So begins Chapter 1 of Joseph W. Dellapenna's benchmark book on abortion, Dispelling Myths of Abortion History.

It belongs on every thinking thought leader's desk.

Dispelling the Myths
of Abortion HistoryGo Ask Alice.

During the early 1970's Your Business Blogger(R) worked in show business and watched a number of acts.

As a security guard...

One of the most bizarre performances was a gentleman/group named Alice Cooper. Mascara and Monsters. Decapitations were the crowd pleasers -- then as today.

I think there was blood: real -- imagined. As with Ozzie Osborne in Black Sabbath.

We have less of that today, I think. Less Blood on stage.

There is hope for civilization. Maybe.

Alice was the pre-curser to Marilyn Mason with the male-to-female make-up.

Alice Cooper was an act. Not so sure about Marilyn.

Alice and Marilyn are no mere metrosexual girlie-boys without manhood like Obama.

They are the real thing.

They are what Hollywood calls this gender-free entertainment: Authentic.

The sex-less who deal in pain. In angst. In the blood.

Wait a minute...maybe Alice and Marilyn and Obama are the same.

Except these girls can't have abortions.

Hollywood becomes Washington.

Well, maybe not Alice Cooper: He is Pro-Life.

Only Women Bleed Lyrics at the jump,

Join Fight FOCA

Thank you (foot)notes:

Alice Cooper, Only Women Bleed

An Alert Reader writes into Stop the ACLU,

"If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we're morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal."

Vincent Fournier aka Alice Cooper

Follow Jack on Twitter @JackYoest and Charmaine @CharmaineYoest

Continue Reading »

Posted at 11:17 AM | Permalink
Comments (1)

The following video clip is based on the actual Obama-cult song recorded by (non-aborted) children who were manipulated into supporting a presidential candidate...and, of course, a clip from the famous movie "Cabaret."

This might be a more accurate representation than the letter sent to the Americans United for Life office in Chicago this week. From the Party of Death.

Eyeblast at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 2:03 PM | Permalink
Comments (3)

Two Items for Your Consideration:
1) An Invitation
2) An Article
Your Business Blogger(R)

An Invitation for managers (with direct reports, the power to hire and fire, and a budget) Wednesday, October 8th from 4 to 5:30 pm in Northern Virginia near the Ballston Metro. A brief overview on Solutions to Your Management Problems. No Charge. Email me if you'd like more detail -- click here.

Your Business Blogger(R) was interviewed for an article on dealing with -- and managing -- Bad Bosses. It is scheduled to run this Sunday, 28 September in The Washington Post, Sunday Source section.

Let me know what you think and do make plans to attend the class.

And remember, If you are near Charlottesville, Virginia tomorrow, Saturday September 27th, Charmaine is speaking at the University of Virginia on women in leadership.

UPDATE: The article is up. Please take a look and link to the article in WaPo and I will owe you.

Posted at 12:20 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Your Business Blogger(R) just returned from meeting a number of conservative friends in Minneapolis-St. Paul in preparation for the GOP convention. It was exciting to talk with the good-guys from across the country especially during the Palin pick for VP.

I ran into my good friend Morton Blackwell who has run conservative politics in Virginia for decades and heads up the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia.

Recently, I was honored to give a brief presentation on management to LI. The overview requested was on Managing Management Time(TM) created and developed by The William Oncken Corporation.

LI also asked about some time management techiques and I certainly obliged.

But.

But Alert Readers will know that Managing Management Time(tm) is a philosophy created to teach managers to be more effective; to control events. MMT is NOT a time management course.

The briefing is divided into four short segments.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Thankyou foot(notes):

Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger(R) is a licensed agent for The William Oncken Corporation.

Charmaine and I spent last week in Minneapolis and we just put her back on a plane this afternoon to attend the GOP convention. See her quotes in The Wall Street Journal. She is the president and CEO of Americans United for Life and former senior advisor to the Huckabee for president campaign.

Posted at 9:15 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Your Business Blogger(R) once asked writer and reporter Richard Miniter about the sales process. He described sales as The Transference of Emotion.

Nothing was transferred last night.

The political confab is designed to sell both a tangible and an intangible: A Person and his Ideas.

Neither was sold on Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention.

Mary Jo Kopechne, Born: July 26, 1940;
Died: July 18,1969

Charmaine is currently in Minneapolis and I will be joining her soon for a series of meetings.

One of our favorite constant questions is, "Will it sell?"

In any human transaction, someone is selling and someone is buying. The Democrats did not have much of a pitch last night.

The were attempting to sell Michelle Obama. But I kept thinking of another Democratic woman.

The video brought a flood of tears to all eyes who watched it. The Democrats were swooning, estatic, drowning in thier adulation.

But not conservatives. We cried for other reasons.

The Ted Kennedy video was horrifying. The opening scene was of water lapping up on a quiet shore. I kept looking for a half submerged car -- at least there wasn't a bridge in the picture. He kept talking about his connection to the water.

The Democrats have all the resources of the best minds in Hollywood and the mainstream media -- and this is the best they could do? Goodness.

The footage of a smiling Ted Kennedy sailing his 80 foot something sailing yacht made me think of all the maintenance that somebody does to keep that old boat barnacle-free (no, no, not Teddy).

Work not done by the Kennedys. Elitists don't polish brass.

The Democratic marketing machine did not deliver its intended message. This is the party of abortion, of darkness, of death.

The Democrats, as Romesh Punnuru writes, are The Party of Death.

Mary Jo Kopechne, Requiscat in Pace

###

Thankyou (foot)notes,

Alert Readers wll recall that Your Business Blogger(R) teaches sales training -- but still learned something from the former Wall Street Journal reporter Richard Miniter.

Proving that it is possible to learn something, even from a journalist...

Senior Editor, National Review, Ramesh Ponnuru will be the keynoter at the Americans United for Life gala on October 9th in Chicago. We will celebrate Life.

From NNB,

Near midnight on Chappaquiddick Island, a possibly drunk and definitely married Senator Ted Kennedy takes a right turn instead of a left. His car winds up skidding off Dike Bridge and is quickly submerged upside-down in salty Poucha Pond.
His passenger, RFK office secretary Mary Jo Kopechne, is knocked into the back seat. Kennedy swims to safety, whereupon he fails to rescue his companion or even simply report the incident to authorities until the following morning.
Because no autopsy is ever performed on Kopechne's body (her body had been promptly whisked out of state) it is uncertain how long it took her to drown, if she wasn't killed on impact. Likewise, it is never established whether Kopechne was pregnant or exhibited signs of recent sexual activity.

See Sandler Sales Technique: Selling Tangible and Intangibles.

Update: 26 August 2009, Ted Kennedy dies. Perhaps Mary Jo can now Rest In Peace. From Myrna Blyth, NRO,

This week we may hear a little about the 35th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's moonwalk, but there is another anniversary that has already gone unnoticed. On July 18, 1969, a couple of nights before Armstrong took that "giant step for mankind," Ted Kennedy took a turn onto a narrow bridge in Chappaquiddick. The passenger in his car that night was Mary Jo Kopechne, a pretty, blond Capitol Hill secretary, just about to celebrate her 29th birthday. The two events are inextricably linked in my mind because my husband, who was a correspondent for a British newspaper, instead of reporting on our glorious odyssey into space, ended up at police headquarters on Martha's Vineyard covering that sordid story.

Posted at 12:22 AM | Permalink
Comments (1)

"Let all the babies be born. Then let us drown those we do not like."
Babies and Distributism, GK's Weekly, 11/12/32

Where do Obama and McCain stand on abortion and 'live birth' abortion?

Position/
Candidate........Sonogram of baby......Picture of baby

Pro-Life ......................Live ...................Live

Pro-Choice .................Die ....................Live


McCain .......................Live ...................Live


Obama .......................Die ....................Die

Obama is the full-service abortion candidate.

Abortion from conception to birth
Abortion at partial birth
Abortion after birth

Obama aggressively demands that some babies born alive be left to die. Obama does not support any Born Alive Infant Legislation. Amanda B. Carpenter writes in Human Events, Obama More Pro-Choice Than NARAL where Obama spoke out against the legislation similar to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act,

Sen. Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) portrays himself as a thoughtful Democrat who carefully considers both sides of controversial issues, but his radical stance on abortion puts him further left on that issue than even NARAL Pro-Choice America.


In 2002, as an Illinois legislator, Obama voted against the Induced Infant Liability Act, which would have protected babies that survived late-term abortions. That same year a similar federal law, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, was signed by President Bush. Only 15 members of the U.S. House opposed it, and it passed the Senate unanimously on a voice vote.


Both the Illinois and the federal bill sought equal treatment for babies who survived premature inducement for the purpose of abortion and wanted babies who were born prematurely and given live-saving medical attention.

Here is what Obama has said about abortion and judges he would appoint,

Thirty-five years after the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, it's never been more important to protect a woman's right to choose. Last year, the Supreme Court decided by a vote of 5-4 to uphold the Federal Abortion Ban, and in doing so undermined an important principle of Roe v. Wade: that we must always protect women's health.

With one more vacancy on the Supreme Court, we could be looking at a majority hostile to a women's fundamental right to choose for the first time since Roe v. Wade. The next president may be asked to nominate that Supreme Court justice. That is what is at stake in this election.

Throughout my career, I've been a consistent and strong supporter of reproductive justice, and have consistently had a 100% pro-choice rating with Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America.

When South Dakota passed a law banning all abortions in a direct effort to have Roe overruled, I was the only candidate for President to raise money to help the citizens of South Dakota repeal that law.





