Netflix Revolutionizing the Way Millions of People Watch Television

Fascinating piece, at NYT, "Netflix’s Move Onto the Web Stirs Rivalries."

In a matter of months, the movie delivery company Netflix has gone from being the fastest-growing first-class mail customer of the United States Postal Service to the biggest source of streaming Web traffic in North America during peak evening hours.

That transformation — from a mail-order business to a technology company — is revolutionizing the way millions of people watch television, but it’s also proving to be a big headache for TV providers and movie studios, which increasingly see Netflix as a competitive threat, even as they sell Netflix their content.

The dilemma for Hollywood was neatly spelled out in a Netflix announcement Monday of a new subscription service: $7.99 a month for unlimited downloads of movies and television shows, compared with $19.99 a month for a plan that allows the subscriber to have three discs out at a time, sent through the mail, plus unlimited downloads. For studios that only a few years ago were selling new DVDs for $30, that represents a huge drop in profits.

“Right now, Netflix is a distribution platform, and has very little competition, but that’s changing,” said Warren N. Lieberfarb, a consultant who played a critical role in creating the DVD while at Warner Brothers.

RTWT.

Exuberance Makes a Comeback

Way to show 'em.

At New York Times, "Signs of Swagger, Wallets Out, Wall St. Dares to Indulge."

More here (via CSPT).

TSA: Keeping Us Safe

The contrarian view, from Gabriel Schoenfeld, at Opinion Journal, "Body scans and intrusive searches are unpleasant but necessary":

Since 9/11, al Qaeda has not succeeded in launching another terrorist spectacular in the United States. But it has succeeded in provoking a spectacular debate about aviation security. Several weeks ago—and even earlier at some airports—the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) initiated full-body scans and enhanced pat-downs, including inspections of private parts, that in some quarters are fueling outrage.

So is the flying public rightly angered? The media have documented a string of monstrous cases in which prosthetic breasts have been exposed and urostomy bags worn by bladder-cancer patients have been disconnected, with humiliating consequences.

These incidents certainly demand better training for security personnel. But they do not invalidate the need for intrusive screening.

Do read the rest. I'm mostly with Schoenfeld, although his argument sounds eerily similar to Secretary Napolitano's. And some folks aren't digging on her too much:

Added: Before I go all in for Schoenfeld's argument, I'd need to take a good look at Israel's airport security procedures. Absolutely prohibiting any profiling whatsoever sounds ridiculous, although, again, I'm with him on the basic point of necessity.

Sarah Palin's Thanksgiving Message

To all 57 states (via Memeorandum).

Happy Thanksgiving From Robert Stacy McCain and Family!

Umm, was this almost like a trip to the dentist?

This won't be happening around these parts. My wife indulges my blogging, but not this much. Love the kids, in any case. All six of them!

Happy Thanksgiving From Blackfive

Via Theo Spark:

I almost skipped posting this, but Uncle Jimbo pulls off some Reaganite optimism toward the end of the clip. It's good to hear, considering everything of late.

A Happy Thanksgiving From Michele Bachmann!

I've been a supporter of Michele Bachmann since she first gained national notoriety (following an appearance on MSNBC's Hardball). And I received this greeting from her today:

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

As Marcus and I sit around the Thanksgiving dinner table with our five children we have a lot to be thankful for. As a family tradition we go around the table and name a blessing that we are thankful for. I have given a lot of thought to what I am going to say this year as I have too many blessings to count.

First, my husband Marcus and my five children, Lucas, Harrison, Elisa, Caroline and Sophia for your support and love over this past year!

Secondly, you and the volunteers and staff who worked around the clock to get me re-elected in the sixth district.

Thirdly, the number of supporters around the country that have supported me and donated to my campaign to promote the message of Constitutional Conservatives.

Finally, The biggest blessing of this year and every year is our freedom that so many men and women have fought and died for to protect. My family and I daily give thanks and pray for the men and women in our armed forces who are home and abroad ensuring our safety and selflessly protecting our God given rights to live as a free people.

Thank you for your support and rest assured that this Thanksgiving this country is stronger because of you. I continue to work to make this nation strong on the principles and blessings that so many of us are thankful for today.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and God Bless America!

Animal Rights Activists Threaten UCLA's David Jentsch

It's been almost two years, but I wrote on this previously: "J. David Jentsch Stands Up to Animal Rights Extremists."

