Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2853

Levi And Bristol Back Together?

Take this with a grain of salt, along with all other information about the Palin famille:

"Bristol and Levi are still very close," a source close to Bristol, 19, tells Us. The eldest daughter to former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin claimed in the June issue of Harper's Bazaar that ex Johnston, 20, was "a stranger to me." But the source reveals, "Now that Mama Palin is out of the picture and Bristol is on her own in Anchorage, they spend more time together than most people think." Adds the source...

Chart Of The Day

Catherine Rampell finds a chart on the composition of the American population over the next four decades:

By 2030 — shown by the bars in the middle-shade of green —
entire baby boom generation will have moved into the ranks of
elderly.

This has bigger consequences than just a longer line for the early birdspecial. It means that a smaller portion of the population will beworking, and inversely that a larger portion of the population will bedepending on government services (and/or...

The Trouble With Middle East Op-Eds

Tim Kowal ghettoizes reams of foreign policy opinion:

People make flip assessments about domestic policy because, well, it's domestic policy, and we're going to have opinions about where we live.  Besides, we're forced to be somewhat engaged and to develop our ideas because, at least to some extent, we all reap the consequences of those policies.

Not so with what goes one half a globe away, as most of us have no first-hand knowledge about what's going on.  And the problems are toxic, complex...

The American View Of Soccer

Drezner captures it:

There are plenty of sports in the United States that occasionallycapture the intermittent attention of the casual sports fan, but won't"break through" the sports zeitgeist until and unless the United Statesfields a successful national team.  This is how it tends to work withthe Olympic team sports, and it's how it will work with the World Cup. If the United States can advance far in this tournament, Americans willbecome more interested; if not, they'll switch back to...

Delaying The Entitlement Bust

Karl Smith agitates for open borders:

Immigration temporarily dilutesexpenditures on Social Security, Medicare, and interest on the nationaldebt. However, temporary counts for a lot. The future is inherentlyuncertain and so truly pushing off consequences into the future isinherently a net gain. There is a chance of catastrophe, in which caseyour sacrifices were useless and there is a chance of explosive growth,in which case your sacrifices were unnecessary. These are realpossibilities and...

"A Giant, Angry Swarm Of Hornets"

Jim Morrison investigates the sound of the 2010 World Cup:

A study in the South African Medical Journal released earlier this
said fans subjected to the vuvuzela swarm were exposed to a
peak of more than 140 decibels, equivalent to standing near a
engine. The South African Association of Audiologists has warned
can damage hearing. ...

After the 2009 Confederations Cup soccer matches in South Africa, FIFA,the governing body for the World Cup, received complaints from...

The Definition Of Retirement

Free Exchange reanimates the retirement age debate:

Keeping people in the labour force longer may mean rethinking whatretirement means. Rather than a discrete and sudden exit retirement maybecome more gradual. Phasing people out—perhaps by offering the optionof part-time work in the years leading up to retirement, may makesense. That may be easier on people who work well into old-age, as itputs them under less physical strain and it eases the mental transitioninto retirement. More part-time...

Celebrity Double-Standards

Robin Hanson compares:

While we may not hold athletes to the high of standards we holdpoliticians, we clearly hold them to higher standards than musicians...For our distant ancestors, athletic skill was much closer topolitical power. Small forager bands feared that the few mostphysically powerful members would attempt to dominate the band byforce. Foragers had much less reason to fear domination by the few mostmusical folks in the band. So it made sense for foragers to holdathletes to higher...

The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish, Britain finally owned up to the war crimes of Bloody Sunday, GQ provided a harrowing account of the oil rig disaster, Tom Philpott shone a light on the use of chemical dispersants, and the St. Petersburg Times exposed the latest creepiness of Scientology. Andrew took a long look at the nature of the Tea Party.

In Iran coverage, Juan Cole kept faith with the Greens, Andrew did as well, and Joe Klein joined in. Greg Scoblete and Kevin Sullivan tackled Kristol's argument for...

For The Love Of The Game

A Tired Ball Speaks from THE AMEN PROJECT on Vimeo.

Laura Freschi highlights a photo project:

In honor of the opening week of the World Cup we bring you these
of grass roots soccer from photographer Jessica Hilltout. Over
months, Jessica made two trips through Africa—one up the
coast—South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique and Malawi—and one through a
swath of West Africa—Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin, Togo and
Ivory Coast.

During her trip she took pictures of worn...