Friday, August 31, 2012

Five things we learned from Day Three of the RNC







Clint Eastwood talks to an imaginary President Obama in a chair next to the podium at the RNC on Thursday.

Clint Eastwood talks to an imaginary President Obama in a chair next to the podium at the RNC on Thursday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS



  • Romney's speech was more about Obama than himself

  • Republican presidential candidate made clear election is referendum on economy

  • Rubio's speech makes him 2016 GOP front-runner should Romney lose

  • Jeb Bush makes clear he's had enough bashing of his brother





Tampa, Florida (CNN) -- Mitt Romney accepted the Republican Party's nomination for the presidency on Thursday night, culminating a convention shortened to three days by Tropical Storm Isaac.

The closing image from the convention's final night was Romney with running mate Paul Ryan surrounded by their families and showered with balloons. But the lasting image might be Clint Eastwood speaking to an empty chair.

Here are five things we learned Thursday:

1. Do we know more about Romney the man than we did before?

From an emotional video to a speech with more insight on his family, his faith and his career, Romney used the most important address of his life (yes, way overused, but true) to open up to Americans voters.

"You know, I can't explain love. I don't know why it happens. I don't know why it endures the way it does. You know, at the very beginning, I sat with her, chatted with her, put my arm around her and something changed," Romney said, sharing his feelings for his wife, Ann, in a video that played before his address.

Day Three at the Republican National Convention

It was a rare display of emotion by the Republican presidential nominee.

And in his speech, Romney opened up about his parents: "My mom and dad were true partners, a life lesson that shaped me by everyday example." And he opened up about his family: "Unconditional love is a gift that Ann and I have tried to pass on to our sons and now to our grandchildren."

And he opened up about his faith, which he's infrequently discussed during his second bid for the White House.

"Like a lot of families in a new place with no family, we found kinship with a wide circle of friends through our church. When we were new to the community, it was welcoming and as the years went by, it was a joy to help others who had just moved to town or just joined our church," Romney shared.

The race for the White House is basically a dead heat, but polls indicate Romney trails President Barack Obama when it comes to his favorable rating and likeability. And a speech in front of a national television audience of up to 40 million people gave Romney a perfect opportunity to open up.

Miss Romney's speech? Here's a transcript

So did Romney succeed in giving Americans a better sense of who he is?

The jury's still out.

"Self-revelation and introspection are still not his strong suits," said CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley, anchor of "State of the Union." "He had some good lines, some nods to his religion, but if you want a public emoter, Mitt Romney will never be your guy."

CNN Chief Political Analyst David Gergen gave it mixed reviews.

"I think it humanized him very well. I think it introduced him on a personal level," Gergen said. "I thought this speech had lots of heart, but it needed more soul. It needed more poetry."

2. Speech puts referendum election into sharp relief

Romney's convention-night speech put into sharp focus how much Republicans think November's election will boil down to whether voters think they're better off economically under Obama. In the biggest speech of his political career, Romney spent much of his time picking apart his Democratic opponent, deriding the promises Obama made in 2008 and vowing to work harder to put Americans back into good paying jobs.

"President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet," Romney said, harking back to statements Obama made when running for president four years ago.

"My promise is to help you and your family," he continued as delegates roared.

Photo gallery: The best pictures from the convention

While attacks on Obama's economic polices are nothing new for Romney, his near-singular focus on trying to show the president's failings lent his convention speech the air of a fired-up campaign rally, rather than a sweeping address designed to rouse the base along with undecided voters.

While other speakers over the course of the three-day convention offered feel-good moments, the heart of Romney's speech was an impassioned ticking through of the five-point economic plan he lays out at every campaign stop.

Republicans, bolstered by polls showing voters putting the economy as their No. 1 issue, say that very specificity is what will put them over the top in November, even if it comes in place of the grander rhetoric employed by Obama.

"It was that substance gap that he opened up against President Obama here where he made the case that what the president has done didn't work," said Ari Fleischer, a CNN contributor and former press secretary for George W. Bush. "I thought it was a big hit."

The risk in Republicans' strategy is that it relies on economic factors out of their control. If the economy improves, the argument against Obama weakens. In a recognition of that reality, Romney's speech Thursday attempted to conjure a more general American funk, which the GOP nominee cast as a result of overhyped promises four years ago.

"There's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him," Romney concluded.

Fleischer said the line "encapsulated the disappointment that the American people have in the country under President Obama. And that is a powerful indictment of a line."

3. Rubio seizes the moment

If Romney loses in November, there will be a singular front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Not Paul Ryan. Not Chris Christie. Not Jeb Bush.

His name is Marco Rubio.

Republicans saw why on Thursday when the 41-year-old Cuban-American senator from Florida introduced Romney with a powerful speech about America's greatness that electrified the convention crowd.

Rubio: Obama is a bad president

In the GOP, Rubio is the only figure possessing the kind of goosebump-inducing stage presence that Barack Obama had 2008.

Forget for a moment that his remarks were mostly absent of policy substance or lacked any specific argument as to why Romney will be a better president than Obama. Political campaigns are about stories, emotions and biography -- and Rubio's speech had it all.

