And these are actual Democrats, just like that other ad.

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That’s the word (H/T, Mickey Kaus) from people in the know:

General Motors plans to idle the plant where it assembles the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid for four weeks starting next month, two people familiar with the plans said.

GM will close its Detroit-Hamtramck plant from Sept. 17 until Oct. 15, one of the sources said. Union representatives last week told the plant’s roughly 1,500 workers about the scheduled downtime, the source said.

GM also notified suppliers last week, according to another source in the supply chain.

A GM spokesman wouldn’t confirm whether the company planned to idle the plant.

“We don’t comment on production schedules,” the spokesman said. “We continue to match supply and demand.”

Shoot. You don’t exactly need to squint to read between those line.

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What’s the big secret of the election? Obama is losing. John Nolte collects the evidence:

It’s 8:21 on a Saturday morning and according to this photo snapped by Sharon Broadie, this is the size of the crowd that showed up in Powell, Ohio, (just outside of Columbus) to see Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan:

Here’s a look at the line to get in, and another look at the crowd from another source. And a real jaw-dropper.

Meanwhile, President FailureTeleprompter is relegated to rationalizing his lack of turnout into a “deliberate” desire for smaller, more intimate crowds. Yeah, that sounds like the Mr. Greek Column we’ve all come to know and grow tired of.

Read the whole thing — it’s about a lot more than just crowd sizes.

But Obama losing isn’t really a secret. It’s more like the elephant in the living room.

Or should I say “in the Oval Office?”

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This would be a big deal if it were happening at the Republican National Convention:

he Democratic National Committee is taking flak from women’s groups for the lack of child care that is being provided at the convention.

The Charlotte Observer reports that children will not be allowed access on the floor of the Democratic National Convention and that daycare will not be provided for delegates who bring their kids.

It’s almost as if women and children are just props to the vile progs.

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CNN head honcho announced a few weeks ago that he would be leaving at the end of the year, because the network needed “new thinking.” Well, here’s some of that new thinking in action:

As during the primaries this year, there will be round tables overseen by Anderson Cooper — perhaps the network’s biggest star — and other anchors, along with a stable of commentators such as the liberal James Carville and his conservative commentator wife, Mary Matalin. Statistics guru John King will work his hands over the “magic wall” of the electoral college once more — in fact, the new studio has two such computerized graphics boards, for even more “Minority Report”-like razzle-dazzle. It will be the first time CNN has managed its convention coverage from Washington.

If watching King massage a magic wall couldn’t stanch the flow of viewers, surely a second magic wall will do the trick. No?

Maybe instead CNN should offer hard news and interesting opinions in compelling ways. They could ditch the glitter of fantastical sets, and spend the money on restaffing their news bureaus around the world. They could stop trying to be MSNBC Lite, and start being CNN again. Why, maybe CNN could even focus on that one thing they used to do better than anyone else in the world ever did, and that’s provide up-to-the-minute, 24-hours-a-day, factually correct information about the news stories people really care about.

Naaaaaaaah.

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Taliban beheads seven civilians in southern Afghanistan:

Insurgents attacked a large party in a Taliban-controlled area of southern Afghanistan and beheaded 17 people, officials said on Monday.

The head of the local government initially said the victims were civilians at a celebration late Sunday involving music and dancing in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province. The official, Neyamatullah Khan, said the Taliban killed the party-goers for flouting the extreme brand of Islam embraced by the militants.

However, a provincial government official said later that those killed were caught up in a fight between two Taliban commanders over two women, who were among the dead. Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial government, said shooting broke out during the fight. He said it was unclear whether the music and dancing triggered the violence and whether the dead were all civilians or possibly included some fighters.

Ahmadi said all of the bodies were decapitated but it was not clear if they had been shot first.

No matter what we do, these are the people who will take control of most of the country after we leave. It’s time to come home.

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A slideshow from Slate you won’t want to miss, plus a few words from his widow, Carol Blue.

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You pay your tax dollars to the Washington, which then gives some of them to the FCC so that it can dream up new ways to take more of your tax dollars. The latest bit of unconstitutional moonbattery:

The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing a proposal to tax broadband Internet service.

The move would funnel money to the Connect America Fund, a subsidy the agency created last year to expand Internet access.

The FCC issued a request for comments on the proposal in April. Dozens of companies and trade associations have weighed in, but the issue has largely flown under the public’s radar.

Now, as everybody who ever took Econ 101 knows, if price goes up, demand goes down. So the FCC is going to tax broadband — reducing demand — in order to expand supply to people who already can’t afford it.

