Jogging can add years to your life

I used to jog years ago and have been trying to add in a few days per week to supplement my cycling (which I prefer) but maybe I should learn to like jogging a bit more. It may not be fun for me, but with benefits like this, it's hard not to like the end result. More on the Danish study via Today:

The findings show that women who regularly jogged lived 5.6 years longer than women who didn't, and men who jogged lived 6.2 years longer than those who didn't.

Jogging for one to 2.5 hours per week at a slow or average pace seemed to deliver the greatest benefit, said study researcher Peter Schnohr, chief cardiologist of the Copenhagen City Heart Study.

"We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don't actually need to do that much to reap the benefits," Schnohr said in a statement.

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Video: Freaky Russian cat wants the dryer door open

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Bachmann endorses Romney right after she says he can't beat Obama

Oops.

I do like how, Bachmann also says that you have to have a candidate like Ronald Reagan in order to win. (You mean, someone who raised taxes 11 times, and who supported gay rights before running for president?) Why? Why has everyone accepted the lie that the only true Republican is a conservative Republican? Why isn't the only true Republican a moderate Republican, or a liberal Republican? It doesn't even make sense to suggest that the guy on the fringe of the party is the "real" representative of the party. She's one representative of one wing of the party, sure. But "the" representative? I don't think so. Read the rest of this post...

Japan to shut down last nuclear reactor, possibly forever

A few few years ago - before Fukushima - nuclear energy appeared to be making a comeback in the US. The protests against nuclear energy had gone quiet for years and as energy prices increased, many thought that it might be the future. US nuclear power plants had been pressing for extensions to their contracts, hoping to extend the contracts without the previously required safety checks. Fukushima changed everything.

The nuclear energy industry no longer looks like the lock that it was pre-Fukushima. In Japan, the future of nuclear energy is even more obvious now that the last nuclear reactor is being taken offline this weekend. Replacing 54 reactors won't be easy, but living with their problems is even more painful. Reuters:

Japan shuts down its last working nuclear power reactor this weekend just over a year after a tsunami scarred the nation and if it survives the summer without major electricity shortages, producers fear the plants will stay offline for good.

The shutdown leaves Japan without nuclear power for the first time since 1970 and has put electricity producers on the defensive. Public opposition to nuclear power could become more deeply entrenched if non-nuclear generation proves enough to meet Japan's needs in the peak-demand summer months.

"Can it be the end of nuclear power? It could be," said Andrew DeWit, a professor at Rikkyo University in Tokyo who studies energy policy. "That's one reason why people are fighting it to the death."

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Wash Post on Romney's "narrow path" to victory

The Post does a good job of laying out, in detail, the states that Romney needs to win in November, and they explain why he may have a difficult time doing so.

It's quite interesting how Obama's fortunes have turned around from a year ago. In part, it's because the GOP primary really took the wind out of the Republicans' sales. In part, it's also because the President has been playing a much tougher game with the GOP over the last year or so, and it's worked to (slowly) win people back to his side. Mitt Romney faces a narrow path to the presidency, one that requires winning back states that President Obama took from Republicans in 2008 and that has few apparent opportunities for Romney to steal away traditionally Democratic states.

Washington Post:

Mitt Romney faces a narrow path to the presidency, one that requires winning back states that President Obama took from Republicans in 2008 and that has few apparent opportunities for Romney to steal away traditionally Democratic states.

Months ago, Obama’s campaign advisers laid out five distinct ways for the president to clear the threshold of 270 electoral college votes and win reelection. As Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and his advisers chart their strategy, they plan to target a dozen to 15 states and say that they, too, have more routes than their opponents claim.

But Romney’s team acknowledges that any realistic course to 270 starts with winning back three historically Republican states that Obama won in 2008 — Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia — and believes that changing demographics in Virginia present a challenge.

After that, Romney must play take-away with the Democrats in a number of other states that the Obama campaign flipped to its column four years ago. The two biggest and most important are Ohio and Florida, which advisers see as must-wins for Romney unless he can pick off one of the 18 states that Democrats have won in each of the past five elections.

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Video: Cute kid chased by herd of cute puppies

Guaranteed to give you a smile.

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UE fell last month to 8.1 percent, but still not good numbers

As always, the jobs numbers are confusing - seemingly getting better, but not "better" enough, thus the tepid reviews of what looks like 'good' news. CNBC:

April's job report lived up to muted expectations, with the economy creating a meager 115,000 jobs during the month as the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent.

Job creation in the private sector was slightly better at 130,000, but overall the report painted a picture of a jobs market that had gotten a boost from unseasonably warm winter weather but now has cooled....

Though the headline number indicated job creation, the total employment level for the month actually fell 169,000. The disparity likely emanates from a drop in the labor force participation rate — or the level of Americans actively looking for jobs or otherwise employed — from 63.8 percent to 63.6 percent, its lowest level since December 1981.

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Feingold links Pelosi with Steny Hoyer for supporting Simpson-Bowles "Catfood" proposal

Does Nancy Pelosi stand with Steny Hoyer against Social Security?

