It Still Works

Really Mean . . . But Funny

» Why doesn’t John McCain smile? Coz he’ … ’skine.art - Moleskine Art

Coz he's got gum cleavage.

Bristol Palin Is Pretty Typical

Annals of Sociology: Red Sex, Blue Sex: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

The vast majority of white evangelical adolescents—seventy-four per cent—say that they believe in abstaining from sex before marriage. (Only half of mainline Protestants, and a quarter of Jews, say that they believe in abstinence.) Moreover, among the major religious groups, evangelical virgins are the least likely to anticipate that sex will be pleasurable, and the most likely to believe that having sex will cause their partners to lose respect for them. (Jews most often cite pleasure as a reason to have sex, and say that an unplanned pregnancy would be an embarrassment.) But, according to Add Health data, evangelical teen-agers are more sexually active than Mormons, mainline Protestants, and Jews. On average, white evangelical Protestants make their “sexual début”—to use the festive term of social-science researchers—shortly after turning sixteen. Among major religious groups, only black Protestants begin having sex earlier.

There's only so much faith available in the face of hard reality. It's difficult to understand how evangelicals, sincere though they may be, can continue to push an agenda totally transparent to their children's hormones.

Dude, I'm Waiting for My Dell

FT.com / Companies / IT - Netbooks lead computer growth

Despite the downturn in the economy, an unexpected surge in global consumer demand for the machines, known as “netbooks” or mini-notebooks, has turned them into one of the hottest new consumer-tech products in years.

“We expect there will be shortages before Christmas,” said Richard Doherty, an analyst at Envisioneering, a consumer technology research firm.

I can attest to that. I ordered a Dell Mini in September. Originally scheduled to ship October 10, now that date's been pushed to mid November.

Emma Crawford Days

There's an annual event in Manitou Springs, CO that commemorates a 19th century citizen, Emma Crawford. The story goes that after her death, heavy rains eroded her mountainside grave and her coffin tobogganed downslope.

The festivities begin with a hearse parade. Here's my favorite. Yes, the flamethrower is functional.

Thy Will Be Done

Top Stories: Palin tells Dobson election outcome is 'in God's hands' - Gazette.com

Dobson asked whether Palin was discouraged by polls showing the GOP ticket behind.

"To me, it motivates us, makes us work that much harder," Palin said. "And it also strengthens my faith, because I'm going to know, at the end of the day, putting this in God's hands, that the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4. So I'm not discouraged at all."

So when Obama is elected President it will be because God wants it that way. Great news. That should also mean the end of Sarah Palin's national office aspirations - she wouldn't want to go against God's clear will, would she?

This Is Really Surprising

Top Stories: | obama, campaign, area : Gazette.com

Even in an area dominated by Republicans, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has raised tens of thousands of dollars more than Sen. John McCain, a Gazette analysis of campaign finance records found.
Obama's money advantage in the Colorado Springs area is insignificant in the context of a record-breaking season for campaign spending, but any edge for a Democratic Party presidential candidate is a dramatic shift from historical trends.
Four years ago, President Bush's contributions from the Colorado Springs area were three times that of his rival, Sen. John Kerry. An edge for Obama is also the last thing many observers would expect from an area where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 2 to 1.
As of the end of August, Obama brought in $265,920 in donations from the city and surrounding areas, compared to McCain's $202,626.

In a county that hosts more evangelical organizations than any other in America, including Focus on the Family, a Democrat beating a Republican in campaign donations must herald the millennium.

If It's a Tie, . .

http://view.break.com/592648 - Watch more free videos

Why do so many media conservatives, like Mona Charen, sound so depressed these days? Mona's lament on NRO is well nigh pathetic.

All of a sudden, this election is shaping up as a verdict on capitalism. The Obama campaign wanted it to be about George W. Bush. The McCain campaign wanted it to be about character. But instead, because the markets are shooting off in all directions like bullets from a dropped pistol, the stakes have suddenly been raised dramatically.

We are in the midst of the worst panic in history, it’s true (because it is global). . . historian John Steele Gordon . . .  believes more sensible banking policy would prevent future panics. But if we elect a crypto-socialist like Barack Obama and give him a bigger Democrat majority in the House and a filibuster-proof Senate, banking regulation may be the least of our troubles.

No matter how much real wealth is evaporating before our very eyes, a Democratic Administration could be worse? It's symptomatic of the disarray of the once-formidable GOP - there's a missing subtext now, and in a campaign frenzy Dems and Republicans alike will inevitably say some batshit-crazy stuff. Used to be, though, that the Rs always kicked ass on Ds. It's always hard to say, but it sure feels like a change in the wind.

Three weeks to go. Then poor Mona can take a few days off and recover.

An Oddity Regarding Culture Change in LTC

Perhaps a minor rumination, but how is it that one of the most important requirements of culture change is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the scant literature available on the subject.

The leadership behaviors that most immediately effect staff evolution are, by nature, the least amenable to documentation or analysis. There is an experiential component that cannot be easily measured, but it is an essential driver of many of the emerging culture's aspects. At some point, culture change has to find a way to describe, if not quantify, optimal management strategies for nurturing the evolving culture.