PJ Media

Fire (Or Impeach) Paulson and His Stooges!

The bailout bill he sent to Congress was flagrantly unconstitutional. No wonder it failed.

Russian Bear Eats as Western World Sleeps

Will anyone stop Putin from constructing a new Iron Curtain across the Caucasus and Eastern Europe?

Scratch Beginnings: Is the American Dream Possible?

a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061714364?ie=UTF8tag=wwwviolentkicomlink_code=as3camp=211189creative=373489creativeASIN=0061714364″img alt=”shepardcov.jpg” src=”http://www.pjmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/images/shepardcov.jpg” border=0 align=right width=”106″ height=”160″ //aOur podcast guest today, Adam Shepard, author of a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061714364?ie=UTF8amp;tag=wwwviolentkicomamp;linkCode=as2amp;camp=1789amp;creative=9325amp;creativeASIN=0061714364″iScratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream,/i/aimg style=”BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none” height=”1″ alt=”" src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwviolentkicomamp;l=as2amp;o=1amp;a=0061714364″ width=”1″ border=”0″ / says the American dream is alive and well. Shepard wrote his book as a response to Barbara Ehrenreich’s a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805088385?ie=UTF8amp;tag=wwwviolentkicomamp;linkCode=as2amp;camp=1789amp;creative=9325amp;creativeASIN=0805088385″emNickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America/em/aimg style=”BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none” height=”1″ alt=”" src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwviolentkicomamp;l=as2amp;o=1amp;a=0805088385″ width=”1″ border=”0″ / and a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805081240?ie=UTF8amp;tag=wwwviolentkicomamp;linkCode=as2amp;camp=1789amp;creative=9325amp;creativeASIN=0805081240″emBait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream/em/aimg style=”BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none” height=”1″ alt=”" src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwviolentkicomamp;l=as2amp;o=1amp;a=0805081240″ width=”1″ border=”0″ / in which Ehrenreich says that the pursuit of the American Dream is basically hopeless. Shepard set out with 25 bucks and a back-pack and went to a new town (Charleston, South Carolina) to see if he could make it. His book is a testament to personal responsibility, positive action and how education can play a part in keeping people employed. Shepard shares his inspirational story of living in a homeless shelter, working at a moving company and finally, getting his own place, and saving $2500.00.br /br /Listen to the podcast and find out what he learned from this experience. You can listen directly — no downloads needed — by a href=”http://politicscentral.com/2008/09/29/the_glenn_and_helen_show_adam.php”going here/a and clicking on the gray Flash player. Or you can download the file and listen at your leisure by a href=”http://gg2000.cachefly.net/pjm/audio/glenn_and_helen/20080930-Shepard.mp3″clicking right here./abr /br /Music is by a href=”http://toddsteed.com/home.html”Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere./a

Who Really Triggered This Financial Crisis?

The Democrats who protected Fannie and Freddie built the house of cards that just collapsed.

The Case for Universal Preschool

The benefits can't be summarized in a quantitative study.

Iraqi Leaders Closely Watching U.S. Elections

As the U.S. presidential race heats up, the rhetoric coming from Baghdad changes.

Challenging the Young Vote to Come of Age

McCain might hit a home run by issuing a uniquely American call to service that only he could make.

Who’s Sleeping More Deeply — Europe or America?

As Westerners doze, radical Islam continues its march.

Is Time Running Out for McCain?

With the election just weeks away, McCain needs to start hitting Obama harder on his past.

John Hawkins at Right Wing News has a href=”http://rightwingnews.com/#post12865″an interview up/a with David Freddoso, author of a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596985666?ie=UTF8tag=wwwviolentkicomlinkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=1596985666″The span style=”font-style:italic;”The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media’s Favorite Candidate./span/aimg src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwviolentkicoml=as2o=1a=1596985666″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” /

Obama’s Scorched Earth Policy

Team Obama seeks to muzzle critics through smears, intimidation, and censorship.

Stop Blaming ‘All of Us’ For This Wall St. Meltdown

We are not "all at fault." There are specific people — and policies — responsible for the mess.

Duking It Out over the Debate and the Bailout

Both parties claim they won the debate and deserve credit for preventing a market meltdown.

The Assignment to Trash Sarah Palin

Lacing higher education with indoctrination is nothing new on U.S. campuses.

Meet (Yet Another) Japanese Prime Minister

But don't get used to him. It's a high-turnover job.

Pollsters Still Don’t Call Cellphones

If they think they're getting accurate numbers when they're limited to voters using land lines, they're deluded.

