Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will not be going to trial . Despite some ugly back and forth between representatives of the stars of late, Pitt and Jolie have managed to peacefully arrive at a new custody arrangement. Multiple sources have confirmed this news. “A custody arrangement was agreed to weeks ago and has been signed by both parties and the judge,” Jolie’s lawyer, Samantha Bley DeJean, said via statement on Friday. She continued: “The agreement, which is based on the recommendations of the child custody evaluator, eliminates the need for a trial. “The filing and details of the agreement are confidential to protect the best interests of the children.” To the surprise of so many, Jolie filed for divorce from in September of 2016. The exes share six children together: Maddox, 17, Pax, 15, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 12, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 10. Neither Pitt nor Jolie has said very much in public since their stunning and very sad split. But insiders close to the stars have traded barbs for well over a year now, with Pitt’s side alleging that Jolie is trying to keep the kids from their dad… … and Jolie’s side hinting here and there that Pitt is not exactly a great father. It was even mandated that Pitt only spend time with his kids under official supervision. At one point, Pitt accused his ex-wife of using their sons and daughters as mere media props. Things have turned very ugly between the celebrities. But this agreement must have been amenable for both sides to sign off on it. Says a source close to Pitt, talking to Us Weekly: “Brad and Angelina will have joint physical and legal custody of the children. Over a period of the next six to eight weeks, the monitored visits will come to a conclusion. “The children will immediately begin to have overnight visits with their father. “The monitors will be in place for those first overnight visits, and this was done at Brad’s request. “Brad recognizes this is going to be a change from what the norm had been and wants to make the transition as smooth as possible.” Jolie and Pitt had been scheduled to square off in court on December 4. However, Us Weekly also reported previously that Pitt contacted Jolie recently and practically begged her to meet him halfway. “He reached out hoping to persuade Angie that the hearing will cause lasting psychological damage to their children,” a source told this tabloid, concluding: “There will be no winners, no matter what the judge decides.” View Slideshow: 13 Reasons to Be Glad You Never Slept With Brad Pitt
Source: Bob D’Amico / Getty It’s the last episode of Scandal e ver. Forever, ever! And we kick off with Olivia Pope meeting up with Lonnie Mencken trying to figure out what to do about Jake and Cyrus. Mencken says he’ll help her if she can promise that Mellie makes gun control a priority. Olivia agrees and Lonnie kills himself. That latter part wasn’t part of Olivia’s plan, but that is how Mencken is helping (and keeping himself from being implicated). His death will get Olivia her Senate hearing. Cyrus and Jake are backed into a corner and Olivia sees this as her chance to start over. Eli Pope begs to differ. He thinks Olivia should “stop being a slave, trying to fix massa’s problems,” and skip town. He set up a nice offshore bank account for her so she can disappear if she wants to, but the old Liv is back so you know she won’t be going anywhere. Meanwhile, Papa Pope is about to pay everyone dust because he refuses to get caught up in Olivia’s whistleblowing shenanigans. But at the same time, you know he’s not going to leave without knowing Olivia’s fate first. via GIPHY The gladiators are terrified about testify about all the terrible things that have been done as part of B613 because it could potentially mean prison time. Mellie is terrified about testifying too because she could still get impeached and forced to step down. Meanwhile, Charlie is still locked up and doesn’t even know they’re doing this. However, when it’s time for the deposition, they spill all the tea about everything from Frankie Vargas to President Rashad, but they frame it as Jake and Cyrus being the masterminds. After the hearing, Rosen tells them that they should say their goodbyes now before the committee makes its recommendations because again, prison could be a reality. The first order of business is going to visit Charlie in prison. They inform him what’s going on, and Charlie and Quinn finally get their wedding. Jake confronts Rosen in a dark parking lot and threatens to kill him unless he does the “smart” thing, but Rosen is finally about that life. As Jake touches the gun in his waistband, Rosen stretches his arms out to the side and says he’s not giving in to him so he might as well do what he has to do. He basically reads Jake for filth and his thesis is, “I am not your bitch, but you belong to Cyrus.” That last part is true. We all know Cyrus gave the order to kill Rosen and Jake attempted to do what he was told, but Rosen got all up in his head so the murder is off, for now. Cyrus is livid and hurls all the usual insults at Jake, but Jake is finally tired of being a lap dog and tells him that he could have killed Rosen if he wanted to because he’s cold-blooded like that and killing is what he does. But Cyrus is the one who’s always barking orders and never actually getting in the midst of the action. That’s all it takes