When anti-choice protesters blocked the opening of an Illinois Planned Parenthood clinic in a community where affordable health care is in short supply, I was the only candidate for President who spoke out against it. And I will continue to defend this right by passing the Freedom of Choice Act as president."

Obama is not the candidate of change.

Charmaine says, "It's all about women's perceived power -- the power a woman has over her fate, her future, her convenience."

The mother-feminist even wants control of life and death: The ultimate power.

The power-hungry feminist does not choose life for her baby. The pro-choice, abortion-option movement is the desire to have the power of life and death."

Obama believes that feminist power over the baby is more important than the life of the baby.

Obama claims to support a women's health, but what he is demanding is the women's power over life and death.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Gary Bauer pointed us to the Obama speech.

Tom McMahon may not the originator of the 2 X 2 matrix, but no one does them better. Enjoy his intellectual property at the 4-Blockworld. Free! It takes hard work to make complicated subjects so simple. Bookmark him.

Tom provides us perhaps the real reason women will vote for John McCain: Who can keep us safe in our current war?

A New Report Indicates Voters Most Interested in Barack Obama's Position on Abortion

The Internet traffic monitoring firm HitWise indicates abortion is now the number one political issue voters are looking for when they conduct a search on Obama's campaign web site.

As a great leader, Mr. Obama should take a principled stand on the issue of Muslims and Islamophobia. While anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. is substantial, it is not an insurmountable challenge.

The vast majority of Americans are sincere and open-minded; anti-Muslim sentiments are a product of fear and lack of understanding. These sentiments can be overcome.

From an article in the The Wall Street Journal by Mr. Junaid M. Afeef, director of public and government Affairs at the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.

Posted at 10:01 AM | Permalink
Comments (8)

Your Business Blogger(R)
at the Stern School of Business
New York University From the Leadership Institute,

Do you want your interns to be more organized, resourceful and effective?

The best internships enable interns to complete projects that create value for the organization, and to learn useful skills under the supervision of a mentor.

But interns often come to Washington with unrealistic expectations, which frustrate interns and mentors alike.

Send your interns to the Intern Workshop at the
Leadership Institute’s Stephen P.J. Wood building in
Arlington, Virginia on June 12, 2008,
from 9:15 am to 7:00 pm.

LI’s Intern Workshop teaches interns to set and achieve realistic goals during their internships.

Workshop speakers present tips about:

How to become an unforgettable asset

How to prioritize and get more done

Effective networking

Surviving on zero dollars a day

Personal development

This day-long workshop is free of charge.
It includes a free lunch and free dinner.

The Leadership Institute provides this service to philosophically like-minded organizations and offices to help you and your interns get the most out of your investment in them.

[To learn more about this seminar, click here.]

To register visit www.leadershipinstitute.org

For questions or additional information please
email Mary Koehn

or call (800) 827-LEAD

Your Business Blogger(R) will be teaching a short segment on Completed Staff Work and Managing Management Time(tm).

When LI says Free Workshop at the Leadership Institute, they really mean FREE. And there is a FREE LUNCH.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Jack Yoest is an Adjunct Professor of Management and President of Management Training of DC, LLC. He blogs with his wife Charmaine at Reasoned Audacity.

Posted at 1:29 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Launching area for the crew regatta
click on image for live feed web-cam Building Teams and Teamwork is the mantra of the modern manager.

How does a manager take a group of talented individual contributors and motivate them to, well, pull together as one unit in the same boat?

Last year The Chronicle of Higher Education lurched into the truth in an article All for One.

It was a story on rowing.

And in it Your Business Blogger(R) read a business lesson.

For both my business practice and The Dreamer's crewing at her high school.

Race Course
Click on image for live feed
web-cam The Oak Ridge Rowing Association and the Scholastic Rowing Association of America is sponsoring the 2008 National Scholastic Championships in Oak Ridge, TN. Several thousand visitors will go down to the river and pray for blue skies and flat water.

We are packing up the monster Huck-a-truck and the Penta-Posse (minus The Dreamer traveling with her team) and will gas-guzzle our way to the Volunteer State to watch our girls compete at the regatta.

With a monster carbon footprint.

Listening to the Oak Ridge Boys .

(Ain't America great or what?)

The Women's Freshmen Eight will row at 10:15am on Friday the 23rd. Please check the schedule.

The Women's coach was able to persuade decision makers to allow his team to use the Invictus. A new and faster boat used by upper class men at their high school.

Where tenths of a second determine winners, the perception of crewing a world-class shell can make the difference. If the women think they are faster, they will be.

Rowing is 90 percent mental, the other half is physical.

Apologies to Yogi Berra.

Scholastic Rowing Association
of America
Regatta 2008
Which brings us back to Notes From Academe, in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Writer Scott Smallwood visited the Cambridge University Boat Club in the UK to write about the yearly Oxford-Cambridge competition.

Alert Readers will recall that Charmaine and Your Business Blogger(R) read at Oxford and attended our first rowing event on the narrow creeks that pass for rivers at ox ford.

Duncan Holland, the Cambridge coach with some 20 years experience, helped Dutch rowers to an Olympic medal. He well understands that even though he's got winning seasons, only one race matters as a condition of (enjoyable) employment:

Beat Oxford.

Picking eight rowers seems like an easy task for a coach,

With rowing machines that can spit out reams of numbers about how fast and hard every rower can pull, what's so hard about choosing a team? Why not just pick the eight strongest guys and be done with it? It turns out...that team dynamics are trickier than that. The eight who are eventually chosen will be not necessarily the fastest individual rowers, but the best combination of rowers.

Smallwood continues,

Quintus Travis, a past president of the boat club and now treasurer, puts the mystery more bluntly: "There are always a couple [of rowers] who are stunted, but somehow they make the boats go faster."

The Brits can be brutal.

Mr. de Rond is a professor at Cambridge's Judge Business School and is studying the Cambridge athletes and the team and the coach,

...de Rond sees the answer [of the faster boats] in how team members bond. He draws a comparison from a 2005 paper in the Harvard Business Review by Tiziana E. Casciaro, of Harvard, and Miguel Sousa Lobo, of Duke University. The pair studied likability versus competence. Their work boils down to this: When choosing whom to work with, do you pick the lovable fool or the competent jerk? People, especially managers, often say they value competence above all. But in practice, they'll often trade some of that competence for likability. And that may not be so dumb.
Mr. de Rond doesn't think any of the Cambridge rowers are incompetent. No matter how lovable you are, you can't get in this boat unless you're a top-notch rower.

But here the Cambridge rowers become a self-directed team. Something business managers talk about but seldom see,

When the tentative roster was chosen," says [de Rond], Dan wasn't originally on the list." The other men successfully lobbied the coaches to put him in the varsity boat, even though by the numbers he was a borderline choice. Now, he says, [Dan's] social skills -- he's the class clown, really -- have improved the psychology of the entire team.

Like the coaches, this is where managers work their magic. To assemble a team that maximizes strengths and minimizes weaknesses, as Peter Drucker said.

So the women's coach got a better boat for his team. Coaches and managers get paid to figure out the immeasurables; the intangibles that go into building a winning team.

This Freshman Women's coach has got it figured out.

If he reported to me, I'd get him a raise...

Yorktown Crew Boosters Thank you (foot)notes:

On April 7, 2007, in the 153rd match-up: Cambridge beat Oxford.

This is a cross post from Management Training of DC, LLC.

All for One by Scott Smallwood was published on May 4, 2007 in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

See video from the Stotesbury Regatta.

From The New York Times, From a World-Class Rower, Tips to Sharpen Technique. Watch the video on how to film a rower's movement and a slide show on training.

Mix It Up

“There’s this saying that ‘Miles make champions,’ ” Michelle Guerette said. So she spends up to five hours a day on the water, doing a variety of workouts. Mix these pieces into your own sculling training:

BUILDING BLOCKS A base training session “addresses fitness, feeling and rhythm,” Charley Butt said. As with a runner, he said, what matters is “how a rower gets in the miles.” He advised rowing for 25 minutes at 75 percent of full pressure at a stroke rate of 16 to 20. Then, he said, paddle for 5 to 10 minutes and repeat. Maintaining a low stroke rate allows you to concentrate on technique.

Stan Hudy will not be at the races. A loss for us all.

Posted at 12:26 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Jack and Charmaine This is wedding anniversary week in our household: We celebrate for 7 days.

Men's Health magazine reminds us why marriage works. The April issue has six compelling reasons to marry, by Anna Maltby.

Anna is a woman.

But the advice is still good,

If you are susceptible to vice, find a wife. She'll save you from yourself -- and improve your life -- in a variety of ways...

1. Increase your pay A Virginia Commonwealth University study found that married men earn 22 percent more than their similarly experienced but single colleagues.

[VCU is a terrific school located in Richmond, Virginia. Conservative. Good.]

2. Speed up your next promotion
Married men receive higher performance ratings and faster promotions than bachelors, a 2005 study of U.S. Navy officers reported.

[If the Army wanted you to have a wife, it would have issued you one, goes the old joke -- it looks like the military is a-changing its perception of the value of a helpmeet.]

3. Keep you out of trouble
According to a recent U.S. Department of Justice report, male victims of violent crime are nearly four times more likely more likely to be single than married.

[Your Business Blogger(R) has not been in a bar fight since getting married. But every few years I got to get the caps replaced on those cracked up front teeth from an altercation back in single days. And I wish that ringing in my ears would stop...]

4. Satisfy you in bed
In 2006, British researchers reviewed the sexual habits of men in 38 countries and found that in every country, married men have more sex.

[...]

