From the Washington Examiner: As things now stand, according to the trustees, Medicare’s Part A will run out of money for reimbursing hospitals for elderly care in 2017, while the Social Security shelf goes bare in 2037. Spending on the two programs exceeded $1 trillion last year and is now increasing at an annual rate that will double it in 2050. With Barack Obama determined to add trillions in new

— Which is really nothing more than the Bush Administration edition, reappointed in the disingenuous garb of Obamanous nuance: Desperate to reassure the Bush Derangement crowd, Obama is trying to bluff the country into thinking he’s engaged in a major overhaul when it’s really a tweak — and an utterly unnecessary one at that. The media will swoon over how he’s evolving and at what a big guy he is

Victoria Toensing, former chief counsel for the Senate Intelligence Committee and deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan administration: Sen. Patrick Leahy wants an independent commission to investigate them. Rep. John Conyers wants the Obama Justice Department to prosecute them. Liberal lawyers want to disbar them, and the media maligns them. What did the Justice Department attorneys at George W. Bush’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) — John Yoo and

Being a cautionary tale regarding unintended consequences, noted by Ric Locke. Related. Not One Red Cent for RINOs.

Obligatory SPOILER ALERT. Now here’s a guy I wouldn’t mind debating with, not because he’s obnoxious, but because he’s polite in expressing his opinion. He doesn’t much like the new Trek movie, because in his view it’s a throwback to what he regards as the ethical incoherence of Roddenberry and Star Trek’s preterition, generally. He objects to my stating that the message might be that there’s a time to stop

From Urthshu in the comments, here’s a guy who, from the outward signs, might be considered a moonbat, except that he gets it. I’d reproduce some here, but it’s a tight thesis and you should read the whole thing. As Urthshu says, it’s almost as if he’s been reading Protein Wisdom. Schadenfreudelicious aside: It appears, from things I’ve read recently, that Sully’s come ’round to the view that Obama’s not

Pelosi’s troubles all part of sinister, cackling, gleeful, hand-rubbing Cheney plan. Jules has a reax round-up. Moe Lane has been covering “Prevarigate” as well as or better than anyone else, IMO, and he unpacks the Salon piece, here. Keep scrolling, though.

Bra creates tell-tale stiffy for women.

Because Rachel Maddow had gotten Ben Affleck as a guest for her show, and wouldn’t cough him up to Olby, who wanted him for his own show, Olbermann apparently pitched a three-day hissy fit. Substituting for him was David Shuster, who implied that Keith’s absence might be flu-related and opined that KO is a great guy. So, in short, a clusterfark of douchebaggery all around.

From NPR: Scientists have been worried about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet for decades. A new study finds that if it were to collapse, global sea level would rise drastically, though not as much as predicted 30 years ago. Much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is vulnerable because it rests on ground below sea level. If warm ocean water gets under it, the ice could start flowing off the