How Will U.S. Fund Entitlements?

At IBD, "Social Security Report Alarming; But D.C. Calm":

Disability beneficiaries face steep cuts in just three years under current law and today's new retirees are expected to outlive the Social Security Trust Fund by two years.

Yet the annual report from the Social Security and Medicare Trustees was taken in stride in D.C., as a full-fledged effort at entitlement reform remains far from the agenda.
When asked about how the administration would avoid scheduled disability benefit cuts of 20%, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew alluded to "the 1990s and policy choices made in time" to avert a similar set of cuts.

That policy choice involved one Social Security trust fund, the main Old Age and Survivors Insurance fund, lending to another in 1994. Almost 20 years later, even as Social Security is expected to run an annual cash deficit of $75 billion, the current administration is signaling that it's prepared to kick the can again. That is, unless it gets a big-enough tax hike to minimize benefit cuts.

Meanwhile, the White House hailed the "good news for seniors and taxpayers" that Medicare's hospital insurance program will be solvent through 2026.

Continue reading.

The Obama Breakdown

An outstanding commentary from Fred Barnes, at WSJ, "The Decline of the Obama Presidency":

John Dos Passos, the novelist and historian, once said: "Often things you think are just beginning are coming to an end." His observation was made in the 1960s. But it's true today of Barack Obama's presidency and the promise of a bright future for his second term.

Mr. Obama's re-election stirred grand expectations. The vote heralded a new liberal era, or so it was claimed. His victory was said to reflect ideological, cultural and demographic trends that could keep Democrats in the majority for years to come. His second four years in the White House would be just the beginning.

Now, six months later, the Obama administration is in an unexpected and sharp state of decline. Mr. Obama has little influence on Congress. His presidency has no theme. He pivots nervously from issue to issue. What there is of an Obama agenda consists, at the moment, of leftovers from his first term or proposals that he failed to emphasize in his re-election campaign and thus have practically no chance of passage.

Continue reading.

Angelina Jolie Makes First Post-Mastectomy Appearance at 'WWZ' Red Carpet Premiere

At London's Daily Mail, "'I feel great': Angelina Jolie makes first public appearance since double mastectomy as she attends Pitt's London premiere of World War Z."

Czech Zombie Walk

Trippy.

At Telegraph UK, "Czechs find rain no defence against zombies invasion."

Taking a Wrecking Ball to the Ivory Tower

From Kyle Peterson, at RealClearPolitics.

ZoNation: Islamic Terrorism - Just Say It!

Yo!

Top 10 Most Visited Businesses

Some Karen Alloy for you:

Tin Foil Democrats

Via Left Coast Resistance:

L.A. Times Touts Obama's 'Deferred Action' Amnesty Plan With Illegal Alien Who 'Cannot Read or Write in Any Language' and 'Drives Without a License'

Hey, nothing like pumping up the administration's shamnesty scam with the underclass of the illegal alien underclass.

See, "Education is missing key for some young immigrants":

MADERA, Calif. — While kids his age were reading Shakespeare and dissecting frogs, Benito Vasquez was picking grapes and almonds in the Central Valley.

He was 14 when he crossed the border from Mexico and has worked in the fields ever since. He has never gone to school and cannot read or write in any language.

Vasquez, now 28, is one of thousands potentially shut out of a landmark federal program that grants work permits and a two-year reprieve from deportation to people who came to this country illegally as children.

He and others like him are missing a key requirement — a high school diploma. They can make up the educational deficiency by enrolling in a class. But that is a daunting prospect for someone who works long hours, lives in a remote area and has little formal schooling.

"The cream of the crop in terms of educational achievement, all those people applied already, or most of them," said Jesus Martinez, a Fresno-based consultant for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. "A number of those who haven't applied have educational issues."

Vasquez is still grappling with whether to apply.

