, standing by with a hot iron ready to dole out punishment for having politically incorrect boyfriends, turns out to be surprisingly tolerant of Nazism of another variety.

Take, for example, when several Lebanese Olympic athletes refused to train in the same room as Israelis. That is much worse than a tasteless joke on Twitter. It's pure racism. The IOC should have clearly said to the Lebanese athletes, "Your demand is contrary to the very spirit of the Olympic Games, so we are excluding you from the competition."

But instead of doing that, the committee simply put up a partition in the training room to appease the Lebanese racists and ensure that their tender feelings weren't offended....

I blogged a few of these example, but continue reading.

The enormously vile leftism is the main reason lots of folks revile the Olympic Games.

How to Manage Your Bulging Email Inbox

I have two email accounts, and the spam folder for my private Gmail works really well, blocking out not just spam, but also idiot progressive trolls like Walter James Casper III, who continues his obsession with this blog, the f-king freak.

 Check the report at the Los Angeles Times, "Tech Savvy: How to manage your bulging email inbox."

'Niggerization'

Touré's the perfect representation of progressive Democrat Party political, policy, and moral bankruptcy. 

And God bless S.E. Cupp for calling out that idiot's blatant race-hustling double standards.

At Hot Air, "Video: Touré pretty sure that Romney calling Obama “angry” is racial" (via Memeorandum).

Penélope Cruz Looks Awesome in New 'Super Mario Bros. 2' Advertisement (Video)

I had Penélope Cruz in mind yesterday, when I mentioned that Bar Refaeli wasn't the world's most beautiful woman. Ms. Cruz is swoon-worthy. At London's Daily Mail, "Penelope Cruz as you've never seen her before! Star transforms into Super Mario for new Nintendo advert."

Previous Penélope Cruz blogging is here. I've been slacking!

South African Police Open Fire on Striking Miners (VIDEO)

Longer versions of the video show the miners armed with huge machetes, and thus the police will be able to claim self-defense. Still, it's too much. At least 18 dead? It's just too much.

The New York Times reports, "Mine Strike Mayhem Stuns South Africa as Police Open Fire."

MARIKANA, South Africa — The police fired on machete-wielding workers engaged in a wildcat strike at a platinum mine here on Thursday, leaving a field strewed with bodies and a deepening fault line between the governing African National Congress and a nation that, 18 years after the end of apartheid, is increasingly impatient with deep poverty, rampant unemployment and yawning inequality.

In a scene replayed endlessly on television that reminded some South Africans of the days when the police of the apartheid government opened fire on protesters, heavily armed officers shot into a charging crowd of workers who walked off the job last Friday, demanding higher wages.

The strike has pitted the country’s largest mine workers union, which is closely allied with the governing A.N.C., against a radical upstart union demanding sharp increases in pay and faster action to improve the grim living and working standards for miners.

The strike and the government’s iron-fisted response are emblematic of the frustration with the slow pace of transforming South Africa’s largely white-owned business establishment and the growing perception that the A.N.C. and its allies have become too cozy with big business. As a result, many people here, especially the young, have looked for more radical solutions.

“N.U.M. has deserted us,” said one of the striking workers, who gave his name as Kelebone, referring to the older union, the National Union of Mineworkers, by its abbreviation. “N.U.M. is working with the white people and getting money. They forgot about the workers.”

Also at Guardian UK, "South African police shoot dead striking miners."

Ryan Pick Shifts Focus From Economy to Ideology

I noted this point earlier, and I'm thrilled about it.

At the New York Times, "Choice of Paul Ryan Shifts the Focus From Economy to Ideology."

However, I wouldn't put too fine a point on it. You can't lose focus of the economy in this economy. Obama is the emperor with no clothes. He can run, he can demonize his opponents, but he can't hide. The campaign's ideological focus sharpens differences on the economy. The Times implies Ryan's a liability, of course. Only the election will tell. But we know conservatives are energized and Team O's shaking in its boots. The Dems are walking a living nightmare.

Ecuador Grants Asylum to Julian Assange

At the New York Times, "Ecuador Grants Asylum to Assange, Defying Britain." (Via Memeorandum.)

Economic Downturn, High Taxes Hurt Hollywood as TV Production Joins Film Exodus

California's so uncompetitive that even the basic core of the state's historic entertainment industry is looking for more fertile pastures.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Los Angeles losing the core of its TV production to other states":

The five broadcast television networks will be rolling out 23 new one-hour dramas for the upcoming season. That would normally be good business for Hollywood's hometown industry — with bookings for soundstages and plenty of work for the costumers, camera operators and caterers needed to put a show on the air.

But not this year. Just two of the 23 new fall and midseason shows will be shot in Los Angeles County, as cost-conscious producers seek tax-friendly production havens in New York, North Carolina, Georgia and other states.

The exodus has been going on for years, especially in feature film production. But television dramas such as"CSI,""Criminal Minds"and"Desperate Housewives"have long been anchors of Los Angeles' entertainment economy, helping to offset the decade-long slide in moviemaking. One 22-episode-a-year network series has a budget of $60 million and generates 840 direct and indirect jobs, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

That economic bang is beginning to fizzle. Fewer than 10% of new network dramas this season are based in Los Angeles, down from 50% in 2010 and nearly 80% in 2005.