There were doses of sharp-edged rhetoric to fire up the GOP crowd -- "Our problem is not that he's a bad person, our problem is that he's a bad president," went one of his best lines -- but the speech was mostly optimistic and forward-looking.

When he spoke about his personal life as the son of immigrants who "never made it big" but worked hard nonetheless, the audience was rapt. Inside the convention hall, people were crying.

One Republican operative in the audience texted CNN to say that the speech threatened to "overshadow" Romney and said that the campaign should have given the keynote address on Tuesday night to Rubio instead of Chris Christie to avoid that very problem.

The thing is, Rubio does this all the time. While on a much bigger stage and more finely tuned, the convention address was similar to any speech Rubio gave during his insurgent Senate bid in 2010.

So even if he overshadowed Romney, he couldn't help it.

Lanny Wiles, a longtime Republican master of campaign stagecraft, watched the Thursday speeches inside the CNN Grill in Tampa. He said the difference between Rubio and Romney is "like the difference between a Baptist preacher and a Methodist minister."

"It's the same message, but one delivers it better," Wiles said.

4. The Bushes have a posse

For half a decade now on the campaign trail, George W. Bush has been a punching bag not just for Obama and his fellow Democrats, but also for Republicans frustrated with his administration's tendency to break with conservative dogma on matters such as spending, education and immigration.

Well, Jeb Bush is fed up and not going to take it anymore.

You might have missed it if you weren't watching the speech at the height of prime time coverage, but the former Florida governor went off script to defend his brother, the deeply unpopular 43rd president of the United States.

Open Story: CNN.com's collaborative convention coverage

"Before I began my remarks, I have something personal I would like to share with you," Bush told the convention crowd.

He said he was "blessed to be part of a family that has committed its life to public service."

"And my brother, well, I love my brother," he said. "He is a man of integrity, courage and honor, and during incredibly challenging times, he kept us say safe. So, Mr. President, it is time to stop blaming your predecessor for your failed economic policies."

It was a comment that mostly flew under the radar.

But it was a reminder of two things at a moment when GOP is still figuring out how to grapple with the Bush legacy.

First, Bush family members will always defend their name and their honor in the face of political criticism.

And second, Jeb is his own man. He has often strayed from the Romney script throughout this presidential campaign and was not afraid to do so again on Thursday, even if it risked reminding voters a president they might rather forget.

5. An unconventional lead-in to a convention speech

Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood's unscripted endorsement of Mitt Romney lit up social media, with tweets that he was fantastic and edgy going up against tweets that he was awkward and terrible. But the larger question is whether the Academy Award-winning filmmaker and actor's performance distracted or stepped on the Republican presidential nominee's acceptance speech.

Eastwood carried on a sometimes rambling conversation with an imaginary President Barack Obama in an empty chair next to the podium.

Eastwood's speech: Good, bad or ugly?

"So, Mr. President, how do you handle promises that you have made when you were running for election, and how do you handle them?" Eastwood asked.

"I mean, what do you say to people? Do you just -- you know -- I know -- people were wondering -- you don't -- handle that OK. Well, I know even people in your own party were very disappointed when you didn't close Gitmo. And I thought, well closing Gitmo -- why close that, we spent so much money on it. But, I thought maybe as an excuse -- what do you mean shut up?" Eastwood continued.

Moments later, Eastwood asked the imaginary Obama, "What do you want me to tell Romney?" and answered his own question by saying, "I can't tell him to do that. I can't tell him to do that to himself."

Minutes after Eastwood left the podium, a Romney campaign official put out a statement justifying the performance, saying, "Judging an American icon like Clint Eastwood through a typical political lens doesn't work. His ad-libbing was a break from all the political speeches, and the crowd enjoyed it. He rightly pointed out that 23 million Americans out of work or underemployed is a national disgrace and it's time for a change."

Some conservative pundits agreed.

GOP strategist and CNN contributor Alex Castellanos said Eastwood "proved he cannot do improv. But he did something that is rare in politics. He made it socially acceptable to be able to laugh at Barack Obama."

And some suggested that the optics would have been much better, and Romney would have been better served, if Eastwood had been given a slot in the less important 9 p.m. hour than at 10 p.m., when the broadcast networks started their coverage.

Democratic strategist and CNN contributor James Carville, in a rare moment of diplomacy, said Eastwood's performance "was different."



Source & Image : CNN Politics

Is that the best Mitt Romney can do?







Mitt Romney greets supporters during the final day of the GOP convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 30, 2012.

Mitt Romney greets supporters during the final day of the GOP convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 30, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS



  • John Avlon: Speech, convention succeeded in painting positive portrait of Romney, family

  • He says speech had conflicting themes: high-minded rhetoric and divisive recrimination

  • Avlon: Romney substituted criticism of Obama for a real plan to take America forward

  • He says Romney needed to communicate a specific vision for greatness as a president





Editor's note: John Avlon is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He is co-editor of the book "Deadline Artists: America's Greatest Newspaper Columns." He is a regular contributor to "Erin Burnett OutFront" and is a member of the OutFront Political Strike Team. For more political analysis, tune in to "Erin Burnett OutFront" at 7 ET weeknights.