I'm not surprised, but things have gotten worse. At LAT, "Attacks Won't Deter Researcher":

When UCLA neuroscientist J. David Jentsch was a grad student, he never expected his life as an academic would require around-the-clock armed guards, or a closed-circuit TV inside his bedroom so he could keep constant watch over his home.

But the high-powered security proved necessary again this month when the researcher, who experiments on monkeys, opened a letter left in his mailbox to discover razor blades and a death threat.

"We follow you on campus," Jentsch recalled the note reading. "One day, when you're walking by, we'll come up behind you, and cut your throat."

Activists claimed the razors were tainted with AIDS, though it hasn't been confirmed by officials. University officials have said the latest threat, confirmed by UCLA on Tuesday, is under investigation by the FBI and UCLA police.

But the 38-year-old professor has been through this before. Last year, he woke up to an orange flash and a car alarm. He ran outside to find his car had been blown up.

Twice a month, animal rights activists in ski masks gather outside his home, chanting "murder." On Halloween, neighborhood trick-or-treaters were handed flyers with images of bloodied animal subjects.

"If you go to the house down the street, there's a monster who lives there," children were told.

The tactics, Jentsch said in an interview inside his office, are part of an intensifying effort by extremists to halt animal research at the university. Molotov-cocktail-like devices have been left near researchers' homes and under their cars, and in one case, a professor's window was smashed and a garden hose inserted to flood her home.

Some of Jentsch's colleagues have opted to alter their research, or move, but the neuroscientist says the latest incident has motivated him to press on.

"They're absolutely determined. This is not a joke to them," he said. "But this is the work I feel morally obligated to do."

This is left-wing terrorism, and right here at home. Just one more sign of the true evil of left-wing ideologies.

God bless J.David Jentsch.

RELATED: "UCLA researcher receives threatening package; animal activists said to claim responsibility."

Glenn Reynolds a Coward? But Hey, It's Thanksgiving!

That's leftie Oliver Willis, blowing the fuse on the stupid (and fake) holiday truce assumption.

Oliver's pissed that Glenn "outsourced a hit" to Jim Treacher: "World War Three Averted!" No doubt the title of the Insta-entry is what blew Ollie's kryptonite: "THE GENIUS OF OLIVER WILLIS: Recognized at last."

Good stuff. Jim and Glenn that is. Oliver Willis is fail.

Thanksgiving Classic, 1994: Detroit Lions Over Buffalo Bills, 35-21

My life as a sports fan has gone through many gyrations. Lately I've been blogging more than watching football and baseball, although I watch the Thanksgiving Classic every year, and especially the Detroit Lions.

Thinking about it now, I simply never forget Thanksgiving 1994, when Quarterback Dave Krieg gave one of the most outstanding performances of my lifetime. The Lions' homepage has the details:

1994 - Detroit easily controlled the four-time AFC Champion, Buffalo Bills, 35-21, with reserve QB Dave Krieg at the helm for the injured QB Scott Mitchell. The Lions set the tone on the second play of the game as Krieg used the flea-flicker to connect with a streaking Herman Moore (seven receptions for a then-career-high 169 yards) on a 51-yard touchdown strike. DT Kelvin Pritchett sacked Bills QB Jim Kelly three times and Lions S Willie Clay intercepted the first two passes of his career, returning the second 28 yards for a touchdown.

And the sports page report at the New York Times, November 25, 1994:

Quarterback Dave Krieg, a 15-year veteran making his third Detroit start since Scott Mitchell was injured, played his best football in years. His numbers were striking: 20 completions in 25 attempts for 351 passing yards, with 3 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions.

It wasn't just his numbers, though, that helped bury the Bills; it was his reads, his picking up secondary receivers and his courage to stand in the pocket and take big hits as he released the ball.

"Dave Krieg had the game of his life," Kelly said.

The Lions nevertheless cut him loose at the end of the season.

Parents Rescue Baby in Carjacking Attempt

KCTV 5 Kansas City has the story and a video report, "Parents Rescue Baby In Car During Carjacking."

And at ABC News, "Caught on Tape: Parents Stop Carjacking to Save Baby; In Kansas City, a Man Tried to Steal the Couple's Car with Their Child Still in the Backseat."

It's hard to tell, but the perp looks like a brother, but it's not cool to focus on the race of the assailant, because, you know, they're oppressed or something:

Blessings For Which We Give Thanks

William Jacobson has good wishes for all of his readers on this Thanksgiving, even the trolls and leftist lurkers.