to put the battery in Cyrus’ back. In fact, Cyrus interrupts Abby and Rosen’s cuddle time in bed with a text telling Rosen that he wants to strike a deal. Rosen, the only truly clean individual in this entire universe, is naive enough to think that Cyrus is really about to lay down and take his punishment. So, they meet up at Cyrus’ office, Cyrus hands him a drink, and…you know where this is going, right? Rosen drinks the poison and the Cyrus smothers him with a pillow as he already lay choking from the poison. via GIPHY Why no one realized this was a trap is beyond any of us, because Cyrus would literally do something like this. We know this. They should have known this, but that’s what it is. So let’s pour one out for Rosen. via GIPHY Now we find Abby, Olivia, Quinn and Huck standing over Rosen’s body in the morgue. The coroner said it was a heart attack, but they know what’s up. Abby refuses to cry because she wants to act now and grieve later. Huck offers to take care of it but Olivia tells him not to because they’re the good guys now. “We’re the only white hats left,” she offers. Quinn goes to Papa Pope for help and he tells her like he told Olivia that they are on their own. He’s retired from the mess and dasit. via GIPHY Olivia laments to Fitz that they’ve lost. The thing is, with Rosen dead, that means there’s the deputy AG left. Cyrus still has the deputy AG in pocket so he’s going to win. Fitz is hopeful that things will work out, but Olivia has a meltdown because she hasn’t fixed anything and she dragged her people down (she actually did fix something, she got them to tell the truth, which set them free as the cliche goes). She points out that this is most likely the last time they’ll ever be in the same room together alone since she’s probably going to jail and that they can either keep talking about impending doom or do something else. You already know they chose something else. via GIPHY The next morning, Fitz gets news that the committee postponed the recommendations because they have a new witness. Turns out it’s Eli Pope. He was moved by news of Rosen’s death. He obviously knew what’s up and again, Rosen was the one person who didn’t deserve what he got. The committee thinks Eli is just a paleontologist so they’re not taking him seriously at all. They’re not even trying to hide their smirks and are especially amused when he tells them that he created B613. He goes into his most epic rant ever by telling them that he created B613 in response to them, “White men who were masters of the universe who left the world to rot.” He goes in about their privilege and how they have this power but act like petulant children so he had to come in and save them, and the world, from themselves. Then he flips it by telling them that they bare the responsibility for all that B613 hath wrought. He also lowkey makes them realize that they got played by a black man. “I am responsible for the fact that this nation still stands. I wake up every morning and I make America great again, this is my legacy!” is the exact quote to cap our last Rowan special. Now he has their attention, they hang on to every word he says. He manages to control the hell out of them, because that’s what he does, and says he can give them command, but he’s not going down for it, and that’s what it is. Rowan Pope saves the day. Finally, Jake gets arrested. Quinn rejoices with Abby and Huck because “the good guys win.” Abby finally breaks down because “the good guy is dead,” which is true. Olivia visits Jake in prison before he gets transferred and offers a teary apology for forcing him to step out of the sun. He tells her not to be sorry, that he loved her and that she should never be sorry for that. Jake thanks her for showing up for him and they exchange their final goodbyes. Sally Langston delivers news that the shadow government has been put to bed and that Mellie Grant is back on track. Cyrus pays Olivia a visit and Olivia is not with the small talk. She just wants him to hand in his resignation letter. Cyrus starts talking about how he can’t escape the darkness and ends up signing the resignation letter and that’s that. Cyrus, the one who should actually be in jail, get to roam free. Yes, Cyrus has to live with the “darkness,” but it just doesn’t seem right that Cyrus gets to be free while Jake rots in jail. via GIPHY Mellie then asks Olivia how they can restore the public’s faith in govt institutions and makes it clear that she needs Olivia by her side, but Liv is done. Liv tells Mellie that she has always known how to run the country in the way it needs to be run, and she will be great. Mellie asks what Olivia is going to do and her reply is, “Whatever I want.” Translation: Olivia Pope is free. via GIPHY The final episode winds down with a montage of Mellie in the Oval Office with Marcus by her side as the new VP. Abby and Huck visit Rosen’s grave, Charlie, Quinn and their baby are back together as a happy family, and Jake is in his cell fantasizing about being back in the sun with Olivia. Finally, Olivia goes to see Fitz and they deliver their classic Olitz-style, “Hi,” because you know Vermont is in their future. And the last thing we see is two little black girls at the National Museum of African American History and Culture staring at a portrait of Olivia Pope, the woman who brought down the republic in order to help it rebuild. How’s that for anticlimactic? RELATED POSTS ‘Scandal’ Recap: Olivia Pope Blows The Lid Off B613 ‘Scandal’ Recap: Team Mellivia Is Back In Action