Tampa, Florida (CNN) -- Is that the best he can do?

On family, Mitt Romney got an 'A' in his nomination speech last night. On positive presidential vision he got a 'C' -- and on presidential policy he got an incomplete.

There's no question that Mitt Romney succeeded in painting a portrait of himself as a loving husband, son and father. You wouldn't have a heart if you didn't find the story about his father buying a single rose for his mother every day deeply affecting.

Mitt seemed moved to tears by the memory of his parents, as did many in the arena. Looking back at their lives and his father's political career, I found myself tweeting "George Romney 2012." Mission to humanize Mitt, accomplished.


John Avlon
John Avlon


But overall the speech kept drifting between biography, high-minded rhetoric about national unity and criticisms of President Obama's leadership that ended up passing for policy.

The speech itself seemed of two minds -- one, that of a committed centrist reluctantly running against a failed president for the good of the country. The other mind indulging in the division, resentment and recrimination the first mind decried.

There were a few lovely images, like that of the tombstones of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for freedom, lying side by side without mention of what party they belonged to. But these sections seemed dropped in the text, more of a poll tested necessity than part of a seamless philosophical whole.

As has been too often the case during this campaign, base-pleasing criticism of President Obama substituted for actual proposed policies Romney would implement as president.

A recently retired Marine e-mailed, "he's banking on Americans having total amnesia about 2001-2009, including failed wars and a multiple increase of the national debt."

The crescendo of the speech was surreal, abrupt and unsatisfying. Traditional nomination speeches end with a memorable optimistic line repeated for effect, consider John McCain's "Stand Up and Fight" defiance. This speech's closing call and response was a series of questions that ended with the crowd shouting "No!" It was a metaphor as well as an ill-advised rhetorical device.

There was a hurry to leave the hall tonight, a sense of perfunctory celebration in a party united mostly by a passionate desire to kick President Obama out of office.

Mitt Romney is a good man and this speech reflected his goodness, but it did not confidently communicate a specific vision for greatness as president.

Instead, I left the Tampa arena almost feeling dizzy from gazing at the continued gap between partisan narrative and policy fact that has characterized this campaign.

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Source & Image : CNN Opinion

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty dies in NYC at 44










NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Lighty, a hip-hop mogul who helped the likes of Sean "Diddy" Combs, 50 Cent and Mariah Carey attain not only hit records, but also lucrative careers outside music, was found dead in his New York City apartment Thursday in an apparent suicide. He was 44.

He was found at his home in the Bronx with a gunshot to the head and was pronounced dead there, police said. No note was recovered, but a 9 mm handgun was found and there was no sign of forced entry, said Paul Browne, New York police spokesman. The shooting appears to be self-inflicted, authorities said.

Lighty had been a part of the scene for decades, working with pioneers like LL Cool J before starting his own management company, Violator. But he was in the midst of a divorce and had been having recent financial and personal troubles.

Twitter was abuzz with condolences just hours after the body was found around 11:30 a.m.

"R.I.P. Chris Lighty," Fat Joe posted on his account. "The man that saved my life!" Diddy wrote: "In shock." Rihanna posted: "Rest peacefully Chris Lighty, my prayers go out to family and loved ones! Dear God please have mercy." And Mary J. Blige wrote: "U never know what can send a person over the edge or make them want 2 keep living. take it easy on people."

50 Cent said in a statement issued through his publicist that he was deeply saddened by the loss.

"Chris has been an important part of my business and personal growth for a decade," he said. "He was a good friend and advisor who helped me develop as an artist and businessman. My prayers are with his family. He will be greatly missed."

Lighty was raised by his mother in the Bronx as one of six children. He ran with a group called The Violators, the inspiration for the name of his management company, according to the company website. He was a player in the hip-hop game since he was a kid DJ. He rose through the ranks at Rush Management — mogul Russell Simmons' first company — before eventually founding Violator Management in the late 1990s.

"Today, we lost a hip-hop hero and one of its greatest architects," Simmons tweeted.

Lighty's roster ranged from Academy Award-winners Three 6 Mafia to maverick Missy Elliott to up-and-comer Papoose and perpetual star Carey. He made it his mission not so much to make musical superstars, but rather multifaceted entertainers who could be marketed in an array of ways: a sneaker deal here, a soft drink partnership there, a movie role down the road.

In a 2007 interview with The Associated Press, Lighty talked about creating opportunities for his stars — a Chapstick deal for LL Cool J, known for licking his lips, and a vitamin supplement deal for 50 Cent.

"As music sales go down because kids are stealing it off the Internet and trading it and iPod sales continue to rise, you can't rely on just the income that you would make off of being an artist," he said at the time.

Survivors include his two children. He and his wife, Veronica, had been in the process of divorcing. The case was still listed as active, but electronic records show an agreement to end it was filed in June.

He was also having financial trouble. City National Bank sued Lighty, whose given name is Darrell, in April, saying he had overdrawn his account by $53,584 and then refused to pay the balance. The case was still pending.