Forget for a moment that the FCC created out of thin air a sub-agency to justify a tax it has no constitutional power to create and no authority to collect…

Actually, I take that last part back, as I have no ability to forget all of that for even one moment.

This whole thing is an assault on reason and on the law, but in DC, it’s what passes for brains.

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Here’s Google’s statement, courtesy of The Verge:

The court of appeals will review both infringement and the validity of the patent claims. Most of these don’t relate to the core Android operating system, and several are being re-examined by the US Patent Office. The mobile industry is moving fast and all players — including newcomers — are building upon ideas that have been around for decades. We work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don’t want anything to limit that.

Emphasis added. The “mosts of these” part a quiet admission by Google that, yes, Apple’s victory wasn’t just against Samsung, but against a couple key bits of “pure” Android.

9to5Mac reminds us:

To be clear, Nexus devices are Google devices manufactured by Samsung (or HTC or Acer) and loaded with the “Pure Google Android OS” without any Samsung Touchwiz overlay or carrier software.

Google’s Android OS, not just Samsung, was hit with two different patent infringement charges last week.

And then there’s another bit from Apple Insider:

Analysts on Wall Street reacted positively to the news that Apple had won its lawsuit against Samsung, proving to a jury that its rival was guilty of patent infringement. But though Apple was awarded over a billion dollars by the jury, market watchers believe the courtroom win could have ripple effects throughout the smartphone industry that would be in Apple’s favor.

Maynard Um with Wells Fargo Securities said in a note to investors on Monday that he believes the royalty revenue stream for Apple as a result of the ruling could be “highly profitable.” Apple must still win appeals from Samsung, and would need to be willing to settle future disputes.

Apple earning royalties off of Google’s “free” mobile OS? Sure. Microsoft already earns more money off of Android than it makes from licensing its own Windows Phone OS. That’s not saying much, as WP7 remains stalled, but it still helps prove Heinlein correct when he wrote that, “Anything free is worth what you pay for it.”

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Um… I’m pretty sure this is a big no-no:

A Republican National Convention protestor was arrested while he allegedly carried a machete strapped to his leg, according to deputies.

According to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s officials, Jason T. Wilson, of Tallahassee, was arrested as he walked in the RNC Event Zone carrying a “full size” machete.

When deputies approached Wilson, they said he continued to walk away despite orders to stop.

“When deputies caught up to Wilson, he advised he did not have to stop and that he was allowed to carry whatever he wanted,” HCSO spokesperson Larry McKinnon said.

When deputies attempted to physically stop him, Wilson allegedly began resisting arrest and was physically restrained.

Wilson was arrested and taken to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on charges of prohibited items in event zone and resisting arrest with violence.

Looks like a nice fella.

Seriously, though — a machete? What was the plan? To just walk in and start dicing delegate? Make julienne fries? Deliver a special gift to surprise guest speaker Danny Trejo?

Progs are vile.

(H/T, Treacher.)

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Well, we knew that already. But that evil predatory capitalist, Mitt Romney, is writing checks for three million smackeroos to the Republican House and Senate victory committees:

Unlike President Barack Obama, who’s drawn complaints for being stingy with his campaign cash, Mitt Romney is spreading the wealth among his GOP congressional allies.

Romney’s biggest grossing committee last month steered at least $3 million to boost GOP congressional candidates who will share the ballot with him, according to finance reports filed last week.

Romney Victory, a joint fundraising committee set up by Romney’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, on the last day of July transferred $1.5 million each to the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are so far behind in fundraising, that the big guns issued a warning to the President:

Obama’s campaign had transferred money to the Democratic committees in 2008 and 2010, but has yet to do so this year, despite pleas from top Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Reid and Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). They and other lawmakers have implored Obama’s campaign both to transfer at least $10 million to the Party’s congressional campaign arms and also not to max out wealthy donors.

All this comes courtesy of Ed Morrissey, who adds:

I’d guess that the fundraising problems had already become apparent by March, but not the risk of getting so thoroughly beaten on that front. They certainly knew that Team Obama couldn’t count on parity on the super-PAC front, but everyone assumed that the Obama campaign would at least keep pace with the Romney campaign, if not outraise them. Instead, despite Barack Obama having conducted a record number of fundraisers, far outstripping George W. Bush’s 2003-4 number months ago, Team Obama is more than $60 million behind at the end of last month.

The move is also interesting for another reason. Those conservatives who are less than enthused by a Romney candidacy have pledged to work for a Republican majority in the Senate and stronger majority in the House to keep Romney on the conservative policy path. As this donation shows, Romney seems to be in complete agreement with them.