Ninjas…SMH Howard University Suspends All It’s Athletic Programs For NCAA Rules Violations Howard University has suspended all of its intercollegiate athletics teams for what appears to be a violation of NCAA rules. University spokeswoman Kerry-Ann Hamilton issued this statement: It is with great regret that we have temporarily suspended intercollegiate athletic competition. This is a self-imposed action while the University conducts a review. We are working quickly to resolve this issue. More details have emerged throughout the day about the investigation UPDATE 3:21 p.m. Coppin State athletics spokesperson Roger McAfee tells us that he hasn’t haven’t been informed whether the school’s upcoming softball matches with Howard have been suspended. Howard lacrosse is also scheduled to play at Wesleyan next week. A rep at Wesleyan tells us, “I’m not aware that they have suspended our upcoming game.” UPDATE 3:27 p.m. Here’s the reaction from one Howard athlete, who didn’t want to be identified speaking publicly about the situation: “This whole situation is frustrating, and it shows how things within athletics need to be reformed and fixed. Many athletes have had their eligibility taken away and that has affected many sports dramatically. This needs to serve as a learning experience for both the athletes and the department.” UPDATE 3:44 p.m. A member of the Howard bowling team says a senior athletic administrator told the team the university is investigating problems with textbook vouchers given to athletes. According to the bowler, the university allowed athletes to spend money that they didn’t use on books on whatever they wanted, a possible violation of NCAA rules. The bowler says the university is demanding that any money spent improperly be repaid to Howard and that athletes won’t be able to register for classes until they clear up the matter. The university, which hasn’t yet responded to requests for detailed information, has not confirmed that account. UPDATE 4:32 p.m. An NCAA compliance officer at another school, who would only discuss the situation under condition of anonymity, tells us that while colleges expect to have some rule violations, their job is to self-police and then report to the NCAA for further recommendations, if any. The officer says Howard’s suspension suggests problems that go further than a book voucher problem with one team: “For [Howard] to self-impose complete suspension, they must not have been doing anything in compliance.” UPDATE 4:49 p.m. A former Howard football player says he, at least, never saw any unspent book voucher money. Branden Bufford, 24, who graduated in 2011, tells City Paper the athletic department used to forward his class schedule to the university bookstore, and books would be purchased for him. But Bufford did say he’d heard some student-athletes would register for extra classes, get the books, then drop the classes and sell the books. “It’s unfortunate that the athletes may have to miss games because of this,” he says. “I don’t know why they’re up in arms about something that happens all the time, and worse things have happened. I guess the new sports administration is trying to put their foot down early.” The NCAA has some real fawkin’ nerve! Imposing these petty rules on the players that makes them hundreds of millions of dollars every year! Source More On Bossip! Itty Bitty Waists: These Ladies’ Cakes Look Even Bigger Because Their Waists Are So Tiny/span> Must Be The Money: The Most Regretful Celebrity Advertisements Of All Time Shady Swirl Hookup Gone Horribly Wrong: Ashton Kutcher Is Beefin’ With RihRih Because She Let The Paps Catch Her Creepin’! Video Emerges Saying Beyonce’s “Blue Ivy Is A Doll And Isn’t Real” And Footage Of Her Being Swarmed By Paps! [Video]
Who else is not a fan of actors who try out singing? I knoooow I’m not the only one. But what’s surprising is that our favorite singers, rappers and musicians in general usually have better luck when it comes to switching it up and trying the thespian lifestyle. Sometimes they’re even better than folks who have been acting for years. There have been an epic number of artists who have picked up scripts and tried to recite lines, and a lot of them have been awesome. Others…awful. So whether the people on our list are awesome or awful to you, you can’t hate on the fact that they’re definitely multi-faceted and doing it big. It was hard to bring the long list of Meryl Streep and Morgan Freeman wannabes down to 11, so let us know your recommendations for others (hopefully without starting your sentence with “how could you leave out”) and why you think they’re awesome as actors below in our comments section. (Continue)