He also owed more than $330,000 in state and federal taxes, according to legal filings. His tax problems were much steeper a year ago, but he cleared away millions of dollars in earlier IRS liens last October, after selling his Manhattan apartment for $5.6 million.

Larry Mestel, the CEO of Primary Wave Music, the entertainment company that created the joint venture Primary Violator management last fall with Violator Management, said: "We are extremely shocked and sadden by this tragic news. Chris was a friend, business partner and most of all, an icon, role model and true legend of the music and entertainment industry. He will be missed by many and we send love and support to his family."

___

Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, David B. Caruso and Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.



Source & Image : Yahoo

Eastwood, the empty chair and the speech everyone's talking about










STORY HIGHLIGHTS



  • Actor and director Clint Eastwood uses humor, satire to deride Obama's performance

  • Veteran actor addressed an empty chair in a speech that left some on Twitter baffled

  • Eastwood, a longtime Republican, said it's time to give Mitt Romney a shot at presidency





Tampa, Florida (CNN) -- Actor and director Clint Eastwood made the day of the GOP faithful at the Republican National Convention when he gave a surprise speech Thursday night in which he laid out what he sees as the good, the bad and the ugly state of American political affairs.

And he did it all while addressing an "invisible" President Barack Obama sitting in an empty chair. Eastwood, who played the iconic tough guy character "Dirty Harry" during his long career in Hollywood, fired up the party base when he said he cried when Obama was elected and cried even harder years later when millions were out of work.

"It's a national disgrace," Eastwood said. "It may be time for someone else to come along and solve the problem."

CNN Facebook poll: Did Eastwood make your day with his speech?

At times, Eastwood sent the crowd into laughing fits when he pretended Obama was offering colorful objections.

"What do you want me to tell Romney?" Eastwood asked the empty chair. "I can't tell him to do that to himself ... you're getting as bad as Biden ... of course we all know Biden is the intellect of the Democratic Party. Kind of a grin with a body behind it ..."

The RNC had left room for a "mystery guest" on its Thursday schedule and announced Thursday that Eastwood would speak. Late Thursday afternoon, Eastwood walked through the convention floor for a brief rundown of the night's events.

His speech later in the evening was decidedly political and bitingly satirical.

"I think if you just step aside and Mr. Romney can kind of take over. You can maybe still use a plane," Eastwood said.

Seconds after Eastwood finished his speech, the Twittersphere was buzzing with response.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics tweeted:

"I'd feel better if I knew for sure that Clint doesn't see anyone in the chair. :)"

Comedian Roseanne Barr tweeted: "clint eastwood is CRAY"

The Twitter handle "Invisible Obama," which said it was sitting "Stage left of Clint Eastwood," quipped that "The GOP built me." An hour after Eastwood's speech, it already had 20,000 followers. The move spawned a new trend with people posting photos of themselves pointing at empty chairs with the hashtag "eastwooding."

Comedy Central's Indecision Tumblr posted a summary that read: "I was talking to Barack Obama the other day. ... Potato. Sneaker. Fish. Pizza. Algebra. Racecar."

A Romney campaign aide addressed Romney's appearance later, saying, "Judging an American icon like Clint Eastwood through a typical political lens doesn't work. His ad-libbing was a break from all the political speeches, and the crowd enjoyed it. He rightly pointed out that 23 million Americans out of work or underemployed is a national disgrace and it's time for a change."

Eastwood, a longtime Republican, endorsed Romney at an Idaho fundraiser at the beginning of August, where he told reporters that he was backing the GOP presidential candidate "because I think the country needs a boost somewhere."

He endorsed Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

Earlier this year during in an ad that aired during the Super Bowl, Eastwood's familiar, sandpaper voice spoke to Americans about the nation's economic woes. The ad featured close-up shots of factory workers and black-and-white photos of Midwest families -- images some political watchers flagged as subtly political.

"It's halftime in America, too," said the 81-year-old Hollywood legend. "People are out of work, and they're hurting. And they're all wondering what they're gonna do to make a comeback. And we're all scared because this isn't a game. The people of Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything. But we all pulled together, now Motor City is fighting again."

Eastwood said any implication of politics was baseless.



Source & Image : CNN Politics

Under an African Sky, Gazing Up With Awe







WASHINGTON — When the sun sets in rural Africa, the world changes. Temperatures drop. New scents rise as street dust settles and cooking fires start. Markets empty, voices quiet down. Bodies and eyes that struggled all day with heat and glare relax and move toward sleep.


The most dramatic difference, though, is visual.


It comes when the stars appear; first a twilight sprinkling of them, then a tidal wave washing across the sky, covering and soaking it. At such a sight jangled daytime thoughts tend to give way to admiration, inquiry, meditation.


African Cosmos: Stellar Arts” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art here, an exhibition packed with celestial bodies and patches of darkness sending forth light, invites comparable responses. Broadly it’s a show about the extent and persistence of cosmological consciousness in art, old and new, from the African continent. It’s also a bold demonstration of a more specific reality: In Africa art and science, including astronomy, have always intersected.


Organized by Christine Mullen Kreamer, the museum’s deputy director and chief curator, the exhibition opens, scientifically enough, with a reference to an instrument of exacting measurement: a circle of upright stones at Nabta Playa in Southern Egypt that functions as the world’s oldest known astronomical device.