5. Help you beat cancer
In a Norwegian study, divorced and never-married male cancer patients had 11 and 16 percent higher mortality rates, respectively, than married men.

[Charmaine is forever pestering me to get a(nother!) physical. Goodness, I had one back in the 90's. And the colonoscopy was her idea too. Such a pain in the ...]

6. Help you live longer
A UCLA study found that people in generally excellent health were 88 percent more likely to die over the 8-year study period if they were single.

The accountability and friendship of marriage works.

Excuse me now, I've got some yard work to do.

As one academic studying the men-marriage-maturity transformation wrote, "A rake, now out raking leaves,"

Posted at 9:03 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Stacy London This ad is not approved by The Harbour League.

Save the Date: May 13, 2008.

"Stacy London is co-host of The Learning Channel's What Not to Wear and has been with the show since its first season. After growing up in Manhattan, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College with a double degree in 20th-century philosophy and German literature."

Stacy London is a very bright young woman with a father almost as famous, Herb London.

[Stacy] began her career as a fashion assistant at Vogue magazine and later returned to Conde Nast as the senior fashion editor at Mademoiselle. She has styled fashion photos for other editorial publications, including Italian D, Nylon and Contents.

The Harbour League is hosting a star-studded event on May 13th in Baltimore, Maryland. Make plans to be there. Eli Gold runs the non-profit think tank and writes,

I want to make you aware of a very special evening that The Harbour League will be hosting. It is an evening that will give you a chance to meet and chat one-on-one with leaders of today's conservative movement.

America's Secular Challenge
Stacey Herb London

On May 13th, 2008 The Harbour League will host an evening with the board. This will be the first time that our entire board will be in one place at one time to answer your questions regarding today's conservative movement, where we are and where we are headed.


The Harbour League's Board of Trustees includes: Eli Gold, Chairman; Herb London, President of the Hudson Institute; Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform; David Keene, President of American Conservative Union, as well as various other leaders in the movement.

The evening will begin at 7 pm (doors open at 6:30pm) with a talk given by Dr. Herb London entitled, "America's Secular Challenge: The Rise of a New National Religion". Dr. London will suggest that the rise of secularism in the United States is a flaccid response to the challenge presented by the fanaticism of radical Islam.

In the so-called war of ideas we are handicapped in our ability to thwart the inroads of fanaticism by a reflexive belief in relativism, one dimension of secular humanism.

The rise of secular humanism not only challenges the traditional antecedent of the nation, it is an ineffective response to the challenge of Islam.


The result? If you don't know what you believe in, you are unable to defend what is worthwhile. Something that if understood can change Maryland for the better.

Following the talk and question and answer session, there will be a dessert reception that will give you a chance to talk with any member of member of the board regarding the movement.

I also would like invite you to a private VIP dinner prior to the evening's event. For the first time we will open the board's pre-event reception and dinner to the first fourteen reservations.

The cost for dinner is $200 per plate (dinner is discounted for members). This is an opportunity to have an intimate dinner with these opinion leaders. So reserve your spot soon! Dinner reservations can be made by calling The Harbour League at 410-753-4560.

The presentation and dessert reception is free for Harbour League members, $5 for non-members. Please feel free to forward this invitation to your colleagues. A RSVP is highly recommended since seating is limited. Media covering this event should contact The Harbour League in advance.

I hope to see you at the event on May 13th.

Sincerely,

Eli Gold
Chairman

When you RSVP click "America's Secular Challenge."

Stacy London will not be there. Sorry for the bait and switch: Terrible marketing. My bad.

But her father, Dr. Herb London, will be there. Meet the proud papa and get a hint on why she is a success. And buy his book.

More on Stacy London at the jump

Your Business Blogger(R) and Charmaine and one of the Penta-Posse will attending -- we hope to see you there!

UPDATE: Alert Readers noticed that Your Business Blogger(R) originally spelled Stacy as "Stacey." Error corrected and she provided a nice pub shot -- a class act.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 7:33 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Charmaine and Your Business Blogger(R) will be attending MRC's Gala tonight with some 3,000 of our closest friends in Washington, DC.




Brent Bozell L. Brent Bozell III and the Board of Directors [presents]
Media Research Center’s
2008 Gala
The DisHonors Awards
Roasting the Most Outrageously
Biased Liberal Reporting of the Year

Master of Ceremonies
Cal Thomas
Presenters
Ann Coulter, Larry Kudlow, and Mark Levin

William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence
Honoree: Tony Snow
A Special Tribute

Thank you (foot)notes:

Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger(R) is a freelance journalist for the Business & Media Institute, a division of MRC.

See last year's Big Winner.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 8:35 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Our liberal friends at PBS have put together a program on the Navy.

Remember, any time 'Hollywood' gets near the military, the result always degenerates to an anti-war film.

USS Nimitz From: Chief of Naval Operations...

Beginning Sunday, April 27, PBS will air a reality-TV documentary
entitled "CARRIER", filmed while the production company was embarked
during the entire USS NIMITZ's 2005 deployment. The program will air
over five nights from Sunday, April 27, to Thursday, May 1, 2008,
9:00-11:00 p.m. ET.

Ten hours of film will be aired, selected from almost 2,000 hours that
were shot over the course of a 6-month deployment to CENTCOM. I have
viewed the production and want to share context and some thoughts
with you.

While "Carrier" shows the outstanding work our young Sailors do every
day and the opportunities the Navy offers, it also shows Sailors
making mistakes in their personal and professional lives. The
snapshot is frank and may be somewhat disconcerting to some who came
into the Navy some time ago. However, that said, I believe it will
also resonate with a significant segment of our country, especially
potential recruits and young Sailors serving today.

1) What we did. We provided unprecedented access to our Sailors,
and this production tells their story in a very personal way. There
is no narrator -- the stories are told by the Sailors themselves.
You get unvarnished views from junior personnel about their hopes,
aspirations, and challenges of life in the Navy aboard the carrier.
We did not get between the film crews and the Sailors.

2) What we got. The production highlights the racial, gender,
religious, and socio-economic diversity of our Navy. The hard work
our Sailors perform and the remarkable feat of forging thousands of
individuals on a carrier into a truly unique team really shines
through. Culling through hundreds of hours of video, the producers
created a 10-hour reality-TV documentary that shows selected aspects
of our Sailors' personal and professional challenges. The
cinematography is very high quality and the visuals and music are
sure to appeal to younger audiences.

3) What we did not get. We did not get a Navy "commercial" in the
traditional sense. "CARRIER" is very different from the hardware
documentaries we have supported in the past. This program focuses on
our people and the reality-TV approach gives it a sense of
authenticity and credibility. Since we did not monitor the
individual interviews and ongoing production, the program contains
material that does not always and fully represent the discipline,
values and mission of the U.S. Navy.

You will see some Sailors making personal and professional mistakes,
and expressing opinions that are different from the Navy's. However,
the production shows that these are the exception, not the norm, and
that leadership is engaged to shape lives and appropriate outcomes.
There are abundant examples of how the Navy changed Sailors' lives
for the better by giving them opportunities and a disciplined
environment.

4) Why did we agree to the project? This production, although not an
all-inclusive picture of the Navy, will give potential recruits and
those who influence them a glimpse of what life is really like in the
Navy. We want the American people to know, understand and appreciate
the contribution our Sailors make each and every day while deployed
around the world. We also want them to know us, not as a monolithic
bureaucratic entity, but as a diverse organization of individual
Americans who have set aside the comforts of home and have put
themselves on the line to serve a greater cause. You already know
how inspiring our people are, but few in our Nation get to see our
people in an operational environment.

Some of you may be called upon to offer public comments about this
film to the media or to community groups. We will soon distribute PA
guidance to support your efforts and will be putting additional
information on www.navy.mil in the near future. If you need any
additional information, please contact CHINFO, RDML Frank Thorp.

Thank you for all that you do.

All the best,

Gary Roughead

Thank you (foot)notes:

Thank you to John Howland at USNA-AT-LARGE for sending this out.

See more pictures.

Posted at 11:35 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Charmaine on an earlier FOX appearance Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., Vice President for Communications for the Family Research Council appeared on Fox News on March 1, 2008 to debate the issue of edgy ads and to discuss the prevalence of shock-style advertising in the media.

Click here for the clip. Please forgive the extra click thru to the FRC site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

For more on the ads click here. Safe for work. I think...

Posted at 7:48 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Sherman Tank vs Ford Mustang,
Fort Knox, KY, ca 1978
credit: Your Business Blogger(R)
Back in the days of the horse cavalry, Your Business Blogger(R) served a tour of duty as an Armored Officer.

And volunteered at the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, KY. Working on restoring vintage military hardware.

One of the first lessons taught was that large armored tracked vehicles, ie, tanks, had limited fields of vision in close quarters. So a ground guide -- a human walking in front and behind -- was routinely assigned to keep the masses of metal from unnecessary collisions.

Not always successful.

Sometimes deadly.

Watch the video comparison test between another wheeled and a tracked vehicle. Surprise ending.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Credit to Marshall Manson from London for Twittering this comparison .

And no, I was not driving either vehicle...

Please email your comments.

Posted at 7:07 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Is Obama Wright? - Pastor Jeremiah Wright & Senator Barack
forwarded by Soren DaytonFellow Blogger Soren Dayton forwarded an outstanding video that weaved Barack X. Obama's words and actions and pictures.

We live in the sight and sound generation. Where our preferred medium of communications is the moving picture.

A recent human resource management survey revealed that some 80% of influencers and decision makers in hiring will view a video of a job applicant. If you are applying for a job -- send a YouTube.

This is what Soren Dayton did. The video Soren Dayton forwarded is a type of job application for Obama and the presidency.

