IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE MY TALE, OR THINK THIS STORY’S TRUE, GET A BOTTLE OF RUM AND AN ESKATROL AND WATCH THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO YOU: Dual effects noted for alcohol and energy drink co-ingestion. “Although consuming alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) increases alertness and may negate some intoxication-related sedation effects, it can lead to negative physiological and psychological side effects associated with overstimulation.”

ROGER SIMON: Dateline Tampa: It’s Clint! (Is Hollywood Really Conservative??) Watch for the preference cascade. “Hollywood conservatives used to complain that, yeah, Eastwood was one of us but he never really does anything about it. This should end that. Bang. It’s the Hollywood liberals who now should be shivering in their bourgeois fuddy-duddy boots. They’re not the cool guys anymore.”

People are talking about Romney being upstaged by Ryan, and I’m sure they’ll talk about Romney being upstaged by Eastwood. But here’s the thing: Worries about being “upstaged” are for actors. Presidents shouldn’t mind sharing the spotlight, as long as the job gets done.

HUSH MONEY AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT AMONG TOP NEW YORK DEMOCRATS. But not much press coverage, surprisingly. #Waronwomen

UPDATE: A New York reader protests that it’s gotten a lot of coverage in New York. I think, though, that it would have gotten more coverage — maybe not Akin-level, but at least 500 milli-Akins — nationally had it involved Republicans. Because of the narrative, don’t you know? Maybe not.

BILL WHITTLE: AFTERBURNER: The Incredible Shrinking Man.

FACT CHECK: Obama promised and failed to keep Janesville GM plant open.

A VACCINE WOULD BE BETTER, BUT THIS IS GOOD: University of Cape Town Researchers Believe They Have Found a Single Dose Cure for Malaria. “Unlike conventional multidrug malaria treatments that the malaria parasite has become resistant to, Professor Kelly Chibale and his colleagues now believe that they have discovered a drug that over 18 months of trials ‘killed these resistant parasites instantly.’ Animal tests also showed that it was not only safe and effective, but there were no adverse reported side effects. Clinical tests are scheduled for the end of 2013.”

Let’s hope it pans out.

TECHNOLOGY: Company Aims to Cure Blindness with Optogenetics.

NAVY: New Airborne Defense Against Small Swarming Boats.

SPOTTED: An Ezra Klein Janesville “Rowback.” Boy, if you can’t count on the “fact-checkers” at national newspapers, who can you count on? Oh, right, Twitchy!

UPDATE: What, we can’t trust Salon, either? When It Comes to ‘Brazen Lies,’ Nobody Excels Joan Walsh.

You know, the Democrats’ media base has served two functions. One, of course, has been to misinform the people who don’t pay much attention. It can still do that, though with reduced efficacy. But the other was to demoralize or intimidate the opposition. That part seems to have pretty much fallen by the wayside.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Chocolate may protect the brain from stroke. Perhaps I’ll have a bit, with tonight’s glass of red wine. You can’t be too careful with your health, you know.

A LAST-DITCH TREATMENT FOR MIGRAINE. The article doesn’t mention it, but many people benefit from Coenzyme Q10, too.

ANDREW KLAVAN: MSNBC and The Big Narrative Lie. “MSNBC goofs cut away during every speech made by a minority. They didn’t want anyone to see that men and women of color were a cherished and honored part of the Republican party. That’s not their narrative so, by gum, they weren’t going to show it. Which raises — not a complaint — but a question: What good is a philosophy that can’t withstand even the sight of the simple facts?”

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: Seniors suffer under Obama. Where’s the outcry? “Thank goodness we have a Democrat in the White House. Otherwise, America’s seniors would be facing a serious crisis.”

ROGER KIMBALL ON RYAN’S SPEECH: “I suspect that Joe Biden is felling pretty awful this morning. For that matter, I’d wager Barack Obama has had better nights’ rest. Condi Rice’s speech was bad enough for the the Democrats — it was serious, dignified, eloquent — but Paul Ryan hit it out of the park. They both must have watched Ryan’s speech. They both must have come away with an empty feeling in the pit of the stomach. And poor Joe has to debate Paul Ryan in a little more than a month. I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.”

YEAH, THIS’LL SELL: Vote for Obama, he’s an American Tory!

Related: Blast from the past: Kerry, the right choice for conservatives! What a tool.

ANN ALTHOUSE ON JOAN WALSH AND PARANOIA.

UNEXPECTEDLY: Jobless Claims Remain At One-Month High: “More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that progress in the labor market is faltering amid a slowing economy. . . . Jobless claims were little changed at 374,000 in the week ended Aug. 25, matching the upwardly revised figure from the prior week, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. The median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for 370,000. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, climbed to a six-week high.” Expect this week’s numbers to be revised upward later. That seems to happen every time.

LONGEVITY UPDATE: Calorie Restriction Flops In Life Extension For Monkeys. Glad I haven’t been starving myself, then.

THE NEWEST TREND: Kulaks Raising Their Banners High!

A PATHETIC DISPLAY: Fact-checking the factcheckers on Ryan’s speech. “Clearly, the job of ‘fact checker’ in the mainstream media must not involve research skills. Nor does it take much in comprehension, because these supposed fact checks started with a misrepresentation of what Ryan actually said. Here are his actual words, emphasis mine.”

ED MORRISSEY: The Real War against Women—Waged by Democrats.

AT AMAZON, Bestsellers in Movies & TV: The Criterion Collection.

Also, today only, markdowns on PopChips and VitaCoco.