I'm not that big of a person, toward demons at least. I need see some apologies on the other side. It's all about the iteration.

Anyway, POTUS is all about thanking the troops here (better to do it before Sarah Palin does), although FLOTUS is all about the stuffin': "Whew! FLOTUS Approves Thanksgiving Pie'."

Taylor Swift 'Speak Now' Special

The hot country star is on tonight at 8:00pm, on NBC.

I'll check it out. I enjoyed her on the American Music Awards. And of course, she's pissing off rap idiot Kanye, so she's eternally got my vote. Breaking this morning, at Us Weekly, "Kanye West Slams Taylor Swift Again." And the alternative headline at New York Magazine, "Kanye West Attacks Taylor Swift, Defends George Bush in Brilliant Debut Performance of New Album." (Video rant at PopEater.)

I don't see clips from the new album, so until then:

Bunkering Down in the Bluest of Blue States

From yesterday afternoon: "Kamala Harris wins attorney general's race as Steve Cooley concedes." (At Memeorandum and Crooks and Liars, where folks are thrilled with Harris' radicalism.)

Democrats have now won every single statewide race. Some might recall that I've contemplated leaving California, although that's entirely impossible at this point. I'll no doubt be having continuing thoughts on this, unless something improves soon, which is unlikely. A poll out a couple of weeks ago was no consolation. I'll be down in the bunker if you need me. From the Los Angeles Times:

The road to redemption for the Republican Party in California may be even rougher than November's statewide electoral drubbing indicated, as a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll shows a deep reluctance among many voters to side with a GOP candidate and broad swaths of the state holding views on government's role that conflict with Republican tenets.

California voters surveyed in the poll repudiated the party's stance on illegal immigration by endorsing a host of positions intended to make it easier for the undocumented to gain legal status. Their support for same-sex marriage outnumbered that opposing any legal recognition by more than 3 to 1. Californians also endorsed an assertive role for government in protecting minority citizens, regulating corporations and helping the poor and needy, and rejected arguments that an activist role for government had harmed the fiber of American society.

The negative overlay both explained and helped determine the fates of the party's candidates in November. As a GOP tide swept the nation, Republicans here lost all statewide offices, with one contest, for attorney general, still unresolved but leaning toward the Democrat. Republicans here also failed to gain any congressional seats and lost a legislative seat.

Strikingly, almost one in five California voters said they would never cast a ballot for a Republican. Among Latinos, that rose to almost one in three. Only 5% of California voters were as emphatically anti-Democrat.

"I don't know how any Republican thinks they can win in California after looking at this," said GOP pollster Linda DiVall, who with Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg directed the survey for The Times and the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.

The party faces a critical collision between its own voters, a minority in California, and those it needs to attract to win. The most faithful Republicans this year — those who voted for both Meg Whitman for governor and Carly Fiorina for Senate — said by a 27-point margin that to be more successful, Republicans should nominate "true conservatives."

But among the majority of voters who spurned Whitman and Fiorina in November — and in whose good graces any future winning candidate would need to be — the results were reversed. Forty-three percent said that future Republican candidates needed to be more moderate. Only 20% said that Republicans should nominate "true conservatives."

As those figures help illustrate, the GOP's difficulties in California rest on two overlapping conflicts, ideological and demographic. The party's conservative primary voters determine nominees, even if their views are often opposite those of the far more moderate general election audience. And the party's white and conservative voter base is increasingly giving way to the state's non-white and nonpartisan population.

RTWT.

Related: At Michelle's, "DREAM Act nightmare: 2.1 million future Democrat voter recruitment drive."

Jennifer Grey Wins 'Dancing With the Stars'

I was more into DWTS this season than ever. I might have more later on Bristol, but for now, at People, "Jennifer Grey Speaks About 'Unbelievable' Dancing Victory."

RELATED: "Bristol Palin: Prayer Helped Me Through Dancing Controversy."

Regime Change North Korea

I joked about it the other night, but frankly toppling the Kim dictatorship is the only way to solve the never-ending nightmare of North Korea. And now Max Boot is taking that possibility seriously, "North Korea & Iran: Containment vs. Regime Change." After some background on the limited options vis-à-vis Pyongyang — with discussion of the Cheonan incident, which killed 46 South Korean sailors — Boot notes the obvious solution:

The ultimate solution is plain: regime change. But how to achieve it is another matter. China is North Korea’s major remaining lifeline, but unfortunately it is hard to see how to persuade the Chinese to cut off their client state. They may not like Pyongyang’s powerplays, but they are even less wild about the notion of a unified Korea allied with the United States.