It is compelling! It is creative! It is brilliant!

Soren Dayton is fired. The McCain campaign threw Soren under the bus.

So Soren Dayton is out of the campaign gig. Which makes him available. Hire Dayton for your next project.

Dayton will get you noticed...

Thank you (foot)notes:

Join the Support Soren Dayton! group on Facebook. Your Business Blogger(R) did. I'm member number 61, I believe.

Soren Dayton volunteered his time and good name to support John McCain's candidacy for the Presidency. When he linked, via his Twitter account, to a hard-hitting video mashup against Barack Obama, the McCain campaign dumped Soren, and a national media conflagration ensued.

The purpose of this Facebook group is twofold:

1) To express support for Soren Dayton.
2) To let the McCain campaign know that we expect them to FIGHT, not roll over at the merest hint of controversy.

Posted at 7:36 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D. addresses
the 2,600 attendees at last year's Summit
Photo Credit: Peter Shinn Hold September 12 on your calendar for the Values Voter Summit in Your Nation's Capital.

Called "the most exciting meeting there is in Washington" by author and radio host Bill Bennett, FRC Action's 2007 Values Voter Summit (formerly "The Washington Briefing") attracted over 400 national and international members of the media, a waiting list of speakers, and thousands of values voters representing nearly every state in the union and many foreign countries.

On September 12-14, 2008, 60 days before an historic election, FRC Action (a 501c4) will host its third annual Values Voter Summit at the Hilton Washington in downtown D.C., and you are invited.

As a participant in one of the conservative movement's must-attend events of the year, you'll have the opportunity to hear from some of America's key leaders at a decisive moment in our nation's history, including invited speakers such as Newt Gingrich (confirmed), Chuck Colson, Lou Dobbs, Bill Bennett (confirmed), Lt. Col. Oliver North, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Star Parker (confirmed), Justice Clarence Thomas, Patricia Heaton, Roger Hedgecock (confirmed), House and Senate leaders, and all the 2008 presidential nominees.

Charmaine at the podium 2006 In addition to lively discussions on issues ranging from life, marriage, school choice, and radical Islam to judicial activism and religious liberty, attendees can take part in: celebrity book signings; breakout training sessions; Radio and Bloggers' Row; special co-sponsored meals hosted by Focus on the Family Action, American Values, and Alliance Defense Fund; a unique student track (including a Friday night reception); and the Faith, Family, and Freedom Gala Dinner on Saturday evening.

The Values Voter Summit is quickly becoming one of Washington's most anticipated weekends of the year. Packages start at just $95 for adults and $50 for students and pastors. Sign up now and enjoy a $25 early-bird discount! Registration opens online tomorrow, March 15, at www.valuesvotersummit.org. Call 1-877-372-2808 for more details.

Thank you (foot)notes:

See Values Voter Summit 2007 and more.

Posted at 3:26 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Ladies, You are not perfect, and you don't have to beLadies only please. The first step Your Business Blogger(R) advises women who are managers or who aspire to take on more responsibility is to understand -- and appreciate the risk of failure.

And how really unimportant failing is.

Men also need to be reminded of the nature of risk -- but men are hard-wired differently from women on risk-taking. Men naturally take risks. Women less so.

Women are indeed more relational and nurturing -- but the real challenge is to understand that perfection is not required. No, biology is not destiny, but it is instructive. For example, women are hard-wired not to assume risk. Women as care-givers for infant children know instinctively that failure in her "job" will result in a dead baby. Perfection in constant care and attention and feeding are absolute. Don't feed a new-born for a few hours and the outcome can be tragic. Women are not permitted any margin of error in infant care. Women worry about children and relationships -- Charmaine wrote about this in her book: Mother in the Middle: Searching for Peace in The Mommy Wars. Men worry less about the kids when at work.

We see this in Academia. Studies have shown that male scholars will publish more articles -- but they will be of lower quality than compared with their female counterparts. Women will publish fewer papers, but they will be cited by other scholars more than male-authored articles. Women write better articles.

Women, I have also learned from clients and students, are perfectionists: they do not guess at test questions, do not use aggressive test taking or management strategies.

Women prefer all the traffic-control lights to be green before getting in the car to leave town.

Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP who engineered the merger with Compaq, writes about perfection in her book, Tough Choices. She calls this management philosophy "perfect enough" to encourage HP's culture that mistakes will be made, but this is the only path to success. "The goal is not perfection; the goal is progress," she writes.

The Dude getting a hit 2007In seminars, I review baseball's at-bat analogy. If a batter only gets on base 4 out of 10 times, he is a super star.

Many women might view with horror a 60% failure rate. But management, like baseball does not deal in perfection. A manager can have a lot of strike outs, but an occasional home run will win games. A .400 batting average will make you a rich woman and win games.

Please watch the short video clip and let us know what you think. Our comments section is down so please email us.

Thank you (foot)notes:

See the video script at Management Training of DC. I originally wrote about women getting to first base -- so consumed I was with the baseball metaphor -- that Charmaine had to remind me that the base running has taken on another meaning in our sex-drenched culture.

Biology is not destiny, but it is a co-conspirator. Apologies to Sigmund Freud.

Posted at 5:17 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Trinity United Church of Christ/Religion News Service
Sen. Barack Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright God D@mn America,
God D@mn America,
God D@mn America...
The "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright cussing for the congregation.

Wright continues,

"We started the AIDS virus...
America is still the No. 1 killer in the world...
We supported Zionism shamelessly while ignoring the Palestinians"

Barack Hussein X. Obama tithed some $22,000 to Wright's church to enable him to use other profanities such as "SH!T" from the preacher's podium.

Goodness.

"Elmer Gantry" Wright gives new meaning to "Bully Pulpit."

Charmaine will have a one on one interview with Neil Cavuto to discuss the impact of Obama's pastor's statements and whether it will negatively impact Obama in the general election. Check local cable listing for Your World with Neil Cavuto.

Ronald Reagan said that personnel is policy. Obama is constantly telling us that he would surround himself with capable advisors. Because "Reverend" Wright has been one of them, the country should be worried.

Anyone who gets recruited for a top management job is hired for his wisdom and judgment. Obama admitted he's not old enough to display any wisdom to compete with McCain. Now Obama is demonstrating he doesn't have any judgment either.

Hit time is scheduled for 4:05 eastern. Please email us and let us know what you think. Your thoughts will be added to the comments section once our platform is repaired.

Charmaine at Princeton UniversityThank you (foot)notes:

See RONALD KESSLER's article in The Wall Street Journal. At the jump, Mr. Obama consulted Mr. Wright before deciding to run for president. And now Obama doesn't wear an American flag lapel pin. Mrs. Michelle X. Obama is not too happy with America either. Watch the video.

If Obama doesn't win and McCain does, Wright's first sermon might well be To H3LL With The Chief...

See A defense of Obama’s church and minister

Charmaine served as a senior advisor to the Huckabee for President campaign.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 12:03 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Following is an excerpt from a panel discussion hosted by iConcept Media in New York City.

Pull Out Quotes,

If it's not core, Ship it off-shore.

If your business is growing more than 20% a year, you must buy some debt or sell some equity -- this is the only way to fund receivables, unless you have a cash business (or a Dell business model...).

In marketing run the numbers down the funnel: how many touches going in at the top, to an action, to a sale at the bottom of the funnel. Work that sale backward up the funnel to learn the size needed for your marketing budget. (And remember: Half your marketing budget will be wasted. You get paid to figure out which half. Apologies to John Wanamaker.)

Your job in business is to create a customer and make a profit. If you are not doing this, you do not have a business; you have a hobby.

Your Business Blogger(R) is honored to be speaking in Baltimore on March 26th; in Washington DC, on April 3rd and in New York City on May 29th.

For more Solutions To Your Management Problems please visit Management Training of DC, LLC

Visit USAToday Columnist Steve Strauss.

See Birol's Blog for Advice, Assistance, Attitude

And while in New York City, go visit the Indian Bread Company.

If you are looking for the perfect gift, go visit NYCSubwayLine. Your Business Blogger(R) did all his Christmas shopping on-line and got the coolest backpacks, clutches, hoodies and shirts for the Penta-Posse. The hoodie is The Dreamer's favorite. The cutting edge, high quality products are the brain-child of actress Lynne Lambert,

One day, while waiting for her train, Lynne found herself staring up at the subway signs with its big colored circles with the letters and numbers inside and thought "Why hasn't anyone ever done anything with these quintessential NYC icons? I bet people would wear them if it was done right!" And so the NYC subway Line was born. Licensed from NY State's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the tees have appeared in movies like "Bring It On" and "Prime," on MTV, BET and VH1 by artists and their audience, and worn by celebrities such as rapper "Fabolous" and President Clinton. Recently, Ms. Lambert was awarded the Make Mine a Million Business award that was founded by Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence along with OPEN from American Express where she received financing from OPEN, one year of intensive business coaching and mentoring from a dream team of successful women entrepreneurs, business software and training from Intuit, discounts on shipping and business services from FedEx, marketing assistance from QVC, and assistance on work/life issues and financial security from AIG.

Posted at 8:22 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Your Business Blogger at the
Stern School of Business, NYU Solutions To Your Management Problems,
Invitation to The Harbour League Seminar-fund raiser for 26 March 2008.

You Are Invited!

60 second script.

This is Jack Yoest Your Business Blogger with Solutions to your Management Problems.

I want to invite you to a short seminar – that you won’t want to miss.

In this short two hour meeting I will talk about what management is – and what it is not.

Here are corrections to common management myths:

Management is not barking out orders.