Well, he's not grappling all the much, it turns out. He can't find the time to break away from the 10-hour days he puts in working the fields:

Benito's path is more uncertain. He has yet to register at the adult school. It is hard to find the time for classes after a 10-hour workday.

At their Madera home, the Vasquezes speak mostly Spanish, with some Zapotec and some English. Benito's daughter, Lydia, is 4. His son, Jose, is 7 and speaks English most of the time. Benito would like to understand what the boy is saying. English would also help him at work.

Benito Vasquez has been working since he was Jose's age, harvesting corn and beans on the family farm in Oaxaca. His younger sisters enrolled in school, but the family needed the income from his farm labor.

To get to his job in the grape fields, where he operates tractors and other heavy machinery, he drives without a license. He fears being pulled over by the police. Still, he prefers to take his chances in the United States.

"It's better here than in Mexico," he said in Spanish. "Every week, I get a paycheck. There's more food. Everything's a little easier. If you need something, you just work. In Mexico, when you need something, there are no jobs."

Yeah, better to take your chances in the U.S., especially with the open-borders derps touting illiterate aliens as models for immigration reform.

Democrat values. You can't make this stuff up.

Al Qaeda-Linked Rebels Execute 11 Soldiers Loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad

Via Pat Dollard, "WATCH – WARNING GRAPHIC: Al Qaeda Linked Syrian Rebels Post Grisly Execution Video."

Also at the Los Angeles Times, "New videos from Syria spotlight conflict's brutality."

The So-Called 'Bipartisan Backlash' Against Common Core

I was skeptical when the L.A. Times mentioned there's a growing "bipartisan backlash" against the federal bureaucracy's disastrous "Common Core" education agenda. Perhaps some leftist RINOs would be allied with union thugs clinging to corrupt power, I thought. But the Times actually mentions some tea party groups that have mobilized against this progressive education/indoctrination power grab.

See, "Schools' effort to shift to Common Core faces a difficult test":

Educators developed the standards, the Obama administration pushed states to adopt them, and they enjoyed bipartisan support.

But a bipartisan backlash also has emerged. Critics worry that too much classic literature and fiction are being edged out and that too few concepts are covered in math.

Supporter Randi Weingarten, who heads the American Federation of Teachers, is among those urging a delay, especially if results of the new tests will be used to evaluate teachers.

California school districts remain worried about being ready, even with $1 billion that Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed for the transition. Districts would have wide latitude in spending the money for such needs as teacher training and computers.

In some states, opposition, especially from Tea Party groups is making headway. Conservatives speak of an erosion of state and parental rights and potential intrusions on student privacy through data collection. Under pressure, some Republican state leaders have pulled back funding or delayed the changeover.

Continue reading.

Following the links takes us to the Washington Post, "Tea party groups mobilizing against Common Core education overhaul," and the American Principles Project, "Controlling Education From the Top: A Pioneer Institute and American Principles Project White Paper."

Michelle Malkin has been doing yeoman's work in opposition to this corrupt Common Crap agenda. See, "Rotten to the Core: Conservatives spearhead drive at RNC meeting to stop Common Core." The leftist groups cited at the Times are unions worried about reforms that hold them accountable and weaken their power. The genuine opposition to Common Core is found among conservatives and patriots who actually care about the quality of education and the primacy and centrality of educational excellence to the preservation of American freedom.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES," and at Theo Spark's, "A Thousand Words..."

More at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies."

Cartoon Credit, "Branco Cartoon – He Built That."

Sunday Rule 5

Via Pitsnipes and Gripes:

A roundup at Proof Positive, "Best of the Web* Linkaround," and "Friday Night Babe: Denise Richards!"

More at Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……is snow created by fossil fueled helicopters, you might just be a Warmist."

Also at Gator Doug's, "DaleyGator DaleyBabe Random Beauty."

And at Knuckledraggin', "Your Good Morning Girl," and "Who doesn’t love a car wash?"

Also at Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart ... Miss Tennessee Chandler Lawson (Sweet!)."