The Obama camp had planned to run a Reaganesque “morning in America” campaign based on a booming economy, and to handily out-raise the GOP nominee.

They planned… poorly.

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David Harsanyi says the momentum has moved to Mitt:

Though Democrats, and helpful pundits, have encouraged the perception of Obama’s inevitability all year, nearly every major national polling firm has had the race within the margin of error from the start. Polls now show Romney not only competitive in Virginia, Florida and Ohio, but also making gains in states that conventional wisdom says were out of his reach: Wisconsin, Michigan Nevada and others.

Apparently, I’m not a “helpful” pundit, because I told you just over a year ago that all those states were in play — including WI and MI. Here’s the very first EC map I put together for the 2012 cycle, back on August 4, 2011.

I’ll continue to do my level best to be unhelpful.

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Re-unhinged? Unhingeder? Judge for yourself.

With Matthews, everything — any little thing — said or done by the GOP is “the race card.” There’s panic in his voice, in his eyes, and in the air. Delish.

But on Twitter, Politico’s Buzz Feed’s Ben Smith described it as a “shouting match,” even though GOP chair Reince Priebus wasn’t shouting at all.

A few minutes later, Smith issued a “slight correction” to note that it was only Matthews who was “screaming.” I dunno, Ben — when you say a thing happened and it didn’t happen, isn’t that worth a full retraction instead of just a “slight correction?”

Weasel.

Hat tip, Christian Heinze at The Hill, and numerous friends on Twitter who quickly forced the weaselly “correction.”

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Chilling attack in Russia:

On Sunday, a car carrying three men, an automatic rifle and Islamic pamphlets blew up in Zelenodolsk, about a half-hour west of Kazan, in what the authorities described as the inadvertent detonation of a homemade explosive. “That radical direction exists in Tatarstan,” Mr. Malashenko said. “And it’s dangerous.”

The apparent rise of Islamic militancy could have far-ranging effects on foreign and domestic policy, as the Kremlin increasingly looks for ways to promote moderate Islam and quash radical movements at home and abroad.

What’s so chilling is that Kazan is as far north as Moscow, and not too far west of Siberia. This isn’t exactly the Caucasus. Worse, Tatarstan is home to Jadidism, a tolerant sect of Islam. The region has been at peace with itself and with its Orthodox neighbors for a couple centuries now.

Tatarstan has enjoyed a higher level of autonomy than most of the Russian Federation’s other “autonomous” regions. Any attempt by Moscow to crack down could easily help radicalize the population.

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Big news from North Korea — it’s no longer illegal for women to ride bicycles. Really:

The new government up north is trying to come up with inexpensive things it can do that will improve morale. One recent action was to repeal a 1990s law that prohibited women from riding bicycles. This law was passed in response to the death of the daughter of a senior army general, why was hit by a car while on a bicycle in the capital. This law was very unpopular, and women would often take their chances and pay the fine (a few dollars) if caught. But if caught too many times, the bike (a valuable item) could be confiscated. One reason bikes were so expensive was because North Korea never produced them, they were all imported from China or Japan. This has long been another source of irritation for most North Koreas. In the last decade, the law was generally ignored in the countryside, but still sporadically enforced (as a source of income for cops) in cities (especially the capital). So now there is one less irritant for North Korean women, and a momentary boost in morale, at least for women with bicycles.

How depressing.

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“Blame It On Bush,” by The Voters.

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Here’s a little quiz you can take — Was it said by Joe Biden or Michael Scott?

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The very first bit of history I ever learned went exactly like this: Man walked on the moon when I was just two months old and he said, “That was one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” and that man’s name was Neil Armstrong. Age three, maybe four, I was so proud to know all that.

Still am.

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Trifecta: It’s the bonus episode where we don’t know the topic going in, but I can tell you it involves a wee tiny little man.

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Sadly, here’s an item that doesn’t shock:

The Obama administration will pressure European governments not to let Greece fall out of the eurozone before November’s Presidential elections, British Government sources have suggested.

Representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission are due to arrive in Athens next month to assess Greece’s reform efforts.

They are expected to report in time for an 8 October meeting of eurozone finance ministers which will decide on whether to disburse Greece’s next €31bn aid tranche, promised under the terms of the bailout for the country.

American officials are understood to be worried that if they decide Greece has not done enough to meet its deficit targets and withhold the money, it would automatically trigger Greece’s exit from the eurozone weeks before the Presidential election on 6 November.

They are urging eurozone Governments to hold off from taking any drastic action before then – fearing that the resulting market destabilisation could damage President Obama’s re-election prospects.