Management by walking around -- is not management.

Management does not empower subordinates.

A Hands – on Manager is not a manager.

In our class I want to emphasis three tactics that will help change your practice of management

1 -- Discipline – As a former Armored Cavalry officer I like the Army’s definition – and it’s not what you think.

2 -- Selling – If you’ve ever carried a bag like I did as a sales guy – you know that in every transaction – especially in office politics -- someone is selling, someone is buying – and managers always get this wrong.

And finally 3rd – Stop it – Every client I’ve ever worked with – every project I’ve ever managed – we’re working too hard because we’re working on the wrong things.

Don’t make these mistakes.

Go to www.yoest.com for details and registration

Posted at 10:51 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Watch the 90 second clip. Students: this is not a substitute for class attendance. But it is good to know what the professor thinks...

Comments disabled due to DoS attack, please email here.

Posted at 11:33 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Official
CPAC
Blogger
Here in Your Nation's Capital, at CPAC this week conversation has centered on our Presidential candidates -- and the acceptability of their positions.

Mike Huckabee and John McCain are said to be imperfect candidates because there are some disputes with one position or another.

But if they are "not conservatives" as some would say, then why are conservatives voting for them? And not a Romney or a Thompson?

Back in Iowa, Your Business Blogger asked Frank Luntz about his book on Words That Work, and what he thought was going on with the electorate.

He said that voters seem to be interested, "less in issues -- but in the attributes of the candidates -- are they believable?" Are they likable?

This seems to at least partially explain the success of Huckabee and McCain -- there may not be perfection on issues, but people like and trust and believe these candidates: the attributes of the candidates are more important; in some ways even more than the positions on issues.

This also explains the success of Obama. Who has a rather thin record of achievement . . . but has an infatuated following. No one can point to what Obama has done, but he's done it with panache.

Little Miss Attila, Charmaine and
Baby Boo at CPAC

Thank you (foot)notes:

Charmaine has served as an adviser to the Mike Huckabee campaign. Huckabee will be speaking at CPAC tomorrow, Saturday, at 9am. Be there!

Posted at 6:17 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

The Dude interviewing Mitt Romney at last year's CPAC

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is meeting this week February 7 to 9.

Your Business Blogger,

The Dreamer,

The Dude and

The Diva will be a-blogging.

Reasoned Audacity is honored to get a hook-up seat on bloggers row.

CPAC 2008
Following are blogs on Bloggers Row.

The conservative event is held yearly and is heavily attended.

Mike Huckabee is schedule for 9am on Saturday morning.

The three-day event begins Thursday at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.

*CPAC 2008 BLOGGERS ROW*

Ace O'Spades
Alarming News
Atlas Shrugs
Bluey Blog
Captain's Quarters
Conservatives with an Attitude!
Fausta's Blog
FreedomWorks
Gay Patriot
Girl on the Right
HotAir.com
Hugh Hewitt
Human Events
Little Miss Attila
Mary Katherine Ham
Matt Sanchez
Musclehead Revolution
My Man Mitt
Newsbusters
Outside the Beltway
Politico
Reasoned Audacity
Red State
Riehl World View
Right Wing News
Sam Adams Alliance
Save the GOP
The American Mind
The Autonomist
Truth Laid Bear

Thank you (foot)notes:

Reasoned Audacity
CPAC 2007 Official Blogger Kristina Grabosky at CRC Public Relations is the go-to source for all good things PR at CPAC. (Unpaid link.)

Special thank you to Robert Stacy McCain for setting up the links.

Your Business Blogger also blogs at Management Training of DC, LLC. (Unpaid link...)

Posted at 7:19 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Your Business Blogger has a piece up at the Business & Media Institute. BMI, as alert readers noticed, was mentioned and cited by Rush Limbaugh today -- on particulary good article.

It wasn't mine.

Rush was talking about Dan Gainor, my editor at the Business & Media Institute: Advancing the Culture of Free Enterprise in America. Rush Limbaugh discusses BMI’s special report Fire & Ice.

See more on Dan here. And be sure to watch him each Thursday afternoon on the new Fox Business Network

CNN's 'Your $$$$$' Gets Gas Price Prediction Wrong
Though predicted price spike didn't happen, show still talks down about the future.

By Jack Yoest Business & Media Institute

CNN’s “Your $$$$$” is ready for a spike in gas prices. It just hasn’t happened despite predictions.

On October 20, the show’s guest Peter Beutel, president of energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover, predicted a 20-cent increase in the price of a gallon a gas. How soon? In the next week.

It didn’t happen.

Read the article here and let me know what you think.

Posted at 12:48 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Legalize Poker on-Line

An ounce of appearance is worth a pound of performance, my Army buddies would often joke.

But this video clip brings the ditty to life. Charmaine, seen here, is the angel of light and brillance and reason and hope.

She was debating Howard Lederer, All-star professional poker player, who is lobbying Capitol Hill to legalize poker on the internet.

Howard Lederer is the ideal type-cast as a poker player: unkempt hair, ill fitting suit, a gentleman who should stand a little closer to his shaving razor. At least he wasn't wearing sun glasses...

Some 85% of communication is non verbal. This debate is the kind of test Roger Ailes would often use to evaluate talking heads for the small screen.

Ailes would watch the talent on his hotel TV the night before the appointment -- with the sound off -- and if Ailes caught himself, unconsciencely wanting to turn up the sound, he knew he had a real candidate to work with to make a difference.

Ailes judged people, well, on sight. Then sound.

Howard Lederer looks like a villian, a con-man, a tempter -- a poker player -- something unsavory out of a Frank Peretti novel.

Charmaine is heavenly, of course.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Full Disclosure: Charmaine is the wife of Your Business Blogger.

Roger Ailes was the creator of Squawk Box while at CNBC, before he moved to FOX.

The PPA, Poker Players Alliance, advertising on the Gambling Blog wants more gambling.

No one used the euphemism "gaming" instead of the accurate word "gambling." Maybe those guys are not so smart after all.

Frank Peretti blogs at Peretti's Blog.

Posted at 7:32 AM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Words are important. Especially in the selling of ideas; selling the intangibles in the marketing of public policy.



The Squawk Box on CNBC It is a swamp. Not a wetland.

It is a jungle. Not a rain-forest

It is abortion. Not a choice.

It is gambling. Not gaming.

The last euphemism is the subject of Charmaine's media appearance Tuesday, 23 October.

Tomorrow, Charmaine will be debating the wisdom of legalizing online poker on the CNBC business news program "Squawk Box" with Carl Quintanilla, Joe Kernen and Trish Reagan (filling in for Becky Quick).

Hit time is scheduled for 7:15am ET. It will be live. In the morning...

The second guest will be professional poker player Howard Lederer.

If you are up or can TiVo, please watch and let us know what you think.

Listen close: Lederer will say "gaming." Yoest will say "gambling."

Thank you (foot)notes:

From CNBC,

CNBC airs in 95 million homes in North America, 391 million homes worldwide. An appearance on CNBC reaches one of the most influential and affluent audiences in television. A recent CNBC Viewer Tracking Study found that 70% of top management executives watch CNBC and that the average net worth of our viewers exceeds $2.7 million.

"Squawk Box" is the ultimate "pre-market" morning news and talk program, where the biggest names in business and politics bring their most important stories. "Squawk"'s unique sense of street smarts and wit, mix business news with an unscripted and fast-paced exchange of banter.

Anchored by CNBC's Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Carl Quintanilla, CNBC's signature morning program features reports from Washington, Silicon Valley, London and Hong Kong.

"Squawk Box" brings Wall Street to Main Street and is a "must see" for everyone from the professional trader to the casual investor.

Your Business Blogger counsels to minimize risk, avoid both unjust enrichment and zero sum negotiations. To ignore this advice is, well, gambling.

Posted at 5:56 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Watch Charmaine on CNN,

Charmaine Yoest, Vice President for Communications at Family Research Council, appeared on CNN Headline News October 16, 2007 to discuss a proposal at a middle school to dispense contraceptives to its students.

Watch the clip here. Please forgive the click thru the FRC site.

If you will be in New York City on October 18th, let's visit. Your Business Blogger will be a panelist for the iNetwork2Networth event organized by the iConcept Media Group.

And be sure to come to The Washington Briefing.

Posted at 7:22 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Are you e harmony with your presidential candidate? Tony Perkins helps in this relationship.

Be sure to take the straw poll on The Washington Briefing 2007 web site.

Full Disclosure: Charmaine, the Helpmeet of Your Business Blogger, works for The Family Research Council.

This brilliant clip is the work of David Salkeld.

Posted at 9:37 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

The Dude and Anthony from the Predators The Dude and Anthony cut their first radio commercial inviting Big Kids to play football.

It's running as a public service announcement locally on WMAL, 630 on the AM dial.

The ad was written by Your Business Blogger and was produced by David Salkeld.

Please listen in and let us know what you think.
Listen Here

Thank you (foot)notes:

The most valuable part of any exercise is the evaluation component. Alert Readers were most generous in offering advice on a previous radio ad. Even when the advice was brutally honest...

See comments at
Management Training Seminar, A Free Lunch and Rush Limbaugh

See the script at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 6:59 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Your Business Blogger has an article up at the Business & Media Institute.

CNN Warns of a Recession, Ignores Stock Market Gains
'Your $$$$$' ignored guest to promote a downbeat view of the economy.

CNN‘s “Your Money” takes a gloomy view of the economy even when its own guests say otherwise. Rather than listen to an economist, the hosts decided they knew better.

”People [are] whispering about the risk of a recession,” explained host Christine Romans on the September 15 show. She claimed “The stock market still hasn’t found its footing.” Not a well-researched comment, considering this is a financial program.