We recently reported that Nancy Pelosi is fully on board with the Simpson-Bowles "Catfood-for-Granny" proposal. Among our recommendations:

■ Don't trust Nancy Pelosi. She's trying to sell out the safety net. All that verbal obfuscation simply means she's also protecting her "San Francisco liberal" brand in the process. She can't have both, but she's trying.

GP's rule for dealing with Dems:

If you want something from them, threaten what they're desperate to keep.

This usually means their jobs (primaries anyone?), but in a few cases it's their "brand" — their "unique selling point" — the persona (the mask) that allows them to fund-raise.

What does Pelosi want? To be the "liberal" face of the Pelosi-Hoyer axis. Threaten to take that away and you get her attention.

We are therefore so glad to see Russ Feingold making the same point, and the same linkage (my emphasis and some reparagraphing):

Russ Feingold, the former senator from Wisconsin, said in an email to supporters that Pelosi "has signaled a disturbing potential willingness to adopt a plan that could slash these benefits. And it follows a pattern: Too many House Democrats, including Steny Hoyer, are already on board."

Feingold's challenge, sent to backers of his group Progressives United, comes after Pelosi has repeatedly said that she would vote in favor of the Simpson-Bowles plan, a deficit cutting project that slashes Social Security and Medicare, while raising revenue and cutting defense spending. The progressive online organization CREDO Action will also be sending an email to its supporters backing up Feingold's challenge.

Exactly right, as I see it. We need more of this boldness. If you're inclined toward action, here's that CREDO Action link again.

Some thoughts about the thoughts behind this Pelosi cave, from the same article:

Eric Kingson, co-director of Social Security Works, said last week he was worried that Pelosi was making a dangerous gamble: By publicly backing Simpson-Bowles, she is able to make Republicans look that much more intransigent for not meeting her in the middle. ... But the consequence is that Pelosi is on record in favor of drastic cuts, a difficult position to defend in an election year [sic][.]

Catch that? "A difficult position to defend in an election year." I'll translate — "Impoverishing the elderly is totally bad for appearances."

Feingold totally agrees:

"Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits are unacceptable, and they shouldn't be put on the table by Democrats for any reason -- including cynical, political ones," he said. "Leader Pelosi must stand up for these crucial programs."

Pelosi and Hoyer, together at last. How is that not true?

Does Nancy Pelosi stand with Steny Hoyer against Social Security?

So far, the answer is Yes. Madame Speaker, over to you.

Update: Very interesting comment thread, including this find by A reader in Colorado. Thanks, all.

GP

To follow on Twitter or to send links: @Gaius_Publius
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More shooting rampages in MD, AZ and CA

First Arizona:

For several years, Arizona vigilante J.T. Ready conducted armed, civilian patrols along the U.S. border, urging the use of violence to prevent smuggling and illegal immigration.

On Wednesday, the former Marine, who was running for Pinal County sheriff, went on a shooting rampage in a sedate Gilbert neighborhood, killing four people before he took his own life, authorities believe.

The victims ranged from a 15-month-old infant to a 47-year-old grandmother. Investigators have yet to list a motive for the killing spree, but early indications suggested an explosion of domestic violence rather than a political act.

Then Maryland:

A man and a woman were killed and another woman seriously injured in a possible double-shooting and suicide at a church in Maryland late on Thursday.

Then California (twice):

In Carson, south of Los Angeles, an ICE agent was shot dead at his home in what is being described as a domestic incident. His 14-year-old son was arrested for allegedly firing the fatal shot.

And in Petaluma, north of San Francisco, three ICE agents were shot Thursday morning while serving warrants. Their injuries do not appear to be life threatening.

Your Second Amendment proud at work.

Glad we have such strong gun control groups who immediately jump on these stories to build a larger narrative about how guns are destroying our society.  Sigh. Read the rest of this post...

Australian economy heading for hard landing

Australia made the decision to hitch onto China years ago and so far, the ride has been mostly good. As the economy in China expanded, so did the economy in Australia. Raw materials helped feed the demand in China and the money kept rolling in.

The downside to this approach is that China has its own bubble and when that slows, so does Australia. Then you have a credit issue that is tied to the heavy commodity trading with China. Add to this the problem of overvalued housing and you have what many believe is a painful bubble on the verge of bursting.

It was a good ride, but all bubbles eventually pop. More on the future of the Australian economy via CNBC:

Australia is headed for the “mother of all hard landings,” according to Société Générale strategist Albert Edwards, who says the country’s “credit bubble” could burst if China’s economy suffers a sharp slowdown.

“(In Australia) We see a credit bubble built on a commodity bull market based on a much bigger Chinese credit bubble,” Edwards said in a report. “Of all the bubbles I have seen over the last 30 years in this industry, this one is even more obvious.”

Edwards reiterated his case for a hard landing for the mainland economy, pointing to the official Purchasing Mangers Index (PMI) of 53.3 last month, which he says is “the worst” April reading in years.

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