memeorandum: Moscow bans gay pride for century (BBC)

12:45 PM ET, August 17, 2012

Top Items:

Paul Ryan — THE TOPLESS PHOTO — THE TOPLESS PHOTO — EXCLUSIVE — Here it is ... the very first photo of Paul Ryan's mysterious athletic physique ... REVEALED!!! — TMZ has (finally) obtained a photo of Mitt Romney's running mate — sans shirt — taken roughly 6 years ago ... right before Ryan got hooked on the P90X workout.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, FishbowlDC, GOP 12, ABCNEWS and New York Magazine

Tom Morello / Rolling Stone:

‘Paul Ryan Is the Embodiment of the Machine Our Music Rages Against’ — Rage Against the Machine's guitarist blasts Romney's VP pick and unlikely Rage fan — Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call … Paul Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing …

Discussion: Associated Press, Influence Alley, The Daily Caller, Cognitive Dissidence, Mediaite, The Raw Story and Hit & Run

Politico:

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan pursue united front strategy — Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan plan to campaign together again sooner than aides had originally planned, likely twice next week, as part of a new offensive to take on the touchy issue of Medicare, campaign officials tell POLITICO.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Post, First Read, CNN, Connecting.the.Dots, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and ABCNEWS

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Romney's present, Ryan's future — Vice-presidential picks are always judged by their effect on the coming election. They rarely have any. — They haven't had a decisive influence since Lyndon Johnson carried Texas for John Kennedy in 1960. (That and Illinois put Kennedy over the top.)

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Maddow Blog, Politico, AEIdeas, p m carpenter's commentary, Betsy's Page, The Daily Caller, The Huffington Post and Firedoglake

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:

Mitt Romney's Whiteboard Blues — ANALYSIS: Everything you need to know about how this week went for Mitt Romney can be summed up in one word: whiteboard. — There he was in Greer, S.C., with a black dry-erase marker in hand scrawling out on a wood-framed whiteboard how — in his view …

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS and Politico

Gregory J. Krieg / ABCNEWS:

Presented With Letters, Ryan Admits Requesting Stimulus Cash — After repeated denials, Paul Ryan has admitted he requested stimulus cash even after sharply criticizing the program. — Ryan had denied doing so as recently as Wednesday, when he spoke to ABC's Cincinnati affiliate, WCPO, in Ohio.

Discussion: p m carpenter's commentary, PoliticusUSA and The Hinterland Gazette

Carl Hulse / The Caucus:
And Playing the Role of Paul Ryan ...

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Fix, Washington Post, First Read, Influence Alley and New York Times

Wall Street Journal:
The Mediscare Boomerang — ObamaCare gives Republicans a chance …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Hot Air

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Romney raises $10M in week since Ryan selected as VP

Discussion: GOP 12

Trip Gabriel / The Caucus:
Ryan Says Requesting Stimulus Funds Was a Mistake

Discussion: Examiner, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Boston Globe, CBS Boston, The Maddow Blog, New York Magazine, First Read and Daily Kos

WCPO-TV:
9 News sits down with VP candidate Paul Ryan

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Post, CNN, Washington Wire, CBS DC, The Huffington Post, Business Insider and ThinkProgress

Matt Rhoades / Barack Obama:

Letter from Jim Messina to Matt Rhoades — Dear Matt: — I am writing to ask again that the Governor release multiple years of tax returns, but also to make an offer that should address his concerns about the additional disclosures. Governor Romney apparently fears that the more he offers …

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review, The Hill, Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh, Taegan Goddard's …, Swampland, The Daily Dish, The Daily Beast and Washington Wire

CNN:

TRENDING: Obama camp: Let's make a deal on tax returns. Romney camp: No. — (CNN) - President Barack Obama's campaign sought to turn up the pressure Friday on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns, offering to back off on their calls for the release of additional years of returns if he agrees …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and Outside the Beltway