Actually, the way to achieve it is clear: The Obama administration should go to the United Nations requesting a resolution condemning North Korean aggression under international law. The U.S. should invoke Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, declare a breach of international peace and call for a "police action" to preempt further North Korean attacks. This is not idle armchair analysis. South Korea's Foreign Ministry yesterday accused North of violating the 1953 armistice, and Seoul "has decided to sharply bolster its military arsenal in the tense Yellow Sea to counter any possible additional attack from North Korea." And the government has directed the military to revise its rules of engagement. Of course, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has already warned that Beijing "opposes any threat of force" on the Korean Peninsula, so we know the difficulties ahead. But we shouldn't blink. Given the Obama administration's soft-peddling responses to global threats so far, the U.S. needs to move beyond the current pleasure cruise gunboat diplomacy now under way off the Korean peninsula. The Washington Post reports on U.S. goals in the naval deployment, "U.S. Aircraft Carrier's Arrival Off Korean Peninsula Also Sends a Message to China":

In dispatching the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday, the Obama administration said it was putting on a show of U.S. support for South Korea.

South Korea was attacked Tuesday by a deadly North Korean artillery barrage, days after the North revealed what could be a new nuclear weapons program, and President Obama said he wanted to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with an American ally.

But the carrier - with 6,000 sailors and aviators and 75 warplanes - has another audience: China. Exasperated with a lack of help from Beijing on the Korean Peninsula, the Obama administration is trying to pressure China to constrain North Korea.

That should be just a start. Developing news earlier today indicated that South Koreans were badly shaken by reports of civilian casualties in the Yeonpyeong attacks. And things won't get better with more patty-cake diplomacy and meaningless démarches from the Hillary Clinton State Department. B.R. Myers' essay at NYT is suggestive: "North Korea Will Never Play Nice." But to be even more explicit: Topple the regime in Pyongyang or be prepared for the next generation of deadly hostilities as Kim Jong-il prepares to cede the stage to his successor.

Stores Push More Deals and Extend Black Friday Discounts

My wife works retail management, so we're always talking about this stuff. At LAT, "Black Friday Becoming Week of Discounts and Extended Hours":

Call it Gray Friday.

Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, has lost a bit of its luster as hungry retailers try to stretch the one-day shopping bacchanal on the day after Thanksgiving into a weeklong bonanza.

Big chains including Sears and Toys R Us have joined Wal-Mart and Kmart in offering Thanksgiving Day hours. Others have already begun hawking massive discounts and pushing online deals. And to keep the party going past Friday, many retailers will offer fresh discounts Saturday and Sunday.

There's a lot riding on the outcome. Retailers hope an improving economy will bring the biggest holiday receipts in four years — and if they succeed, it could help set off a chain of events that could accelerate the country's slow recovery, said economist Esmael Adibi of Chapman University.

"If the retail sector is healthy, that will eventually lead down the road to expansions, and expansions lead to hiring," he said. "Additional hiring generates more income, and then that income in turn will be spent. It's a multiplier effect."

Wall Street was feeling optimistic about the retail industry as it headed into the all-important Thanksgiving weekend. Continuing a recent run-up, investors pushed an index of 90 retail stocks to the highest level in more than three years Wednesday, with Guess shares gaining 11% and shares of Amazon.com, Tiffany & Co. and Big 5 each rising more than 5%.

Consumer spending at the nation's retailers, although not robust, has been generally healthy all year. So economists are predicting the best holiday season since 2006 (before the recession) and are estimating a year-over-year retail sales increase of 2.3% to 3.5%.

Despite the earlier-than-ever holiday deals this year, habitual Black Friday shoppers say they'll still be out in force for the annual shopping extravaganza.

Animal Rights Extremists Condemn Sarah Palin 'Snuff Film'

They've cut the clip here, but at about 35 seconds Sarah Palin whaps a halibut:

WaPo has the story, "Sarah Palin's 'Snuff Film' Has Animal Rights Group Angry." But according the Alaska Charter Association (via JWF), "Halibut clubbing is actually a standard practice among fishermen."

You don't say?

Says She Talks to Angels...

The Black Crowes (heard this afternoon on The Sound).