After the election, I presume Europe will have more “flexibility.” No word on whether the request has been transmitted to Vladimir.

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Louie Armstrong, “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans.” This is a live performance, but I haven’t been able to figure out where or when. I do know the musicianship on display is breathtaking.

We have a choice here between a Hurricane or a Mint Julep, but Melissa still has all that mint growing in the garden. So, Mint Julep it is.

We also have to hurry up and play this one — and drink this one — before we lose the very last of the summer weather. Monument Hill cooled off a couple weeks ago, and doesn’t look likely to warm back up very much before the autumn sets in.

You’ll need:

2.5 ounces Kentucky bourbon – Maker’s Mark preferred
2 fresh mint sprigs
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon water

If you happen to have your wife’s grandmother’s old julep glasses, by all means give them a quick polish and use them. If not, a Collins glass will do. My wife likes hers a little weaker and a little sweeter, so I double the water and sugar for her.

Trim your mint sprigs so that they’re the right height to serve as garnish. Trim off all the lower leaves, then muddle them in the bottom of the glass with the sugar and the water. Muddle them hard and release all that minty goodness.

Fill the glass all the way to the top with shaved or crushed ice, pour in the bourbon, then top off with a little more ice. Stick in a straw (we’ve got to get silver ones to go with the glasses!) then garnish with the sprigs.

Here are the two I just made.

Cheers.

AND ANOTHER THING: I’d usually leave it at that, but sipping at my cocktail and listening to Armstrong got me thinking. Or, as close to thinking as one can do on a sunny Saturday afternoon spent sipping at a cocktail and listening to Armstrong. What I’m thinking is, the huge debt we owe to Louis Armstrong.

Without Armstrong, jazz and pop as we know them simply wouldn’t exist. He did more than any other single artist to define both — and he did so as an instrumentalist of unparalleled talent and as a vocalist of sublime and restrained emotiveness. Without Louis, how do you get to Charlie Parker? Without Louis, how do you get to Ella or Frank? He’s the guy who started it all.

Oh, and he wasn’t a bad actor, either, with 18 movies to his name.

We’re lucky we had him. I’m going back to my cocktail now.

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Reason has the nation’s five dumbest drug laws. I’m especially fond of this one:

In New York, possession of small amounts of pot has been decriminalized, but it’s still a crime to take the pot out of your pocket and wave it around like you just don’t care. That distinction — between possession and display — seems pretty simple on its face. How hard could it be to keep your weed out of view? Not hard at all, unless an officer with the NYPD stops you as part of the city’s stop-and-frisk policy, and asks you to empty out your trousers. In that case, the simple act of pulling out your weed for inspection qualifies as display. According to The New York Times, this Kafkaesque paradox results in “tens of thousands of young black and Latino men who are stopped by the New York City police for other reasons…being charged with a crime” after emptying their pockets.

The drug war has descended into parody — a life-ruining parody.

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OK, so that’s been true for almost a year. But there might be more to it:

A Thai Buddhist temple has claimed that it knows the whereabouts of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the afterlife.

Wat Phra Dhammakaya, which made the revelations on its website in a post titled ‘Where Is Steve Jobs,’ claimed the Apple co-founder is a mid-level angel living in a parallel universe.

This to me makes a small amount of sense.

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Unfortunately, this is not the kind of thing St. Louis radio stations were playing in the early ’80s. I had to move to California at the end of the decade to catch up on all the Goth-y goodness I’d missed out on.

And this is as good a place as any to start — with one of Bauhaus’s more …approachable… singles.

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From the Department of Duh:

Prince Harry has worked hard to transform his image from playboy to a modern royal serving Britain on the front line, but having naked pictures beamed around the world will not help his cause.

Ya think?

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The new North Korea has 80 million people, a savage level of popular ignorance, imports half its calories, and an armed cadre willing to lob missiles at its wealthy neighbor. Did you guess Egypt? Of course you did:

While the world persists in looking for signs of pragmatism in the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsy is quietly taking over all the power bases in the country.

Having gotten rid of the army old guard, he replaced them with his own men – officers belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood or known sympathizers. Then he turned his attention to the media, replacing 50 editors working for the government’s extensive and influential press empire – including Al- Ahram, Al-Akhbar, Al-Gomhuria. He is now busy appointing new governors to the 27 regions of the country.

In these kinds of “revolutions,” victory always goes to the most ruthless. Just how ruthless Morsi really is remains to be seen, but I’m not hopeful. Even in the best-case scenario, there are still plenty of underlings even more ruthless, ready to knock off Morsi at the first sign of weakness.

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