More at Guns and Bikinis, "Girl Next Door."

And at Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, "The Friday Pin Up." Also at Eye of Polyphemus, "Flashback Friday: Lynda Carter."

At Odie's, "Rule 5 Woodsterman Style - FAA's new blood pressure testing method."

And Theo Spark's, "Bonus Totty..." Plus, "Sunday Totty..."

Now over at Animal Magnetism, "Rule 5 Friday," and "Saturday Blondepocalypse."

EBL has "Rule 5 Monica Belluci."

Also at the Last Tradition, "Rule 5 Sunday – Carmen Ortega, Model, Pin Up Girl."

BONUS: Lots more Rule 5 at the Other McCain, "Rule 5 Monday."

State Rep. Greg Harris Bawls at Failure of Illinois Homosexual Marriage Bill

A total homo.

At Breitbart, "IL State Rep Tearful Announcement Same Sex Marriage Will Not Pass."

And from Enza Ferreri, "It's Not Only Islam that Threatens Our Freedoms."

Deadly Illegal Immigrant Crossing at Brooks County, Texas

A powerful photo-essay, at the Big Picture Blog, "Deadly Crossing":

In 2012, sheriff's deputies in Brooks County found 129 bodies, around double the amount from the year before and six times the number recorded in 2010. Most of those who die succumb to the punishing heat and rough terrain that comprise the ranch lands of south Texas. Reuters photographer, Eric Thayer, traveled to Brooks County, Texas and Reynosa, Mexico to investigate the rising rates of immigrant deaths along the border there, spending time at a migrant's hostel in Mexico and with U.S. Border Patrol in Brooks County. Many migrants, after spending several weeks traveling through Mexico and past the Rio Grande, spend a few days in a "stash house," such as Casa del Migrante, in Reynosa, Mexico, and many are ignorant of the treacherous journey ahead.

Better Late Than Never: Kelly Brook's FHM Cover, May 2013

This was out last month, "Kelly Brook returns to the front cover of this month's FHM."

However, this came out just a couple of days ago, "10 GIF reasons why we love Kelly Brook."

PREVIOUSLY: "Sexiest Women of 2013 — FHM's Top 100."

Why Are Liberals So Rude to the Right?

At reader poll at Legal Insurrection, and my response:

They’re smug assholes with a false sense of self-superiority. They never respond on point in debate and can only preen with arrogance when speaking of Americans of the soil. Screw the so-called “liberals.”

And at the Guardian UK, "Why are liberals so rude to the right?":

Too many people who lean left would rather crack nasty jokes than actually be liberal and listen to other views

Sexiest Women of 2013 — FHM's Top 100

See: "FHM 100 Sexiest Women In The World 2013: The full list."

Daft Punk's Most Revealing Interview Yet

At Rolling Stone, "Daft Punk: All Hail Our Robot Overlords":

Much dance music withers when it leaves the floor, but Daft Punk's imagination exceeded raves nearly from the jump. "Music was a vector that we wanted to build a universe around," says Bangalter. Like the other flagship Nineties electronica artists, Daft Punk presented more like a band than DJs: touring behind an album of proper songs, placing singles on alt-rock radio, commissioning inventive videos with then-fledgling directors like Gondry and Spike Jonze. "Dance music is not cool," says DJ A-Trak, who's known the duo since 2007, and who introduced Kanye West to their music. "It has the worst fonts, the worst artwork – let's not forget what a rave flier looks like. And then here come Daft Punk with these crazy videos, beautiful album art. They have a flash and an elegance that other dance acts envied."

Stars' Swollen Faces Have Fans Howling

People should try to age gracefully.

In particular, Madonna and Portia de Rossi.

See London's Daily Mail, "'Why would anyone want to do THAT to their face?' Fans slam Madonna's 'swollen' appearance as she takes to the stage at Sound of Change concert," and "Has Portia de Rossi had surgery? Fans question her changing look after return of Arrested Development."