The Dow has gone up from 7,500 in 2003 to 13,403 and has climbed almost 1,000 points or 7.5 percent just in 2007. Employment has dropped to a low 4.6 percent, and the economy has been growing at an average of 2.7 percent per year with almost six years of uninterrupted growth.

Posted at 2:27 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Inc. Magazine is a sponsor If you will be in New York City on October 18th, let's visit. Your Business Blogger will be a panelist for the iNetwork2Networth event organized by the iConcept Media Group.

Current sponsors include: Inc. Magazine, The New York Observer, and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.

See here for details.

Thank you (foot)notes:

I will have the honor of addressing a number of issues, including,

The Untold Secrets of Strategic Marketing Networking Your Way to Millions Building Business Credit and Credibility Building a Firm Business Foundation

My favorite lede is, of course,

Can the Manager Control Events?

To learn the answer, mark your calendar and plan to join us in New York City on October 18th.

Posted at 3:19 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Your Business Blogger's misspent youth involved a number of all-nighters in college.

No, not studying.

Dancing.

So if the night was to be wasted and the students wasted, then it was thought that perhaps it all could be done for a good cause.

We put on a dance marathon, the first Superdance, to raise money at ODU (aka Over Dose University). Back in the day, we raised some $14,000 for The Muscular Dystrophy Association and Jerry's Kids.

Maybe it wasn't such a waste of time.

It is not too late to make a pledge. Our family did.

It was easier than dancing all night.

MDA TELETHON RAISES RECORD $63.8 MILLION

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 3, 2007 — Jerry Lewis today made good on his annual promise to raise at least “one dollar more” for the fight against muscular dystrophy.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association’s 42nd Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon set a record of $63,759,478 in contributions and pledges, which will fund research, services and information for people with any of the neuromuscular diseases under MDA’s umbrella.

“I’m deeply grateful for the incredible generosity and support of the American public,” MDA National Chairman and Telethon star Jerry Lewis said. “Each year they outdo themselves in supporting our quest for cures for diseases that steal the strength — and the lives — of ‘my kids.’”

Posted at 10:28 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Monkey Business Management Jack Linkletter said, “…‘Managing Management Time – Who’s Got the Monkey?’ was profound, entertaining, and practical – lots of insights that can readily be incorporated into your life…I strongly recommend…”

Caution: Invitation (and sales pitch) follows for management training.

Join your friends for lunch and get an overview on the Managing Management Time seminars.

In 1974 Harvard Business Review published Management Time: Who's Got the Monkey, by Bill Oncken, Jr.. HBR introduces this management philosophy,

For managers to function effectively, they need to have as much discretionary time as possible. But where can they find it? They can't take it away from activities mandated by their supervisors, nor can they really borrow it from time allocated to helping peers. The only viable solution is reducing the time spent handling subordinates' problems.

“Life in the business world’s fast lane, for me, would be inconceivable without knowing and applying the business philosophy expressed in Monkey Business.” -- Richard Viguerie

"Most recommendations you get about handling management are either useless or counter-productive. But in Monkey Business you get the best advice in the universe today."-- Paul Weyrich

Morton Blackwell, President of The Leadership Institute, writes about Monkey Business,

Monkey Business
by William Oncken III

There are three types of laws.

Man-made laws, the result of human legislation, vary from place to place and time to time. Some are wise. Some are foolish. Some are destructive. Some are unworkable and can't ever be enforced. Some only apply to specific categories of people...

We can build and fly an airplane, but we'd get into big trouble if we ignored or forgot the physical laws about how gravity affects all objects.

Similarly, there's a wealth of hard-won, trial-and-error knowledge about the world of human endeavor. Some actions produce better results than others. Those who would lead others in any activity, from politics to business, should seek out and study the best sources of wisdom about what makes someone a successful leader...

Think deeply about the principles presented. Everything you hope to achieve in your current job and all future jobs may depend on your understanding and application of this wisdom.

Pick a location and date,

23 August in Arlington, Virginia for the Susan B. Anthony List

24 August in Baltimore for The Harbour League

or

16 October in Washington, DC at the Free Congress Foundation with Connie Marshner, of Raphael Consulting Services.

"Managing Management Time is not just about time management; it's a complete course in management."
-- Ken Blanchard

Thank you (foot)notes:

For more information and propaganda on management training visit Management Training of DC, LLC.

Bill Oncken is on target! Monkey Business is serious management. Public sector, private sector -- Monkey Business will get you the discretionary management time you need. Monkey Business stands the test of time...your time! John Wesley Yoest, Jr. [fomer] Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Resources, The Commonwealth of Virginia

Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger penned a book blurb for Bill Oncken in 2000.

Posted at 10:53 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

The Simpsons Movie
by Matt Groening

Your Business Blogger had an extra 100 dollar bill to burn and decided to see a movie.

So Charmaine and I packed up the Penta-Posse and another boy from The Dude's baseball team to binge on buttered popcorn sprinkled with gold dust.

(A theater's loss leader -- movies are just a front:

The real money is in the concessions...)

The Simpsons Movie...

Here's your Hollywood script checklist:

Profanity -- Check > Even Marge lets loose with a God D@mm!t

Bestiality -- Check > Homer wants to kiss his pig "to break the tension." Pig gender not revealed.

Nudity -- Check > Bart (anagram of brat) exposes p*n!s.

Homosexual activity -- Check > Brokeback moment when two cops embrace, kiss, fall to ground...

Suicide -- Check > Unable to deal with frustration, a character blows brains out with hand gun. (OK... so it was a robot.)

Blasphemy -- Check > Homer thumbs through Bible, declares that "This Book has no answers!"

Biased -- Check > Non-subtle product-placement-endorsement Hillary 08 sign.

Cliched -- Check > Big business is evil. And profit motivated.

Liberal -- Check > Patriot Act has entire government listening in to your pizza order.

This is America as Hollywood sees it.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Stephen Hunter, reviewer for The Washington Post, loves The Simpsons Move, as the Alert Reader would guess,

The genius is in the writing and in keeping all gambits created by the individual writers in sync, so the piece has a tonal consistency and a narrative flow. A lost art in Hollywood? It's really one of the best movies of the year.

The Simpsons Movie PG-13, 87 minutes Contains adult material. In theaters.

Matt Groening of MATT GROENING PRODUCTIONS/PRODUCER of BEVERLY HILLS, California has donated the maximum to liberal democrat Barbara Boxer.

Surprise.

Posted at 9:50 PM | Permalink
Comments (5)

Alert Readers will remember the puff piece-post done on Helen Philbrook, The Modern Working Woman in Business, at Home,

So here's the typical mom in America today: baby on knee, small business down the street, with rifle in Pakistan

These days, Helen is using her advanced degree in chemistry and her experience as a Vice President for a pollution control company to design and build gardens.

She studied gardening in, where else? London, England. Her small business, Tiger Lily's, has been highlighted in a number of print publications such as The American Gardener, The Avant Gardener, Horticulture, Garden Design, The English Garden, Fine Gardening, Garden Gate, Wildlife in North Carolina, Better Homes and Gardens, Special Interest Publications, Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living, Best of Flower Gardening, Country Gardens, Garden Shed, and Lawns & Landscapes.

Helen is back in the news. Carol Stein, Correspondent for The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, writes in Secret gardens prepare to open up,

...[O]n Lewis Farm Road, is Laura and Bob Bromhal's French-style garden. Bromhal's approach to gardening is centered on her love of houses. A busy Realtor, with little time to spend in the garden, she says, "I know how to hire the right people."

Her gardener of many years recently retired so Bromhal enlisted a longtime friend and regional representative of the Garden Conservancy, Helen Yoest, to help with the overall design and to meet with her new gardener Patrick Barkley, owner of Elysian Fields.

Barkley cleared out overgrown ivy and brush, pruned the shrubs and added new plants. Then Yoest stylized Bromhal's brick patio -- more like a hidden courtyard off the home's master suite -- using items the Bromhals had on hand...

Business is Good. As her tag lines says, Tiger Lily's is

Creating intrigue in Raleigh, one garden at a time.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Full Disclosure: Helen Yoest Philbrook is the younger sister of Your Business Blogger. And yes, this is an unpaid ad.

Posted at 7:41 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Boo, The Diva and The Dancer
with Your Business Blogger's
Mao Man Bag (for diapers) I asked the woman why she wanted to work for us.

"The Terrorists are trying to kill me."

I knew this was not to be an ordinary job interview.

Charmaine and I were hiring a housekeeper in the early 90's, and Mrs. C was referred to us, because she was well qualified. She used to own a day-care business.

In Peru.

And her husband was a manager for a manufacturer for a US based company. The rebel communists, the Sendero Luminoso -- or Shining Path -- had picked up the local company organization chart and began picking off the managers in quick order.

A well executed plan.

Like a good org chart shaped like a pyramid, the terrorists started at the bottom and were working their way up the corporate ladder fast.

The hierarchy of the career path was easy to follow for the Shining Path. The communists are nothing if not consistent. Just as they were in Stalin's day, the communist's were executing the managers, killing their way up the org chart.

Mr. C thoughtfully decided to leave the company, wanting to spend more time with the family...in another country.

So Mrs. C packed up her two girls and hubby and moved to America and was given earned asylum. I admired her resilience. Her ingenuity. Her gumption.

Her green card.

Filled with compassion, as is my nature, I hired her and her valid status.

We learned a bit about Peru and the kind of terrorism that kills immediately and immediate family. The terrorists, with the accent on the last syllable. We learned that the people of Peru loved freedom, hated communism.