Some 7,000 years after being built, at least a millennium earlier than Stonehenge, the grouping still accurately clocks sunrise and sunset and points to some of the sky’s brightest stars: Sirius, Arcturus and those in Orion’s belt. A bit later Sirius was worshiped by sky-scanning Egyptians as the force that engineered the annual flooding of the Nile. But Sirius was just one in an extended family of deities, all embodiments of natural elements: air, water, earth, stars. Despite spats and betrayals, they kept the cosmic machinery ticking. And approached with deferential prayers and gifts, they issued passes to the afterlife.


A lithe, gilded mummy cover in the show, made for a woman who worked as a temple singer, carries a hieroglyphic inscription in which the owner implores the sky goddess to please, please raise her up, in death, among the stars.


From Egypt the show takes a leap across the Sahara, to what is now Mali, in West Africa. The first stop, via a wall text, is Timbuktu, a city renowned for its manuscript libraries filled with, among many other things, astronomical treatises. In these books science was usually at the service of religion: the calculation of lunar phases and stellar coordinates was crucial to Muslim worship. In the 17th century, when Christian Europe was rejecting a Sun-centered concept of the universe, astronomical books in Islamic Africa were getting the cosmic story right. (The museum had planned to include manuscripts from a library in Timbuktu in this show, but as recent political turmoil there worsened, the loans became impossible.)


The Mali journey mapped by the show continues further to the Bandiagara region of cliffs and scrub brush settled by Dogon peoples, who trace their origins to a creator-spirit descended from the sky. An important feature of Dogon theology centers on a deity identified with the star Sirius and a companion star, Sirius B, invisible to the unaided eye. Although the second star was recorded for the first time by Western observers only in the 19th century, the Dogon suggest that their awareness of it goes far back into antiquity.


Recently art historians have expressed doubts, proposing that the Dogon came to know of the star only a few decades ago through contact with anthropologists. By conventional Western standards the debate must stay unresolved because, like many other sub-Saharan cultures, the Dogon have no written histories, meaning they have no retrievable, verifiable past, no authentic history at all.


Is this so? Western culture has implicit faith in the written or printed word. Ideas, including history, become real — graspable and authoritative — only when written. By contrast, much African history is based on oral traditions, passed down generationally in poetry and song, or encapsulated in visual forms like sculptures, paintings, weavings, beadwork, architecture, bodily scarification patterns and performances.


Entire cosmologies, who knows how old, are built into, and dramatized in, Dogon masquerades, through masks, like those in the show, some towering into the sky, others designed to scrape the ground. A fairly simple-looking Dogon stool — two horizontal wood disks, with carved figures standing on one and holding up the other — is a diagram of a layered universe, and an image repeated, and an idea reinforced, in many other forms. A remarkable female figure in the show has a miniature version of this cosmic image for a head, as if the vision of it had consumed and transformed her every thought.



Source & Image : New York Times

Did Clint Eastwood Lose the Plot at Romney's Convention?





TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Republicans may have made Mitt Romney's day with the presidential nomination he long sought, but it was Dirty Harry himself who nearly hijacked the show with a rambling diatribe against President Barack Obama - addressed to an empty chair.


Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood brought his star power and trademark gravelly voice to the stage of the convention hall in Tampa on Thursday, jetting in as a surprise last-minute speaker to warm up the crowd for Romney's acceptance speech.


Eastwood's cameo appearance, including an ad-libbed monologue with an imaginary Obama in an empty chair, seemed to thrill many in the audience, but was widely panned by observers across the political spectrum.


"Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic," legendary Chicago film critic Roger Ebert said in a message on Twitter.com. "He didn't need to do this to himself."


Former Romney adviser Mike Murphy tweeted: "Note to file: Actors need a script."


The 82-year-old Academy Award-winning director and actor, who endorsed Romney earlier this month, strode to the podium serenaded by the theme music from his classic western, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."


Eastwood delivered an off-the-cuff, deadpan discourse, at times biting in its criticism of Obama, at times supportive of Romney's candidacy, whom he lauded for a "sterling" business record.


But more often he was nearly incoherent, meandering from one topic to another, including the state of the economy, the war in Afghanistan and the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay.


At one point, Eastwood said he "never thought it was a good idea for attorneys to be president," apparently unaware that Romney holds a law degree.


In one of his lucid moments, Eastwood - squinting, with his gaunt face framed by thinning, disheveled gray hair - told the cheering crowd: "When somebody does not do the job, we've gotta let them go."


Occasionally, he paused to berate the chair, telling an absent Obama to "shut up."


The phrase "invisible Obama" went viral on the Internet, and pictures of people with empty chairs filled Twitter. Obama's own Twitter account posted a picture of Obama sitting in a chair marked "The President" with the comment, "This seat's taken."


DID CLINT BOMB?


Many felt that Eastwood bombed on the political stage.


"What the heck is THIS?" Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod tweeted.


"A great night for Mitt Romney just got sidetracked by Clint Eastwood. Wow. That was bad," tweeted Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman who currently does commentary for MSNBC.