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The Morning Plum: Romney and Ryan muddy the Medicare waters — The Romney and Obama camapigns are again trading blows over Medicare this morning. The Obama campaign is up with a new ad that hits back at the Romney campaign attacks, defending Obamacare for protecting Medicare against fraud …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Wire, BuzzFeed and Brad DeLong

Charles Babington / Associated Press:
Obama campaign offers Romney 5-year tax disclosure

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, UrbanGrounds and Riehl World View

Carol E. Lee / Washington Wire:
Obama Campaign Asks Romney for 5 Years of Tax Returns

Discussion: GOP 12 and Wall Street Journal

David Jackson / USA Today:
Romney declines Obama deal on tax return releases

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and American Spectator

Alexander Burns / Politico: Messina writes Rhoades on Romney taxes

First Read:
Political campaign ad spending tops $500 million

Discussion: Addicting Info and Washington Post

BBC:

Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism — Judge Marina Syrova: “These three plus others... plotted together to undermine civil order, motivated by religious hatred” — Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been jailed for two years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Confluence, Shakesville, Joe. My. God. and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Russian Punk Band Is Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Anti-Putin Stunt

Discussion: Emerging Europe Real Time, Hit & Run, News Desk, Washington Free Beacon, The Lede and Althouse

CBS News:
Russian female punk band Pussy Riot found guilty of hooliganism over Putin protest at church site

Discussion: CBS Chicago, The Jawa Report, Instapundit and Algemeiner.com

Shiv Malik / Guardian:
Pussy Riot found guilty - live blog

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, PinkNews.co.uk, Media Decoder and The Awl

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Hateful speech on hate groups — Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization, posted an alert on its blog Tuesday: “Paul Ryan Speaking at Hate Group's Annual Conference.” — The “hate group” that the Republicans' vice presidential candidate would be addressing?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, The Other McCain, Holy Bullies …, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Steve Rothaus' Gay … and The Heritage Foundation

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Family Research Council head puts blame on Law Center

Discussion: Washington Monthly, GLAA Forum, Associated Press, BuzzFeed and The Daily Caller

Mark Potok / Hatewatch:
SPLC: Family Research Council License-to-Kill Claim ‘Outrageous’

Discussion: American Power, Crooks and Liars, afa.net, CNN, Washington Post, PoliticusUSA, Shakesville, The Daily Beast, ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed, The Raw Story, Firedoglake, Towleroad News #gay, Gay Politics and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

David Simon:

Mitt Romney paid taxes at a rate of at least 13 percent. And he's proud to say so. — Can we stand back and pause a short minute to take in the spectacle of a man who wants to be President of The United States, who wants us to seriously regard him as a paragon of the American civic ideal …

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, New York Times, Mediaite, Dave Winer, Business Insider and Shakesville

BBC:

Moscow bans gay pride for century — Nikolay Alexeyev has been campaigning for years for the right to stage gay parades in Russia — Moscow's top court has upheld a ban on gay pride marches in the Russian capital for the next 100 years. — Earlier Russia's best-known gay rights campaigner …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Outside the Beltway and Towleroad News #gay

Christopher Bedford / The Daily Caller:

Biden's ‘good friend,’ donor receives $20M federal loan to open foreign luxury car dealership in Ukraine — In late July, John Hynansky — a longtime friend of Vice President Joe Biden, and a major donor to Biden's campaigns as well as President Barack Obama's — was awarded a $20 million taxpayer loan …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, The Gateway Pundit and Cold Fury

Matthew Mosk / ABCNEWS:

Secret ‘Menu’ Details Perks for Big Democratic Donors — Those seeking invites to the most lavish receptions at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, “gold ticket” access to “dialogues,” and private breakfast briefings with party luminaries, can expect a hefty price of admission.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Jeff Mason / Reuters:

Exclusive: White House studying potential oil reserve release — (Reuters) - The White House is “dusting off old plans” for a potential release of oil reserves to dampen prices and prevent high energy costs from undermining sanctions against Iran, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Weekly Standard, Business Insider, The Hill, americanthinker.com and 24/7 Wall St.