Cameron Diaz
with Mao bag in PeruSo we were surprised that the well-briefed commie babe Cameron Diaz would go to Machu Picchu, Peru with her trendy, yet practical, Mao Bag with bold Red Star and well-placed slogan Serve the People in the ever- popular military drab olive green.

Peruvians did not appreciate her "style."

The nation of Peru is still healing from the almost 70,000 murdered by the Shining Path. Not quite the head count of Stalin or Mao, but still a not-too-shabby benchmark in the Commie Accounting.

Cameron Diaz did apologize for her thoughtlessness.

But it is not just the thoughtless commies in Hollywood who are insulting the people of Peru. Our very own (elected) commies Democrats in Congress are insulting Peru.

Democrats are insulting the government of Peru by modifying trade deals. Not content with attempting to run our lives here in the States, the Dems are micro-managing in Peru. And are screwing up a good trade deal.

But Your Business Blogger wants to assure our friends in Peru that the American People are not represented (so to say) by the Democrats in our Congress. That our government really wants free trade and free people to do business.

So we put The Dreamer, our first born, on Copa Airlines this morning out of Dulles Airport with a suitcase full of new shoes for children in Lima.

The Peruvians fought communism and are now fighting Democrats, the least we can do is support these freedom fighters.

The Dreamer, being brighter than Cameron Diaz, did not take her Mao bag to Peru. She is taking our good will and a big heart and a suitcase full of shoes.

To make a difference one child to one child.

The Penta-Posse minus The Dreamer
at a Potomac Nationals minor league game in
Northern Virginia. We won beating the Salem Avalanche,
farm team for the Houston Astros.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The Dreamer blogs at A Different Kind of Drama. Visit for another shot of the Mao bag.

Last year, when our church went to share Jesus with the people of Peru, they found many children arriving to Bible studies in bare feet. . . this year, our group from McLean Bible Church will arrive with over 500 pairs of shoes so that they can practice "Feet-First" evangelism.

Your Business Blogger bought the Mao bag on a trip to China. It was, I believe the only item in the entire country that was not violating American intellectual property.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 1:18 PM | Permalink
Comments (6)

Dr. Drew Pinsky from Discovery Health Channel
(By Jonathan Alcorn For The Washington Post)
Dr. Drew Pinsky recently gave a talk for the Independent Women's Forum in the Rayburn Building in Washington, DC.

The audience was some four dozen young women.

The interns who actually run the government in Your Nation's Capital.

Pinsky advised the young nubile college aged co-eds that they have three options with sex:

A) Drink Juice 'em up and go. Liquor is quicker -- for girls. Beer Goggles -- for men.
B) Steady Joined at the hip. Live together shack-up. Trial marriage.
C) Hook-up Friends with benefits. Also known as f**k buddies.

He mentions no fourth option.

I would, if asked, submit Bruce Cameron's rules. And if you read the rules, the Alert Reader would well understand why I am not retained as a speaker for the IWF.

And Pinsky is.

As Dana Milbank from The Washington Post reports,

This is not your mother's conservative movement...

Pinsky is an imperfect spokesman for the religious right; he once gave out free condoms as a promotion for his Web site.

"By the way, sometimes it's just fun," Pinsky said of youthful sex. "I'm not saying, 'Oh, my God, we have to have a funeral march.' Sometimes it's fun. It's not a bad thing."

The WaPo is wrong. (This is not news.) The Independent Women's Forum makes no claim to be faith based. IWF takes no position on abortion. IWF makes no moral judgments on sex.

The Washington Times column Inside the Beltway's by John McCaslin, reads,

[Pinsky]described the college social environment as "unnaturally intense," as it gives women three basic options: to engage in an "intoxicated physical encounter with no commitment" (a hook-up), to begin a "joined at the hip" relationship or to agree to a "friends with benefits" arrangement. The women in the audience agreed that none of these options is ideal.

While leaving the larger moral and cultural implications up for consideration, Dr. Pinsky advocated personal responsibility, integrity and most importantly, an openness for dialogue.

This is code-talk psycho-babble for "sex only after three dates." Something "The [other] Rules" would advocate.

Except that in any of these scenarios, the girl is -- used, drunk, infected, pregnant.

Or worse.

She gets a broken heart.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Your Business Blogger's wife, Charmaine, has served on the IWF Advisory Board. She does not endorse the recommendations of Dr. Drew Pinsky.

Form Bruce Cameron's Rules for Dating My Daughter,
Rule Four:
I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without using a "barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

Rule Six:
If you make her cry, I make you cry.

The Rules: Time-Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right (Hardcover)
by Ellen Fein (Author), Sherrie Schneider.

Michelle D. Bernard, President and CEO of the Independent Women's Forum says,

The reviews are in! This year's Sex and Dating Conference for Capitol Hill interns was the best ever. Not only did we garner an unprecedented amount of media coverage- including a major piece on page A2 of The Washington Post-we felt that the interns who showed up were eager for a serious discussion of sex and dating mores in a safe atmosphere...

At IWF, ...We felt that, without offering judgments, Dr. Drew Pinsky, led a thoughtful-and fun-discussion of campus mores. He repeatedly asked if hooking up is such a good idea, why is it that students find they must be intoxicated to hook up?

Dr. Drew Pinsky's philosophy needs adult supervision. People, moving down the hyway of life, need real guidance, real guardrails.

See Dr. Drew comes to Washington.

Posted at 9:34 PM | Permalink
Comments (4)

Happy Fourth of July! Your Business Blogger is a Flag Waver. And got college course credit for the effort.

One of my Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) responsibilities was as a member of the Color Guard. Our job was to present the colors at various functions on various holidays. For the singing of the National Anthem or the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Rather patriotic displays.

This morning the Penta-Posse carried The Flag on their bikes in the local Fourth of July parade in our neighborhood.

Fire trucks, police motorcycles, pancakes.

Because he had the biggest flag, The Dude got to lead the parade. And we look forward to the fireworks tonight.

Pure emotion. Respect. And celebration for the American Revolution.

The American Experiment.

Your Business Blogger with the flag of the
Commonwealth of Virginia Kevin Emdee, on left with weapon would later be in my wedding. He attended without the M-14.

Yes, the state standard is not vertical. The photographer insisted that I move the flag as to not obscure my visage.

I readily complied to his reasonable request.

And breaking protocol for a greater good.

Happy Independence Day! From Your (insufferable) Business Blogger.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Listen to Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance. Credit to Bob Miller via John Howland.

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG,

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS,

ONE NATION UNDER GOD,

INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY

AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

Posted at 2:26 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Your Business Blogger was having lunch in the Congressional Dining Room in Your Nation's Capitol. On the way there I saw the Best Bumper Sticker This Week,

PEACE HAD A CHANCE

Short phrase, short words, neat twist, compelling message.

My old boss, Jim Gilmore won the governorship of Virginia with the bumper sticker message,

NO CAR TAX

Dr. Frank Luntz writes about pithy messaging in his book, Words that Work, It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear.

Frank has Ten Rules of Successful Communications:

1) Simplicity: Use Small Words

2) Brevity: Use Short Sentences

3) Credibility is as Important as Philosophy

4) Consistency Matters

5) Novelty: Offer Something New

6) Sound and Texture Matter

7) Speak Aspirationally

8) Visualize

9) Ask a Question

10) Provide Context and Explain Relevance

Can your marketing campaign fit on a bumper sticker?

Wendell Robinson has an excellent review of Luntz's book.

Media Matters doesn't like Luntz; at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 10:08 PM | Permalink
Comments (2)

Amazing Grace Your Business Blogger and kith and kin were invited to a private pre-screening of Amazing Grace last February. The movie is about England's Wilberforce and his fight to end slavery.

Slavery has still not been rid from our planet and is still practiced in China and sex slavery in Mexico.

The existence of slavery is beyond comprehension.

The movie is perfect. A must see, must DVD buy. However, our hosts from CRC Public Relations warned us that,

One thing to note: There is a brief scene or two that depict the brutality that was endured when slaves took the passage from Africa. However, in my opinion, it serves to awaken the senses and not to frighten. Just a thought.

Anyway, I hope that you and yours enjoy the film and I look forward to any feedback you may be able to offer!

The point of the movie Amazing Grace is that one human being does not own another. This is evil. Because each created person belongs to the Creator.

The movie's relevance for today is not, I think, to call attention to the continued existence of slavery. This analogy is a little too easy. Contrary to the PR campaign against today's slavery, I would suggest a more compelling analogy. The comparison should be between the Wilberforce fight against slavery, and today's fight against abortion.

Slavery and Abortion are the taking of innocent life. The only difference is venue.

Thank you (foot)notes:

We were privileged to see the advance trailers Easter before last. See Wilberforce and Gapingvoid.

Jamaican FlagAlert Readers will remember that slavery is a function of power. When the British were subduing the Scots, the captured Kilted were herded up by the hundreds and sold as slaves and shipped to the sugar plantations in the West Indies. Which may be the reason Scottish and Jamaican flags are somewhat similar. Both depict the Cross of St. Andrews.

Scottish FlagFreedom for All says,

As human beings we all have histories to tell and West Indian history is linked to hundreds of years of British (Scottish) history. There are many black people in the West Indies with Scottish surnames. For example, in Jamaica, there are more Scottish surnames such as Campbell, Grant, Graham, MacFarlane and Reid per square mile in Jamaica than they are in Scotland. Four of the National heroes of West Indian rebellions, who were hanged by the British, were: Sharpe, Gladstone, Bogle and Gordon. The name of the present Colonel of the famous Maroons warriors that won their freedom from the British in Jamaica during slavery is, Wallace Stirling...a very Scottish name. We are a part of the fabric of this country in many ways and no one can tell us to leave.