Some in the audience, however, were left starry-eyed.


"He's a fabulous actor," said Rita Wray, a member of the Mississippi delegation, who praised Eastwood's "dry wit." She said she was a fan of his movies, though she couldn't name a single one.


It took some coaxing from the crowd, but Eastwood finally led the delegates in declaring "Make my day" - the signature line of the gun-slinging detective he played in the "Dirty Harry" movies.


Eastwood was reluctantly drawn into the 2012 campaign earlier this year when an ad by Chrysler, titled "Halftime in America" and narrated by Eastwood, ran during halftime of the Super Bowl.


Many people saw it as Eastwood promoting, and possibly endorsing, the Democratic president because Chrysler had received a government bailout.


Eastwood, who backed Republican John McCain's unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid, flatly denied that, saying at the time that he was "certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama."


Eastwood, a long-time Republican, has himself dabbled in politics. He served as mayor of his small upscale hometown, Carmel, California, in the 1980s.


Convention organizers preparing for the final night of the carefully scripted event had fueled buzz about a celebrity mystery speaker by leaving a spot open on the official program.


Just hours before the session began, Romney's campaign confirmed that Eastwood was coming to town. His speech came just before Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced Romney for the biggest test of his White House bid.


Republicans have long criticized Obama for his cozy relations with a bevy of liberal Hollywood stars like George Clooney, but convention planners apparently wanted to show that they too could bring a touch of show-business glamour to bear.


Despite Eastwood's Republican affiliation, many of his views differ with the party. Though he has described himself as a fiscal conservative, he backs gay marriage, favors gun control and abortion rights and supports environmental causes.


That may reinforce some conservatives' suspicions that Romney is himself insufficiently conservative.


(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Sam Jacobs; Editing by Jim Loney and Leslie Adler)



Source & Image : New York Times

J.K. Rowling building her children the best tree houses ever







Author JK Rowling is gifting her children with some pretty cool tree houses.

Author JK Rowling is gifting her children with some pretty cool tree houses.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS



  • The Potter author is building Hogwarts Castle-inspired tree houses

  • EW comes up with some other ideas to be built

  • Dishes that clear themselves anyone?





(EW.com) -- On Wednesday, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling received permission to build the most amazing tree houses ever seen on the face of this planet (and probably any other).

The tree houses, which , stand two stories tall and include a rope bridge, turrets and secret tunnels. And you thought your yellow slide was cool.

Instead of being overwhelmed by seething jealously, however (okay, maybe there was just a moment of weakness), we at PopWatch started brainstorming what Harry Potter creations we'd like to see in our own homes. Who knows? Maybe Rowling will get wind of this post and do something about it. 'Cause if anyone's got the money to make it happen, it's her.

1. The Deluminator: I always forget to turn the bathroom light off. Every night. And every night, I lay in bed letting the yellow light annoy me until I find the will to get up and go out into the hallway to turn it off. Then, I inevitably trip over my backpack, shoes, discarded clothing, or Welsh Terrier on my way back. The Deluminator would end all this. Just a click of the switch and all the lights in the house would be off. Sigh... Heaven.

2. The Prefects' bathroom: The bathtub is the size of a swimming pool. All the taps run different colored bath water. There is a tap dedicated to just bubbles. JUST BUBBLES, you guys! You would never have to struggle to obtain to perfect bubbles to water ratio. (This is surprisingly difficult.)

3. Dishes that clear themselves: The dishwasher may clean our plates for us (if you're lucky enough to have one), but could you imagine if your dishes just emptied when you were done? If they were suddenly spotlessly clean, with absolutely no effort on your part? Come on, even putting the dishes in the dishwasher can be tiresome sometimes. With this, you could just stick them back in the cabinet right when you're finished! Amazing!

4. The Marauder's Map: Remember that time you tried to sneak out to Erin Marks' party? And then you were caught by your parents and grounded for a week? (I do.) That would never happen if you had a map to tell you where everyone in your house is.

5. The Knight Bus: Not technically for the home, but it will certainly get you there faster.

6. Monster chess: Actually, this already exists.

What would you wish for, PopWatchers? Sound off below!

See full story at EW.com.


Source & Image : CNN Entertainment

Coroner: Sage Stallone died from heart condition






LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sylvester Stallone's son Sage died at age 36 from natural causes due to a heart condition, coroner's officials said Thursday.

Sage Stallone's death on July 13 was attributed to a condition that causes blockage of the arteries, and no other factors were involved. It has been classified a natural death.

The actor and film director's sudden death stunned his family and friends. Sylvester Stallone's publicist described him as "devastated and grief-stricken" and the actor skipped several promotional events for his film "The Expendables 2."

Sage Moonblood Stallone was the oldest of Sylvester Stallone's children and co-starred with his father in two films. He also became involved in moviemaking, directing the 2006 short "Vic," which screened at the Palm Springs Film Festival.

He made his acting debut in 1990's "Rocky V" and appeared with his father in 1996's "Daylight."