Rocker was joined by legendary guitarist Zakk Wylde for heavy metal performance judges called ‘outstanding.’ By Kara Warner James Durbin performs on “American Idol” Wednesday Photo: Fox The buzz surrounding this week’s episode of “American Idol” was especially high, given the major elimination shocker of assumed front-runner Pia Toscano last week. And while the contestants are always dealing with the looming pressure of elimination, there seemed to be an extra sense of anxiety coming from the eight remaining “Idol” hopefuls. Nevertheless, there were a few standout performers who sang their hearts out during the always-interesting Songs of Cinema theme week. One in particular was heavy metal enthusiast and all-around rocker James Durbin . Durbin made “Idol” history earlier this season when he sang the first Judas Priest track “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” marking the first time Priest was ever performed on the main stage. On Wednesday night (April 13), he went raw rocker again and, against the recommendations of mentors Jimmy Iovine and wil.i.am, performed Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal,” from the ’80s movie of the same name. “Give metal a chance!” Durbin said to the camera in the preview package that aired before his performance. Joining Durbin onstage for his loud, energetic and guitar-solo-heavy performance was legendary Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, who said afterward that Durbin “sang his ass off.” “That felt really, really real!” a very excited Jennifer Lopez exclaimed. “I really loved that. I don’t know what these are sounding like at home but here they are killing it dead,” she said. “Who would have ever thought that on ‘Idol’ we would have heavy metal?” Fellow judges Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler were equally impressed. “My God, you guys were just at a James Durbin concert, at a Zakk Wylde concert,” Jackson told the audience. “I’m happy you stuck to your guns,” he told Durbin of going against mentor Iovine’s wishes. “We always tell contestants to ‘do you’ and tonight you did you. … I can see you onstage with Ozzy at the next Ozzfest! Durbin rocks!” “Outstanding, Durbin,” Tyler said. “I’m glad you went with your feelings. … Nice lip to Jimmy, man.” Don’t miss “Idol Party Live” every Thursday at noon on MTV.com for analysis, celebrity guests and even some karaoke — get in the conversation by tweeting with the hashtag #idolparty! In the meantime, get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos ‘American Idol’ Season 10 Performances ‘American Idol’ Season 10 Top 24 Related Artists Jennifer Lopez Steven Tyler
Posted onNovember 25, 2010byBenny Hollywood|Comments Off on The Obama Administration Is Setting Aside 187,000 Square Miles in Alaska as a "Critical Habitat" for Our Polar Bears
The Obama administration is setting aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a “critical habitat” for polar bears, Greenspace (Los Angeles Times) Obama administration moves to protect polar bear November 24, 2010 | 9:02 pm The Obama administration is setting aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a “critical habitat” for polar bears, an action that could restrict future offshore drilling for oil and gas. The total, which includes large areas of sea ice off the Alaska coast, is about 13,000 square miles, or 8.3 million acres, less than in a preliminary plan released last year. Tom Strickland, assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department, said the designation would help polar bears stave off extinction, recognizing that the greatest threat is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change. “This critical habitat designation enables us to work with federal partners to ensure their actions within its boundaries do not harm polar bear populations,” Strickland said. “We will continue to work toward comprehensive strategies for the long-term survival of this iconic species.” Designation of crucial habitat does not in itself block economic activity or other development, but requires federal officials to consider whether a proposed action would adversely affect the polar bear's habitat and interfere with its recovery. Nearly 95% of the designated habitat is sea ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska's northern coast. Polar bears spend most of their lives on frozen ocean where they hunt seals, breed and travel. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell and the state's oil and gas industry had complained that the preliminary plan released last year was too large and dramatically underestimated the potential economic impact. The designation could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost economic activity and tax revenue, they said. Parnell said that the state is pleased that existing man-made structures will be exempted from critical habitat considerations. But, he said in a statement, the state is disappointed it was not consulted on other recommendations. “This additional layer of regulatory burden will not only slow job creation and economic growth here and for our nation, but will also slow oil and gas exploration efforts,” Parnell said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said reductions included in the final rule were mostly due to corrections that more accurately reflect the U.S. border in the Arctic Ocean. Five U.S. Air Force radar sites were exempted from the final rule, as were Native Alaskan communities in Barrow and Kaktovik, Alaska. The Interior Department has declared polar bears “threatened,” or likely to become endangered, citing a dramatic loss of sea ice. Officials face a Dec. 23 deadline to explain why the bears were listed as threatened instead of the more protective “endangered.” Kassie Siegel, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that has filed a lawsuit to increase protections for the polar bear, hailed the decision. “Now we need the Obama administration to actually make it mean something so we can write the bear's recovery plan — not its obituary,” she said. Siegel called for