Why I miss that old meanie Simon Cowell - Telegraph

Why I miss that old meanie Simon Cowell - Telegraph: "Is it true, though? Have fans of such programmes had enough of cruelty? I wouldn’t count on it. Let’s at least wait until September, when Cowell launches the show he left Idol for: the US version of The X Factor.
I hope X Factor wins. Of course I would say this, because I work in journalism, a trade for which the main qualification is a heart the size and colour of a raisin, but I like a bit of nastiness. Not when it’s directed at me, obviously – that’s horrible and should ideally be prohibited by law – but when directed at others it can be a revivifying joy."

RealClearPolitics - The First Adult -- AWOL

RealClearPolitics - The First Adult -- AWOL: "About 55 percent of spending goes to individuals, including the elderly, veterans, farmers, students, the disabled and the poor."

A Very Good Question about Our National Debt - By Jim Manzi - The Corner - National Review Online

A Very Good Question about Our National Debt - By Jim Manzi - The Corner - National Review Online: "The total present value of payments expected under Social Security and Medicare beyond what is expected to be collected under current tax laws is about $100 trillion. One way to put that amount of money in context is to note that it is about twice the amount of all the net private assets that exist in America today."

A talk with C.C.H. Pounder, 'The Shield's' Claudette Wyms - The Watcher

A talk with C.C.H. Pounder, 'The Shield's' Claudette Wyms - The Watcher: "She’s not some stereotype of “the good cop.” She knows that compromises have to be made. That’s one of the great things about the show – it explores the idea of, “Who will settle for what, and why?”"

The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "I thought it was a disgrace. I’ve rarely heard a speech by a president so shallow, so hyper-partisan, and so intellectually dishonest — outside of the last couple of weeks of a presidential election where you’re allowed to call your opponent anything short of a traitor."

President Obama: United States not a Great Country before New Deal

Remarks by the President on Fiscal Policy | The White House: " And so we contribute to programs like Medicare and Social Security, which guarantee us health care and a measure of basic income after a lifetime of hard work; unemployment insurance, which protects us against unexpected job loss; and Medicaid, which provides care for millions of seniors in nursing homes, poor children, those with disabilities. We’re a better country because of these commitments. I’ll go further. We would not be a great country without those commitments. "

Pajamas Media » The Homer Simpson Approach to Social Security

Pajamas Media » The Homer Simpson Approach to Social Security: "In a classic episode of The Simpsons, a hungry Homer Simpson runs out of donuts and breaks into his emergency stash. But when he opens the box, it’s empty except for a note that reads: “Dear Homer, IOU one emergency donut. Signed, Homer.” Homer curses his earlier self: “Bastard! He’s always one step ahead.”

It’s easy to laugh at Homer Simpson’s folly, but America is doing the same thing with Social Security financing, and the end result won’t be amusing."

Instapundit » Blog Archive » BUT THE OTHER VIEWER SAYS HE’S PRETTY HAPPY WITH IT: Chris Matthews: Paul Ryan’s Medicare Plan Will…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » BUT THE OTHER VIEWER SAYS HE’S PRETTY HAPPY WITH IT: Chris Matthews: Paul Ryan’s Medicare Plan Will…: "BUT THE OTHER VIEWER SAYS HE’S PRETTY HAPPY WITH IT: Chris Matthews: Paul Ryan’s Medicare Plan Will ‘Kill Half the People Who Watch My Show’."

The Body Odd - Much like toddlers, judges need snack breaks

The Body Odd - Much like toddlers, judges need snack breaks: "It turns out the judges were most lenient first thing in the morning and right after lunch, the Associated Press reports. At the start of a morning court session, 65 percent of prisoners received a favorable ruling, but the prisoners' luck faded to zero by lunchtime. Then, after a mid-day meal break, favorable rulings jumped back up to 65 percent."

Of course, another explanation is just that they are less fatigued first thing in the morning and after their lunch break.

Johann Hari: We're not being told the truth on Libya - Johann Hari, Commentators - The Independent

Johann Hari: We're not being told the truth on Libya - Johann Hari, Commentators - The Independent: "Most of us have a low feeling that we are not being told the real reasons for the war in Libya. David Cameron's instinctive response to the Arab revolutions was to jump on a plane and tour the palaces of the region's dictators selling them the most hi-tech weapons of repression available. Nicolas Sarkozy's instinctive response to the Arab revolutions was to offer urgent aid to the Tunisian tyrant in crushing his people. Barack Obama's instinctive response to the Arab revolutions was to refuse to trim the billions in aid going to Hosni Mubarak and his murderous secret police, and for his Vice-President to declare: 'I would not refer to him as a dictator.'"