"I refused to settle for becoming a ‘Disney Dad’"

So says Alec Baldwin in discussing his new book, a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312363362?ie=UTF8tag=wwwviolentkicomlinkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=0312363362″emA Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce./em/aimg src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwviolentkicoml=as2o=1a=0312363362″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” / The book tells of Baldwin’s fight with the California family law system. In an interview with ABC news, a href=”http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=5814332″he states:/abr /br /blockquoteMany readers, especially the attorneys and other professionals who play integral roles in the family law system, will automatically dismiss this book as nothing more than the grumblings of a bitter and angry man. Rather than falling prey to a corrupt system, they will say I am the victim of my own poor choices who brought all this on myself by marrying the wrong woman, hiring the wrong lawyer or through my own boorish behavior. …br /br /I agree that I did make things worse for myself. Foolishly, I walked into a courtroom with the expectation that I would be given some equitable rights regarding my daughter. I ignored the less than subtle message that tells non-custodial parents, especially fathers, to abandon such hopes and face the realities of this system. Walk away, we’re told. Accept your fate as your penance for the poor choices you’ve made. Write off this failed family as the price of learning difficult lessons. The longer you hold out for what should be the right of every parent, the more expensive and painful the process becomes. …br /br /I had a contentious divorce because I wanted a meaningful custody of my daughter. I refused to settle for becoming a “Disney Dad,” one whose role is nothing more than outings to theme parks once or twice a month. Instead I wanted to share the joys and responsibilities of raising my daughter. I wanted to be a real father, and the system punished me for that. Ultimately, I refused to give in../blockquotebr /br /I am glad Baldwin wrote this book, perhaps this topic will get some attention because he is a celebrity. But it makes me think that if Baldwin had such problems with the system with all his fame and money, what chance does the average joe have?

"A city’s environment can play a big role in how its citizens are able to cope with stress."

I was reading a href=”http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100216242GT1=31036″this MSN article /aabout America’s most stressful cities. It seems that Chicago is the #1 most stressful city in the US:br /br /blockquoteThe crisis on Wall Street has New Yorkers alarmed. But it’s nothing compared to the levels of anxiety those living in the Windy City feel each day.br /br /Chicago’s rising unemployment rate, expensive gas, high population density and relatively poor air quality create a perfect storm of stress, according to measures we used to calculate the country’s anxiety hot spots…..br /br /But consumers aren’t fretting about these pressures in a vacuum. A city’s environment can play a big role in how its citizens are able to cope with stress./blockquotebr /br /After reading about all of the problems in Chicago, I have a few questions. If Obama was such a successful community organizer, state senator and US senator, why is his city listed as “the most stressful in the US?” And if his “hope and change” mantra can’t improve much in his hometown, is this a harbinger of things to come for the entire country if Obama gets elected? In other words, will the entire US become more like Chicago then before? Is this what we have to look forward to should Obama be elected?

Who Are We Bailing Out? And Why?

It is questionable whether the congressional bailout deal will do any good whatsoever.

The Ayers-Weatherman Terrorist Attack as It Might Have Happened

"Just some guy in the neighborhood" who almost blew up the Fort Dix NCO Club.

Obama Didn’t Address Middle America in the Debate

Why in the world didn't McCain point that out?

Wall Street Melts Down: The End of an Era

How the "Masters of the Universe" lost their swagger.

Dead End: The North Korean Crisis

Is military force the only thing that would persuade Pyongyang to disarm?

Paul Newman: 1925 – 2008

It‘s the rare circumstance where we mourn the loss of the man more than the star.

Sarcasm: A new crime fighting tool?

How many times have you heard that the best thing to do when being robbed is to be passive and not do anything? “Just give them what they want,” we are told. Sometimes, a href=”http://www.wnbc.com/news/17564120/detail.html”a different approach/a is called for (via a href=”http://www.drudgereport.com/”Drudge/a): br /br /blockquotePolice said a bank teller in suburban New York had a simple question for a would-be robber: Are you serious?br /br /Police said that was enough to spook the female suspect, who fled the Roslyn Savings Bank in Centereach late Thursday afternoon without a dime.br /br /Police said she walked into the bank located inside a supermarket on Route 25 about 4:49 p.m. and handed the teller a note demanding cash and threatening to open fire with a gun if the teller didn’t comply.br /br /That’s when the teller apparently expressed her crime-fighting skepticism. Police said the woman left without ever showing a gun./blockquotebr /br /Perhaps this worked because the would-be robber was female, maybe because she was surprised at the question as it didn’t fit into her script of how a robbery should go, or perhaps the teller’s display of a lack of fear made her flee. Whatever it was, when it comes to handling a crime situation, there is often no one size fits all solution.