Also in 1996, Sage Stallone and veteran film editor Bob Murawski co-founded Grindhouse Releasing, a company dedicated to preserving and promoting the B-movies and exploitation films of the 1970s and 80s.

He was found dead in his home by an employee and a relative. No foul play had been suspected, and toxicology results showed only a minimal amount of hydrocodone in his system.



Source & Image : Yahoo

Etch A Sketch cashes in on Romney aide gaffe






NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Months after an aide to Mitt Romney made his now infamous "Etch A Sketch" gaffe, the company that makes the iconic toy is still trying to cash in on it.



The Ohio Art Company has started selling limited-edition election versions of its Etch A Sketch for $19.99. The products come in two colors: red and blue, with a cover sticker showing a donkey and an elephant in a tug of war in front of the White House.




The new products, of course, were inspired by comments

during a CNN interview in March by Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney senior campaign adviser. Fehnrstrom suggested that the campaign could "like an Etch A Sketch," change its tone and "shake it up and restart all over again" as the general election neared.



The remark drove a 30% spike in Etch A Sketch sales the following week, said Martin Killgallon, the company's senior vice president of marketing. The Killgallon family holds a majority ownership of The Ohio Art Company.



"We never thought something of this magnitude would happen," he said. "I got hundreds of calls about it that day. Etch A Sketch was also the most-tweeted that week."



Related: 5 back-to-school buys



Killgallon said the company immediately started plotting ways it could capitalize on its unintended fame during the fourth quarter -- when toymakers make a bulk of their sales and profits for the year.



Earlier this month, Ohio Art revamped its Etch A Sketch website as ShakeitupAmerica.net. Visitors to the site can buy the special election Etch A Sketch or cast votes in an informal presidential poll.



The company is also selling the election products in independent toy stores and boutiques.



The promotional push includes bumper stickers, lawn signs, T-shirts and social media ads.



Among the slogans: "Etch A Sketch is a lot like politics. There's a lot of gray area" and "We have a left knob and a right knob for each political party."



Since Etch A Sketch debuted in 1960, the company has sold more than 150 million of them.



"It's our flagship brand," said Killgallon. He hopes the company's cheeky strategy will remind consumers about Etch a Sketch as they prepare this year's holiday gift lists.



His other wish: "Maybe the candidates will say they are Etch A Sketch candidates and they're ready to shake things up."






To write a note to the editor about this article, click here.




Source & Image : CNN Money

Torso of woman found in Niagara River had no head, limbs








STORY HIGHLIGHTS



  • Body was floating in the river on Wednesday

  • An autopsy is under way, but first results indicated homicide

  • Case is unrelated to murder of Guang Hua Liu, police say

  • Deceased had a C-section at least once





(CNN) -- The dismembered body of a woman has been found in the Niagara River, police in Canada said.

The torso, which had no head or limbs, was spotted by citizens on Wednesday and recovered by the Niagara Parks Police near the Rainbow Bridge near Niagara Falls.

Preliminary postmortem results indicated the woman was middle-aged, police said, and had at least one cesarean section and had her fallopian tubes tied.

Authorities said the homicide was unrelated to another case where the body parts of a woman named Guang Hua Liu were found in several places. Her torso is still missing.

Police expect the full results of an autopsy to be released Friday.


Source & Image : CNN World

Eastwood goes off-script in Romney endorsement










TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Clint Eastwood, the Hollywood filmmaker who knows all about sticking to the script, turned in a bizarre, unscripted endorsement of Republican Mitt Romney Wednesday night.

Standing on the convention stage with an empty chair, Eastwood carried on a sometimes rambling conversation with an imaginary President Barack Obama. The Oscar-winning director of "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby" criticized Obama for failing to turn the economy around and for wanting to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects.

"How do you handle the promises you've made? What do you say?" Eastwood asked the imaginary Obama. "I know even some of the people in your party were disappointed you didn't close Gitmo," the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"What do you mean 'shut up'?" said Eastwood, acting indignant. "I thought it was just because somebody had a stupid idea of trying terrorists in New York City."

At another point, the 82-year-old Eastwood acted as if he were listening to the imaginary Obama unleash a diatribe against Romney, poking Vice President Joe Biden and letting the convention audience guess what the president said.

"He can't do that to himself. You're absolutely crazy!" Eastwood responded. "You're getting as bad as Biden. Biden is the intellect in the Democratic Party. It's just kind of a grin with a body behind it."

The actor and director talked about Oprah Winfrey, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and lawyers. Eastwood said Obama has failed to deliver on his promises and it's time for Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, to take over.

At one point, Eastwood talked about the need for change.

"When somebody doesn't do the job, you gotta let 'em go," Eastwood said. The tough-guy actor of "Dirty Harry" fame drew a finger across his throat.

The crowd cheered Eastwood's entrance and shouted his famed catchphrase, "Go ahead, make my day." The freewheeling performance was a sharp contrast to the highly choreographed convention in which the Romney campaign has vetted the speeches.

Backstage, stern-faced Romney aides winced at times as Eastwood's remarks stretched on. The actor was the only speaker not reading from a teleprompter as he spoke. The machine was blank.

Twitter was instantly ablaze with comments mocking Eastwood's rambling speech.