a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in bear habitat areas. “An oil spill there would be a catastrophe,” she said. “That seems like an understatement.” The Arctic Slope Regional Corp., which advocates for Alaska native business interests, said in a statement that the decision disproportionately affects Alaska natives and called the designation the “wrong tool” for conserving the polar bear because it does nothing to address climate change. “The burden of the impacts will be felt by the people of the Arctic Slope,” said Tara Sweeney, vice president of external affairs for ASRC, which is based in Barrow, Alaska. “This is a quality-of-life issue for our people.” Kara Moriarty, deputy director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Assn., said the action would hurt oil and gas exploration in Alaska by creating more delays and added costs to projects in what already is a high-cost environment. “The companies and the industry will be required to go through more permitting and create mitigation measures without a direct benefit to the polar bear or oil and gas development,” Moriarty said. “The Fish and Wildlife Service has found over and over again our activities pose no threat to the polar bear.” added by: EthicalVegan
Comments Off on The Obama Administration Is Setting Aside 187,000 Square Miles in Alaska as a "Critical Habitat" for Our Polar Bears
This really is the summer of media’s discontent. As Barack Obama’s poll numbers collapse along with the fate of Democrats in November, more of the President’s fans are calling for heads to roll at the White House. Just four days after Chris “Tingle Up The Leg” Matthews called for both Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to be given their walking papers, the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen warned that if Obama doesn’t fire some key people, Americans are going to fire him. Readers are advised to strap themselves in tightly, for ” Obama’s Shrinking Presidency ” provides some dangerous changes in cabin pressure: One of the unintended results of the redecoration of the Oval Office was the downsizing of Barack Obama. In last week’s prime-time address to the nation, the president sat behind a massive and capaciously empty desk, looking somehow smaller than he ever has — a man physically reduced by sinking polls, a lousy economy and the prospect that his party might lose control of Congress. Behold something we never thought we’d see with Obama: The Incredible Shrinking Presidency. This is an amazing and, to me, somewhat frightening, turn of events. The folks who ran a very smart presidential campaign in 2008 have left the defining of the Obama presidency to others, in this case people on the edge of insanity. After running through some of the poll numbers, and discussing the Birther issue, Cohen drilled home the point that must really be making September feel like the dead of winter for liberal media members across the fruited plain: Obama is not all that liked and not very much known. He has become a polarizing figure — irrationally hated by Republicans and lacking much of his original support. Among whites, for instance, if the election were held now, Obama would get just an alarming 28 percent of the vote. We are once again two nations. Cohen next addressed how some of Obama’s unpopularity is caused by the lousy economy, which, of course, was all blamed on George W. Bush despite Democrats controlling Congress since January 2007. But the Post columnist employed what conservatives would call “tough love”: His stutter-step approach to certain issues — his wimpy statements regarding the planned Islamic center in Manhattan, for instance — erodes not just his standing but his profile. What we thought we knew, we do not. Like a picture hung in the sun, he fades over time. Then came the recommendations: But what Obama can do — what he must do — is get some new people. His staff ill-serves him so that he presents a persona at odds with his performance. The president needs better speechwriters. The president needs a staff to tell him not to give an Oval Office address unless he has something worthy of the Oval Office to say. The president needs someone to look into the camera so that, when the light goes on and he says, “Good evening,” he looks commander in chiefish: big. In other words, the president needs to fire some key people. Either that, or the way things are going, the American people are going to fire him. Indeed, but first they’re going to fire Obama’s accomplices in Congress, a fact that likely bothers Cohen greatly despite him ignoring it in this piece. But there’s another issue at play here: the junior senator from Illinois was sold to the American people during the campaign as being one of the most intelligent presidential candidates ever. Fawning media members gushed over his Ivy League education and his intellectual prowess. Now, after approaching 20 months in office, his problems are all his staff’s fault. This seems hypocritical of liberals that always want to blame problems in the society on America’s CEOs. I guess even as they criticize the object of their affection, so-called journalists need to assign the real responsibility for this adminstration’s failure to others. Unlike their normal modus operandi, media members are now dutifully protecting the captain as this ship sinks. It really is amazing the number of rationalizations necessary to be a liberal these days.
Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin has struck back at Paul Krugman calling the New York Times columnist “intellectually lazy.” As NewsBusters reported Saturday, Krugman wrote an article the previous day castigating Ryan as ” The Flimflam Man ” calling the Congressman a “charlatan” and a “fraud” while claiming his “Roadmap” to balance the nation’s budget was “drenched in flimflam sauce.” Krugman’s criticisms of the Republican rising star were of course praised by all manner of media member from the shills at MSNBC to the sycophants in the liberal blogosphere. Since then, Ryan has responded and responded well, first at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Saturday: The assertion by Krugman and others that the revenue assumptions in the “Roadmap” are overly optimistic and that my staff directed the Congressional Budget Office not to analyze the tax elements of the “Roadmap” is a deliberate attempt to misinform and mislead. I asked the CBO to analyze the long-term revenue impact of the “Roadmap,” but officials declined to do so because revenue estimates are the jurisdiction of the Joint Tax Committee. The Joint Tax Committee does not produce revenue estimates beyond the 10-year window, and so I worked with Treasury Department tax officials in setting the tax reform rates to keep revenues consistent with their historical average. What critics such as Krugman fail to understand is that our looming debt crisis is driven by the explosive growth of government spending – not from a lack of tax revenue. Krugman also recycles the disingenuous claim that the “Roadmap” – the only proposal certified to make our entitlement programs solvent – would “end Medicare as we know it.” Ironically, doing nothing, as Democrats would prefer, is certain to end entitlement programs as we know them, and in the process, beneficiaries would face painful cuts to these programs. Conversely, the “Roadmap” would pre-empt these cuts in a way that prevents unnecessary disruptions for current beneficiaries. It reforms Medicare and Social Security so those in and near retirement (55 and older) will see no change in their benefits while preserving these programs for future generations of Americans. As Ryan noted, his recommendations are hardly as extreme as liberal shills like Krugman claim: Far from the “radical” label that critics have tried to pin on it, the Medicare reforms in the “Roadmap” are based on suggestions made by the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, chaired by Sen. John Breaux (D-La.). That commission recommended in 1999 “modeling a system on the one members of Congress use to obtain health care coverage for themselves and their families.” With respect to Medicare and Social Security, the “Roadmap” puts in place systems similar to those members of Congress have. There has been support across the political spectrum for these types of reforms. By dismissing credible proposals as “flimflam,” critics such as Krugman contribute nothing to the debate. Standing on the sidelines shouting “boo” amounts to condemning our people to a future of managed decline. Absent serious reform, spending on entitlement programs and interest on government debt will consume more and more of the federal budget, resulting in falling standards of living and higher taxes as we try to sustain an ever larger social welfare state. The American people deserve a serious and civil discussion about how to reduce our exploding debt and deficit. By relying on ad-hominem attacks and discredited claims, Krugman and others are missing an opportunity to contribute to this discussion and are only polarizing and paralyzing attempts to solve our nation’s fiscal problems. On Sunday, Krugman replied at his Times blog: As I predicted , a snow storm of words, dodging the math questions. Notice that Ryan does not address the issue of the zero nominal growth assumption, and how that assumption – not entitlement reforms – is the key to his alleged spending cuts by 2020. By the way, if you look at the artful way his excuses are constructed – giving the false impression that he couldn’t get a revenue score for love nor money – how is that not flimflam? On Monday, Ryan spoke with The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack to further clarify the situation: “I realize he’s a columnist and not a journalist, yet he could have easily tried to have verified his claims with a phone call or an email,” Ryan said of Krugman. “Instead he went with his confusion and chose to impugn motives,” said Ryan, “which strikes me as a very intellectually lazy exercise or style.” Krugman wrote on his blog on Saturday that “Ryan could have gotten JCT to do a 10-year estimate; it just