Currently on tour, they'll play the Hollywood Palladium on December 11th.

She never mentions the word addiction
In certain company
Yes, she'll tell you she's an orphan
After you meet her family

She paints her eyes as black as night now,
Pulls those shades down tight
Yes, she gives a smile when the pain comes,
The pain gonna make everything alright

Says, she talks to angels,
They call her out by her name
Oh yeah, she talks to angels,
Says they call her out by her name

She keeps a lock of hair in her pocket
She wears a cross around her neck
Yes, the hair is from a little boy,
And the cross is someone she has not met, not yet

Says she talks to angels,
Says they all know her name
Oh yeah, she talks to angels,
Says they call her out by her name...

National Opt-Outapalooza!

The National Opt Out Day homepage is here, and there's commentary at Memeorandum. And Voting Female's got a roundup, featuring this aggressive Speedo protester at Salt Lake City International Airport below. Plus, at London's Daily Mail, "From bikinis to Speedos to racy underwear, the passengers who claim they WANT to be 'transparent to the TSA'."

The odd stories will lead the news, but how's that opt out thingy working out otherwise?

Fox News has a report, "Many Opting Out of “National Opt Out Day”; TSA Warns Of Possible Impact On Holiday Travel." And at ABC News, "TSA Opt Out Day: Thanksgiving Travelers Quiet So Far: Airport Travelers Share Their Experiences With the Transportation Security Administration." And video from ABC, "TSA Chief's Airports Update." And the chief's at USA Today, "Why We Need TSA's Security Measures."

Recall my previous entry: "How Far on TSA Opposition?" I'd go for the body scanners since I'm worried that one of the al Qaeda freaks is actually gonna get through — and, yeah, I know the response that searches and scanners don't work, blah, blah, but until we profile Muslims ...

That said, check the additional commentary from Jazz Shaw at Hot Air, "Double Standards and the TSA Screeds." And from Glenn Reynolds, "TIME TO GET THE PUBLIC INVOLVED IN AIRPORT SECURITY CHOICES." He links to his Popular Mechanics piece out today, "The TSA, the Law and Democracy: The People's Security," with this key passage:

Today's airport security is widely regarded as a waste of time—the TSA has never caught a terrorist that we know of—and many regard it as what security expert Bruce Schneier calls "security theater," something aimed at giving the appearance of safety, as opposed to its reality.

Even if that's a bit too harsh, it's clear that American security policy is aimed at keeping objects off of planes. For the Israelis, on the other hand, profiling isn't a bug but a feature. Israeli Arabs can breeze through security, while Americans with odd stamps on their passports—as globe-hopping correspondent Michael Totten recently noted—face extensive questioning. The Israelis focus on the person, looking for signs of nervousness, stories that don't hang together and other evidence of nefarious intent. This makes sense. Ultimately, it's people, not objects, who pose the danger.

Yid With Lid has more on that: "These Are The Reasons Why Israel's Airline Security Doesn't Need To Touch Our Junk." Or your breasts: "Woman: TSA Agents Singled Me Out For My Breasts."

And the polling is changing on all of this. While Gallup reports wide public support for TSA screening procedures, WaPo indicates that half of all Americans think agressive pat-downs go too far. And LAT reports on a Zogby poll that says "61% oppose new airport security measures."

And the radicals at The Nation have offered a novel defense of Janetalia Napolitano, "The Washington Lobbyists and Koch-Funded Libertarians Behind the TSA Scandal":

So now let's take one more look at the TSA hysteria, and re-evaluate if we should continue to simply accept the surface narrative, or consider what we might learn by looking beneath the surface. Because everywhere you look, the alleged victims' stories often turn out to be false or highly suspicious, promoted by lobbyists posing as "ordinary guys," and everywhere the cast of characters is always the same: drawn from the cult-ish fringes of the libertarian movement, with trails leading straight to the billionaire Koch brothers' network of libertarian think-tanks and advocacy groups. The tea party must really be freaking out the commies, since radical leftists and radical libertarians have long been on the same side. I'll believe folks at The Nation when they come out aggressively against the Ground Zero Mega Mosque, or in favor of the Afghanistand deployment.

And I guess this is one of those extremely rare times where I agree with Glenn Greenwald: "Anatomy of a journalistic smear job."

RELATED: "As Anger Over Body Scanners Grows, Their Developer Comes to Their Defense."

*****

Added: "Travelers’ Reports: Better Than Expected."