Video: Oddly enough, new celebrity Planned Parenthood ad doesn’t mention abortion « Hot Air

Video: Oddly enough, new celebrity Planned Parenthood ad doesn’t mention abortion « Hot Air: "Planned Parenthood performed 332,278 abortions in the United States in 2009, according to a fact sheet the group published last month.

That is about as many as the 333,012 people who lived in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The 332,278 abortions Planned Parenthood performed over the 365 days of 2009 equals an average of 910 lives terminated per day–or about 38 per hour, or one every 95 seconds."

General: U.S. may consider troops in Libya - CBS News

General: U.S. may consider troops in Libya - CBS News: "The United States may consider sending troops into Libya with a possible international ground force that could aid the rebels, according to the general who led the military mission until NATO took over."

Wow.

Georgian woman cuts off web access to whole of Armenia | World news | The Guardian

Georgian woman cuts off web access to whole of Armenia | World news | The Guardian: "An elderly Georgian woman was scavenging for copper to sell as scrap when she accidentally sliced through an underground cable and cut off internet services to all of neighbouring Armenia, it emerged on Wednesday."

I can't believe my best friend is a Republican - Life stories - Salon.com

I can't believe my best friend is a Republican - Life stories - Salon.com: "Her daughters' names are Liberty, Honor and Victory, the latter named at the time we invaded Iraq. (Her son's name, inexplicably, is Bernard.) She owns a bust of Ronald Reagan and cried when he died, proving that she, perhaps alone with Nancy, had remembered that he was still alive."

A Comeuppance on Gitmo - Rich Lowry - National Review Online

A Comeuppance on Gitmo - Rich Lowry - National Review Online: "In one of his first acts as president, Obama signed an executive order to shutter Gitmo within a year. In late 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder followed up by announcing that he would try KSM in New York City. Ever since, it has been one reversal after another in a legal version of Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow. The administration now hopes to return to the situation circa January 2009, when it cut short KSM’s military trial to embark on its long, pointless meandering.

Where does George W. Bush go to get his apology?"

Morality and Medicare, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Morality and Medicare, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "There are always three ways to deal with the increased usage of premium medicine.

a) have government experts ration medical services
b) give consumers fixed amounts of money based on income and medical condition, and having them make their own decisions
c) tell people that neither (a) nor (b) is necessary

Remember that what everybody wants for themselves is unlimited access to medical services without having to pay for them. So the politics of health care push in the direction of (c). I am always ready to have the debate between (a) and (b). But instead, politicians and pundits attack (b) with (c). That is fundamentally immoral."

America may be involved in Libya for many years, experts say | Sara A. Carter | World | Washington Examiner

America may be involved in Libya for many years, experts say | Sara A. Carter | World | Washington Examiner: "The United States is in Libya for the long haul, whether the Obama administration likes it or not, and weeding out al Qaeda infiltrators from the opposition bent on taking over control of the country from strongman Moammar Gadhafi will be an enormous challenge, experts said."

The Volokh Conspiracy

The Volokh Conspiracy: "Like Brennan, I don’t believe that citizens have a duty to vote. Staying home on election day isn’t morally wrong. But if you do choose to go to the polls, you have a moral obligation to your fellow citizens to exercise the power of the ballot responsibility. And that means trying to become a better-informed voter and making a real effort to evaluate the information you learn in an unbiased way."

King Barack I - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

King Barack I - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan: "Rand Paul, meet Alexander Hamilton:

"Many of us supported this president because he promised to bring back the constitutional balance after the theories of Yoo, Delahunty, et al put the president on a par with emperors and kings in wartime. "

'[The Commander-in-Chief power] would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces, as first general and admiral of the confederacy: while that of the British king extends to the declaring of war, and to the raising and regulating of fleets and armies; all which, by the constitution under consideration, would appertain to the legislature.'"

I like how Sullivan quotes this as if it rebuts Yoo. But Yoo's argument has always been initiating military action is different from "declaring" war, so it's actually completely consistent with Yoo's position.

Abnormal Use: Star Wars Prequels Unreasonably Dangerous and Defective, South Carolina Federal Court Finds

Abnormal Use: Star Wars Prequels Unreasonably Dangerous and Defective, South Carolina Federal Court Finds: "In their joint answer, the Lucas Defendants asserted the affirmative defenses of contributory negligence, assumption of risk, unclean hands, and equitable estoppel, essentially arguing that Plaintiff knew or should have known of the films' lack of artistic merit and was thus barred from asserting any tort claims based upon his viewing of same."