Howard Kurtz, host of CNN's "Reliable Sources," tweeted that "Clint's empty chair act" was the "weirdest convention moment I have ever seen." Joe Scarborough, the conservative host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," declared "a great night for Mitt Romney just got sidetracked by Clint Eastwood. Wow. That was bad."

Minutes after Eastwood began his speech, someone created the (at)InvisibleObama account on Twitter. It already has 17,000 followers and counting.

"Clint Eastwood is now backstage arguing with a vending machine," joked Canadian comedian Daryn Jones.

Film critic Roger Ebert didn't give the speech two thumbs up.

"Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic," tweeted Ebert. "He didn't need to do this to himself. It's unworthy of him."

Comedian Roseanne Barr put it simply: "clint eastwood is CRAY."

Not everyone agreed.

"Clint Eastwood made my day," tweeted Southern rocker Charlie Daniels. The Hollywood trades gave it positive marks, perhaps a reflection of the movie world's appreciation for genuineness.

Eastwood endorsed Romney earlier this month at a campaign event in Sun Valley, Idaho.

___

Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt and Steve Peoples in Tampa, Fla., and Derrik J. Lang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.



Source & Image : Yahoo

What happens in Tampa doesn't stay in Tampa










Presidential candidate Mitt Romney takes the stage to deliver his nomination acceptance speech during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Thursday, August 30.



























































































































































































































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Republican convention: The best photos

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS



  • Alex Castellanos: It's not too early to name the winners and losers of the RNC

  • He says Ann Romney and Paul Ryan helped Mitt's cause

  • He says holding convention in a hurricane zone is a mistake, but shortened conventions work

  • Castellanos: Chris Christie is a force, but not yet a leader





Editor's note: Alex Castellanos, a CNN contributor, is a Republican consultant and the co-founder of Purple Strategies. Follow him on Twitter: @alexcast

Tampa, Florida (CNN) -- Mercilessly, the 2012 GOP convention in Tampa is not yet over. Mitt Romney will speak in a few hours. Clint Eastwood is pulling the cover from his Gran Torino. Jeb Bush, I suspect, is getting ready to defend his name and his cause.

It is not too early, however, to draw a few conclusions. My takeaways from this fine event, so far, are as follows:

Ann Romney added dimension to Mitt Romney. We see more in him now, through her eyes, if not our own.

Paul Ryan passed the first and most important test of a VP nominee, "Do no harm." Ryan did not say he could see the deficit from his porch.


Alex Castellanos
Alex Castellanos


Paul Ryan helps because he adds the prospect of action and reform to the ticket, helping to lead them into the future. He is an agent of change. What Barack Obama had last time in a slogan, "hope and change," Mitt Romney has now in a running mate.

Condoleezza Rice would have been a great VP pick and needs to be somewhere in a Romney administration. This woman can play more than golf.

Susana Martinez is moving up fast on the outside rail for national office but has a long way to go.

President Obama tried to send Joe Biden to Tampa but our VP had to cancel because of the storm. Both the Obama campaign and Republicans were disappointed.

Conventions are ridiculously overburdened with security. Note to the Secret Service: If you put "Secret Service" on your vest in big yellow letters, it is no longer a secret.

When you start talking about humanizing your candidate, you are dehumanizing your candidate.

Clint Eastwood's speech, whatever he says, will make the GOP's day.

If Obama loses, "you didn't build that" may become the biggest gaffe in presidential campaign history, and the most revealing, too.

If nothing else, the Christie speech proved we are the party of the Big Tent.

There is a great bar in Ybor City, the Bad Monkey. You don't have to bring a bad monkey to enter. They have plenty and, upon request, will fly a screaming "bad monkey" for you.

Conventions, as part of a campaign, have to change what people think. Nearly 70% of Americans think we are on the wrong track. Chris Christie told us we were on the wrong track. If you tell voters what they already know, they stay where they already are.

Wisconsin may lose a congressman, but Mitt Romney has gained a son. If anything happens to Romney, Paul Ryan will become president and inherit 1/6th of Romney's money.

Rand Paul's speech was chloroform via teleprompter. He lacks his father's wit and humor. The next lap of Paulites are in big trouble.

In politics, winning isn't everything: You can still lose by winning the wrong war. Republicans may win the war over Medicare while they should be fighting a more relevant conflict, the war to create jobs and growth.

Paul Ryan is a catfish noodler. He wades into a muddy river, sticks his hand in a catfish's mouth and pulls it out of a hole. We now have a perfectly balanced ticket because my guess is Mitt Romney has never done that.

The next Republican to place a convention in a hurricane zone in August will have his head held under water for the duration of any storm.

Chris Christie may be a force, but he is not yet a leader. Babe Ruth, disappointingly, bunted.

Conventions are fading into the past and this may be the last great parade of GOP elephants. Any convention that can be shortened to three days can be abridged to two days, one day, and then none.

Lastly, New Democrats have, for the first time, a counterpart: in Tampa in 2012, the New Republican was born. It turns out, we do believe in evolution.

Stay tuned. We have 67 days yet to go.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter

Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion


Source & Image : CNN Opinion