"The loss of hourlong dramas is very significant," said Kevin Klowden, director of the California Center at the Milken Institute, noting that a typical drama shoots for eight to nine months, compared with just six to eight weeks for a film. "This is the heart of television production. If this continues, you're going to see a direct impact on the employment base of Los Angeles."

Though L.A. still hosts the bulk of new half-hour comedies and reality shows, dramas are more prized because they use bigger crews and have bigger budgets. That translates to more spending in the local economy....

New York had a record year for TV production last year and is on track to repeat in 2012. More than half a dozen new fall and midseason network dramas are expected to shoot in New York this season, including the CW's"The Carrie Diaries,"CBS'"Elementary" andABC's"666 Park Avenue."

At least seven new broadcast dramas will be shooting in Canada, includingABC's"Zero Hour," in Montreal, and "Hannibal" and"Beauty and the Beast,"both in Toronto, which also hosts the new drama "The L.A. Complex," about a group of actors trying to make it in Hollywood. Other new dramas are being filmed in North Carolina, Georgia, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

To be sure, creative reasons also factor in the decision-making. It made sense to shoot"Dallas"in Texas because the story is based there. But tax credits offered by Texas were also important, said Michael Robin, an executive producer on the series, who is also a producer on the new cable crime drama "Longmire," which is set in Wyoming but filmed in New Mexico, partly to take advantage of tax credits.

"The cost of producing these shows goes up every year, but the bottom line doesn't," said Robin, who is also producing the new cable drama"Major Crimes"locally. "The tax credits help close the gap."

"The reality is, as long as Sacramento continues to balk at having real incentives, we're going to continue to lose the most lucrative forms of television and film production," said Paul Audley, president of FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit group that handles permits for the city and county. "We're losing tens of thousands of jobs to New York."

The Concours d'Elegance Car Show at Pebble Beach

I think my buddy will be up at Pebble Beach again, with his 1913 American Underslung.

And it looks like it's going to be one hella show, "1936 Mercedes may break record at Pebble Beach auction."

Former Special Forces Officers Slam Obama Over Bin Laden Leaks

At the New York Times, "Ex-Officers Attack Obama Over Leaks on Bin Laden Raid."

Shooting at Family Research Council

The report from MyFoxDC, "Shooting at Family Research Council Headquarters."

And at Instapundit:

AMERICA’S WEIMAR MOMENT? Reader Kevin Hedges writes:

Many years ago in an undergrad World History course, the professor asserted that German democracy died not in 1933 with Hitler becoming Chancellor but years earlier. It died when roving bands of Brown Shirts beat up Jews in the streets, and the average respectable German citizen responded by looking the other way. I am reminded of that today with the FRC shooting and the MSM pretending it didn’t happen. Leftist shootings, vandalized Chick-fil-As, Black Panthers at voting stations, many, many churches burned and vandalized, media silence and the drumbeat of hate and demonization continues. I honestly wonder if democratic pluralism is dead. Some are openly saying it is. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Fascism.

Professor Reynolds responds, at the link.

And see Gina Dalfonzo, at National Review, "Leo Johnson of the FRC and the Best and Worst of Human Nature":

When early eyewitness reports — not yet confirmed by the police or the FBI — suggested that the shooter had said disparaging things about FRC’s views, the rhetoric got even crazier. The narrative that has emerged among certain members of the Left goes something like this: When a right-winger shoots a left-winger, the right wing is at fault. And when a left-winger shoots a right-winger, the right wing is also at fault, because people with their views are just asking for it.

Have we really gotten to the point in this country where some of us are willing to legitimize violence this way?

We have to be honest when talking about the motives of any given criminal. There’s no point in trying to hide or ignore them. But can’t we also be honest about the fact that on both sides of the aisle, violence tends to come only from the marginalized and deranged? Pinning the blame for a crime on an entire mainstream movement or belief system is a highly dangerous exercise. It means that when a crime is committed by someone who agrees with you — as will inevitably happen, since criminals come from all backgrounds and belief systems — you then have to quickly twist things around and protect yourself from any possible guilt by association. And if that means blaming the victim, well, so be it.

Yes, but it's the left that almost always does the twisting. Personally, I've never seen such hatred in my entire life. And yes, progressives will blame and attempt to destroy the victim. That's what they do. They have no grace.

PREVIOUSLY:

* "CNN Waited 2 Hours and 45 Minutes to Report Shooting at Family Research Council."

* "SPLC Gives Cover to Hate."

* "Depraved Homosexuals Blame Family Research Council for 'Climate of Violence' After Leftist Attempts Massacre."

* "Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Attacked Family Research Council as 'Hate Group' in 2010 Report."

* "Family Research Council Shooting at Washington, D.C., Headquarters."

Mitt Romney: Obama Will 'Do Anything' to Get Elected

I hope he keeps hammering O as he's been the last few days. I've been tweeting Team Romney with my concerns, so who knows, maybe I'm getting through. I know someone got through to Mitt over the last week or so. That Chillicothe speech was a knock out.