wouldn’t go beyond that. And he chose not to get that 10-year estimate.” Ryan says that’s not true. “We asked Joint Tax to do it,” Ryan told me. “They said they couldn’t. They don’t do them long-term outside the 10 year window. They couldn’t do it in the first 10 years because of just how busy they were.” Ryan says Krugman could have cleared this confusion up with a simple phone call. “Megan McArdle figured it out on her own,” Ryan said, referring to a blog post by The Atlantic ‘s business and economics editor. Clearing up confusion is never Krugman’s modus operandi, as he’s made a living misinforming the public on such issues. But Ryan wasn’t done: Ryan also responded to Krugman’s criticism that his domestic discretionary spending freeze is impractical and doesn’t spell out exactly which programs would be cut. “Domestic discretionary spending went up 84 percent last year,” said Ryan. “There has been such a gusher of domestic discretionary spending that I think we can live with a freeze for a long time to come.” The point of a spending freeze, said Ryan, is to put “strong enforceable controls in place and then make the experts, whether it be the appropriators or the agencies, come up with a way to live within their means.” Ryan marvelously concluded: “The Roadmap is designed to maintain a limited government in the 21st century, and it is the antithesis of the progressivist vision which [Krugman] subscribes to. That’s fine. I understand it violates his vision for a progressivist society,” Ryan continued. “What I think is rather bizarre is his strange personal attack and ad hominem attacks based upon his confusion surrounding the scoring process, which could have been easily clarified with a simple phone call or email.” “I’m not going to descend into the mudpit with Krugman on this stuff,” Ryan said. “I want to stay on policy and ideas.” Actually, mudpit would be an uptick considering the nether regions folks like Krugman propagandize from, for his attacks on Ryan were typically devoid of facts. As NewsBusters reported Saturday, the primary statistical source for Krugman’s “Flimflam” piece, the liberal Tax Policy Center, quickly corrected the record on Friday surprisingly defending Ryan. But Krugman isn’t concerned with that. As Hot Air’s Allahpundit noted Tuesday, the Times columnist is part of an orchestrated strategy by the Left to attack all on the Right that are gaining traction with the American people: It’s the same reason why Chris Matthews went to such pains to make Ryan look unserious and why the DNC is now lumping him in with candidates like Sharron Angle in an attempt to make him seem kooky . According to the Narrative, today’s conservatives are a horde of feral, brainless bigots following whatever primitive impulses their political id generates. Ryan, being both soft-spoken and very intellectually serious about the unsustainability of entitlements, is both a threat to that narrative and to the welfare state itself. As such, frankly, he’s lucky he’s gotten off as easy as he has thus far. Potentially, he’s progressive public enemy number one. Indeed. What also makes Ryan so dangerous to folks like Krugman is that he represents a new breed of young, extremely intelligent, and attractive conservatives that could very well be presidential material in the future. As such, the liberal attack machine in the media feels it’s necessary to bash him whenever possible and without any concern for the facts. As the fabulous David Byrne sang decades ago, “Same as it ever was.”
Just a quick update regarding President Obama's stance on unemployment. In his Saturday morning radio address July 17th, President Obama said, about the Republicans in the Senate “They've got no problem spending money on tax breaks for folks at the top who don't need them and didn't even ask for them, but they object to helping folks laid off in this recession who really do need help,” Obama said. “And every day this goes on, another 50,000 Americans lose that badly needed lifeline.” added by: Cecilia_Deuhs
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/19/glenn-beck-i-might-be-going-blind/ During a tearful and passionate speech at his “American Revival” meeting in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Fox News host Glenn Beck revealed that he may be going blind. During his speech (video below), Beck told the audience, “I can't focus my eyes.” Taking a shot at health care reform, Beck said, “I went to the best doctor I could find, while I could still go to the best doctor I can find.” Beck, 46, says he has been diagnosed with macular dystrophy, and joked that the doctor told him, “You could go blind in the next year . . . or you might not.” added by: im1mjrpain
