PJ Media

What we need now are additional recruits to the cause of prosperity of the United States and the freedoms of its citizens.

It seems that a href=”http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-retirement24-2009may24,0,885521.story”many older workers are retiring early/a rather than staying on the job (thanks br549):br /br /blockquoteReporting from Washington– Instead of seeing older workers staying on the job longer as the economy has worsened, the Social Security system is reporting a major surge in early retirement claims that could have implications for the financial security of millions of baby boomers.br /br /Since the current federal fiscal year began Oct. 1, claims have been running 25% ahead of last year, compared with the 15% increase that had been projected as the post-World War II generation reaches eligibility for early retirement, according to Stephen C. Goss, chief actuary for the Social Security Administration….br /br /The ramifications of the trend are profound for the new retirees, their families, the government and other social institutions that may be called upon to help support them./blockquotebr /br /Though the article points out that early retirement has its drawbacks (naturally, the concern is for women–who may have to learn to live on less if hubby gets lower benefits) my guess is that anyone close to early retirement figures it’s now or never, given the possibility that Social Security benefits will be cut down or dry up in the near future. br /br /Also, instead of paying income tax from their job, these older workers will now be sucking off the government tit (though to be fair, many put in more money than they will ever get back). It’s even better than a href=”http://www.drhelen.blogspot.com/2008/10/going-john-galt.html”going Galt/a, it’s becoming a moocher instead of a producer. Now that producers are punished and moochers rewarded, I can see the appeal.

It's no accident that so many of our Medal of Honor winners hail from small towns with place names that no one can recognize.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a left-leaning group of voters who know much about the contents of the Koran.

Our culture immortalizes show-biz celebrities — shouldn't we know the names and hear the stories of our nation's true heroes?

President Obama wants to remake the country in his image; we cannot allow him to succeed.

Thanks for validating my thesis that anonymity is what turns web commenting from free expression into a digital lynch mob.

Los Angeles becomes the latest to disarm its law-abiding citizens and gloat about it.

The president taught us a valuable lesson about civil discourse at his commencement address in South Bend.

They're at each other's throats as the narrative used for the last eight years falls apart.

Is the president actually waging an effective war on terror?

Barely–a href=”http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124278685697537839.html”according to this WSJ article:/abr /br /blockquoteFamilies can spend thousands of dollars on coaching to help college-bound students boost their SAT scores. But a new report finds that these test-preparation courses aren’t as beneficial as consumers are led to believe.br /br /The report, to be released Wednesday by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, criticizes common test-prep-industry marketing practices, including promises of big score gains with no hard data to back up such claims. The report also finds fault with the frequent use of mock SAT tests because they can be devised to inflate score gains when students take the actual SAT. The association represents 11,000 college admissions officers, high-school guidance counselors and private advisors./blockquotebr /br /I remember taking one of these courses prior to taking the ACT and it really seemed to improve my score. The class really taught me how to take a multiple choice test and understand how to give answers that the test makers wanted, rather than what I thought the right answer should be. It went against my intuition, but seemed to work. However, when I took the GRE prior to my PhD, a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%2F%3Fie%3DUTF8%26keywords%3Dgre%2Bbook%26tag%3Dgooghydr-20%26index%3Daps%26hvadid%3D3027521901%26ref%3Dpd%5Fsl%5F1cgfo8vw0z%5Fetag=wwwviolentkicomlinkCode=ur2camp=1789creative=9325″I used a GRE prep book/aimg src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwviolentkicoml=ur2o=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” / and skipped the class. I think that was a mistake. So, for some people, the classes may really work and for others, not so much. br /br /Anyone else out there take one of these classes or have kids or grand kids who did and find them useful or not?

This week's show is a 55-minute time machine that traverses from H.G. Wells' early 20th century role as liberalism's godfather, to Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget debacle this past Tuesday — and more!

Tune in each Saturday to Sirus-XM’s POTUS channel (#110 on Sirius, #130 on XM) at (all times eastern) 6:00 am, 12:00 pm, 6:00 pm, and Sunday at midnight (also eastern time zone) for the weekly edition of PJ Media’s PJM Political!

If you missed this week’s show, click below to listen:

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Join host Steve Green of VodkaPundit.com for a snapshot of Washington — and beyond:

• Steve on President Obama’s new CAFE standards for automobiles, and Joe Klein of Time magazine’s rhetorical attack on Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post.
• Fred Siegel of the Manhattan Institute on his new article at City Journal magazine, “H.G. Wells: The Godfather of American Liberalism.”
• Five Questions for James Lileks.
• From PJTV’s weekly National Security Review, Bill Whittle interviews syndicated columnist Austin Bay, along with Megan Ortagus and Cliff May, each with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies discuss Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Monday meeting with President Obama at the White House, and Iran’s missile test on Wednesday.
• Jim Geraghty of National Review’s Campaign Spot explores the ramifications of Tuesday’s special election in California.
• Produced by Ed Driscoll.

Ed Driscoll’s interview with Jim Geraghty was edited for time; the complete version can be heard here. If you missed any recent edition of PJM Political, click here and scroll through for hours of audio archives. And tune in to PJ Media’s PJTV.com channel for video coverage throughout the week.

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An extended version of Ed Driscoll’s interview with Jim Geraghty of National Review.com’s The Campaign Spot on California’s special election. Topics discussed include:

• Why voters went to the polls and the results of the election.
• Old media’s Peter Jennings-style “Temper Tantrum” when voters didn’t wish for an even more bloated state budget.
• The conflict between voters who wants lots and lots (and lots) of state government, but don’t want to pay for it.
• A preview of similar national trends?
• Where Gov. Schwarzenegger goes from here, and his ultimate legacy as governor.

If you missed any recent edition of PJM Political, click here and scroll through for hours of audio archives. And tune in to PJ Media’s PJTV.com channel for video coverage throughout the week, including Allen Barton’s interview with Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute for his take on the CA special election.

Bad news on unemployment and a squishy national security speech reveal an administration totally on the defensive.

The rise of the protean corporation and what it means for you.

Americans aren't the only ones concerned with how their government is spending their hard-earned tax dollars.

I hope that smart cars and motorbikes are not the envisioned future of the United States.

How does the closure of Gitmo make Americans safer? It doesn't.

David Harsanyi: a href=”http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_12424236″Fear: Our national pastime: /abr /br /blockquoteIn a speech defending his detainee plan this week, President Barack Obama brandished his now-famous Spock-like wisdom by claiming that “Our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight” after 9/11.br /br /Whether you agree with the president’s account of the nation’s post- 9/11 policy, you might still ask yourself two questions:br /br /First off, is it always wrong to make decisions based on fear?br /br /Having been in New York on 9/11, I would contend that fear was not only a logical reaction to what was happening but also an unavoidable one. As John Podhoretz of Commentary magazine recently noted, “Fear was an entirely responsible response to September 11. Indeed, it was, in some ways, the only responsible response.” br /br /….Fear, as philosopher Hannah Arendt observed, “is an emotion indispensable for survival.” /blockquotebr /br /a href=”http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_12424236″Read the rest./a

The refusal of both men to acknowledge the Iranian evil prevents us from evaluating their current spat over "torture." (Also see PJTV: The Obama-Cheney Smackdown: Interpreting the results)

From security cameras to DNA databases, Big Brother is watching you.

A ruling by the 11th Circuit could be a sign of things to come in Obama's America.

Hassan Mahmoud was already under fire for defense of suicide bombings and the airport alcohol fatwa.