See Biblios for an interesting detail.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 9:48 AM | Permalink
Comments (6)

Tony Soprano HBO Your Business Blogger and Charmaine are not happy with the ending of the Sopranos series last night.

For the same reason that most entertainment today fails to entertain: Because of a failure...

No, not to communicate. But,

The failure to resolve the conflict of the protagonist.

What happened to Tony's current conflict? Resolved or on-going? On-going as life goes on?

Every play, book, comic book, movie must have an ending and not, well, just end. Movies and real life, as our show bizie friends tell us, are not quite the same -- except when they are. On-going.

But who wants to watch a non-ending ending in a movie? We get enough of that in-real-life. We all are living the non-ending. (Except that in-real-life dying part...)

An ending can be simple -- but it should not simply end. This makes customers mad.

Or was the going to black Tony getting whacked? That would be an ending, but who knows? It is an unanswered question open to interpretation.

Interpretation. My favorite mentor, Dr. Dad, (without whom my MBA would have been impossible) says that financial spread sheets always raise more questions than they answer. It takes a seasoned boss to exercise wisdom and judgment to question the answers in the numbers. And this is real work.

I didn't want to work when watching the Sopranos' finale.

It was like watching a spreadsheet. No answers.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Are movies supposed to be like life? Or, are movies more like business marketing?

See what Captain Ed thinks.

The Anchoress does not mind the ambiguity.

Posted at 9:04 AM | Permalink
Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Don Imus on MSNBCThe folks at FOX did a much better job at moderating the presidential debate than Chris Matthews from MSNBC and The Politico. A silly questioned missed by Chris would could have been, "Should IMUS be allowed on the airways?"

A silly question. But the only silly question Chris didn't ask.

And Charmaine is not afraid to address.

Watch the short clip and give us your take. Please forgive the extra click to the Family Research Council site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., Vice President for Communications at Family Research Council, appeared on Fox News Channel's "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on April 13, 2007 to discuss a Don Imus radio future.

Charmaine has never appeared on Imus. She never received an invitation. I'm glad we were not tempted.

From King Jimmie, There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able...1 Corinthians 10:13

Posted at 12:07 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

White House admission ticket The Penta-Posse recently attended the Queen's visit to The White House on the South Lawn.

It was a pageantry of international etiquette and planning.

The designers of the welcoming program were astute enough to include a lesson on what to do during the National Anthem and when to leave.

Your Business Blogger, like Miss Manners is somewhat saddened that the adults these days have to be taught proper behavior.

Or perhaps we all need only to be reminded...

Customs Observed During Honors

During the National Anthem of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Americans not in uniform stand at attention.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, all guests remain in place on the South Lawn until The President and Mrs. Bush, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, The Official Delegation, the Welcoming Committee, and the Military Honor Guard have departed.

The next time you are at the beginning of a baseball game, please let me know how many gentlemen were in the crowd.


Hand or hat placement during
the National Anthem

Thank you (foot)notes:

If you are in the military, you will know exactly what to do. As usual.

"Whenever and wherever the United States National Anthem, "To the Color," "Reveille," or "Hail to the Chief’ is played, at the first note, all dismounted personnel in uniform and not in formation face the flag (or the music, if the flag is not in view), stand at Attention, and render the prescribed Salute. The position of Salute is held until the last note of the music is sounded. Military personnel not in uniform will stand at Attention (remove headdress, if any, with the right hand), and place the right hand over the heart. Vehicles in motion are brought to a Halt."

Continue Reading »

Posted at 12:34 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

GOP Presidential Debate Smackdown? Nope. The buzz is on Blumenthal.

Max meant to be snarky. But comes off stupid silly. Or worse: An amateur.

Blumenthal on the Huffington Post hotlinked to a picture on the Family Research Council web site. Max is 'borrowing' server space. Not really a big deal...just bad form.

Joe Carter and Jared Bridges at FRC caught it and substituted this come-back:

Dead Kitty: Blumenthal Poisons Cats

The Huffington Post lefties are slow learners. Liberals always are. So Max Blumenthal re-hot-links. And screws up yet again.

But cannot get ahead of Christian Soldiers Marching as to War. Or Blumenthal's Comedy Club.

FRCBlog: Max Blumenthal's Favorite Stops on the Interweb

Thank you (foot)notes:

Joe Carter, a former Marine,
said he started blogging as a way
to become an influential voice
for Christian values even though
he doesn't have
Ivy League credentials.
(By Rich Lipski, The Washington Post) Joe Carter is the Editor at the FRCBlog and was recently highlighted in The Washington Post. He blogs at The Evangelical Outpost.

Jared Bridges is a contributor at FRCBlog and personally blogs at TruePravada.

The Carter/Bridges brilliance is noted in NewBusters Editors' Pick May 4, 4007.

Brian Kaylor at For God's Sake Shut Up! sees nothing funny. Pursuing a Ph.D. has that effect. His sense of humor should return after his dissertation defense.

Kevin Aylward at Wizbang has an update.

See ChristianityToday.

Blogroll the BlueyBlog: Max Blumenthal: Image Thief

HuffPo p0wn3d by FRCblog.com! by Laura at Pursuing Holiness. Our kind of girl.

And see what Joe Carter did with:

Michelle Malkin

Little Green Footballs

National Review Online

RedState

FreeRepublic.com

Human Events' Right Angle

Bluey Blog

Wizbang!

NewsBusters

InstaPundit

TownHall.com

Pursuing Holiness

WORLD magazine's blog

Wonkette

in A Lesson in Web Etiquette for the Huffington Post (Part II)

Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. -- Proverbs 26:11

Wizbangblog is on the story with analysis,

That's not ignorance of how the web works, no that's willfully dishonest bandwidth theft on the part of Mr. Blumenthal.

Posted at 11:28 AM | Permalink
Comments (1)

The girls from the Family Research Council put on a show.

Hillary hypocrisy: Imus bad, Timbaland good,

Senator Clinton finds herself at the posh house of rapper Timbaland, who raised $800,000 for Senator Clinton's committee. Timbaland's lyrics, however, are quite "small-minded" and coarsely sexist. The Washington Post reprinted some of Timbaland's lyrics and in just four lines, the word "ho's" appears four times.

So FRC suggested that concerned citizens contact Hillary and request that she not support vulgar and profane lyrics,

E-mail the Hillary for President Exploratory Committee offices at http://www.hillaryclinton.com/help/contact/ and ask her to return the $800,000 she received with Timbaland's help.

And it seems the Clinton Exploratory Committee is upset with the FRC and is responding in kind with cussing,

In the alert we included the only visible e-mail address on Clinton's web site so that our friends could contact her office and ask her to return the Timbaland proceeds. The reaction from her campaign was both swift and surprising, considering that it included even more profanity than a Timbaland song. The recipient of thousands of your e-mails at the campaign was extremely upset--and he let us know in language so offensive the FCC would blush. Does anyone else see the irony in Clinton's committee using profanity to defend profanity?

The only thing that counts with Clinton is cash. Your Business Blogger predicts that Hillary will keep the 800 large. And her negatives will remain high.

The good guys might win yet.

And its not just because our women are better looking...

See the Timbaland lyrics at the jump. Caution: offensive language. No, I don't mean the failure to conjugate verbs.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 6:45 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Neil Cavuto
Your Money or Your Life
HarperCollins Publishers,
New York, New York Our culture has coarsened. Alert Readers will remember the yesteryear risque of Ogden Nash (1902 - 1971), writing about men and women and marriage,

Incompatibility will never exist,

Not as long as he's got income

And she's got patt-able.

To today where Sir Mix-a- Lot, (a Grammy Award winner, natch) tells us, (fortissimo)

I like big butts and I can not lie...
To hell with romancin'
She's Sweat, Wet, got it goin like a turbo vette...
So ladies (yeah), Ladies (yeah)
Do you wanna roll in my Mercedes (yeah)
Then turn around
Stick it out...
Baby got back...

OK...So Nash and Sir Mix are saying the same thing. But there is a difference in, well, style.

And this culture war is seen in the counter-cultured Icon Imus in his depreciation of black women.

Fox News Pop culture confusion also caused by Kanye West, who symbolizes the Imus counter-example. West is a producer for gangsta rapper, Ludacris, who is best known for "edgy" lyrics:

Ludacris, formerly on Pepsi payroll

I got my twin glock .40's cocked back/Me and my homies, so drop that.

My shotguns are cold and hard . . ./My triggers are always talking about some squeeze me, squeeze me.

Hollow bullets I pull it,

I'm about to live in vain

And then I drill 'em,

refill 'em,

make sure they feel the pain.

And my favorite, "I've got ho's in different area codes."

Ludacris can make this rhyme.

A style like Ogden Nash, content like Tony Soprano: Ludacris and Kanye and Mix-a-Lot . . . and Imus hangin' with the ho's at Bada Bing.

Is insulting black women reserved for black men?

Should Imus be banished to satellite to cuss it out with Howard Stern?

Or should the high standards of Your Business Blogger -- the morally virtuous -- impose moral superiority on the gutter-mass-media-mouths?

Charmaine takes up these questions on FOX. She will be returning to Cavuto's show on Your World with Cavuto, Friday (the 13th!) at 4 pm Eastern. On Fox News.

Charmaine, the weather vane, will point us in the right direction in these times of confused moral compass headings.

Tune in and let us know what you think.

Thank you (foot)notes:

See Neil Cavuto's bio at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 9:21 PM | Permalink
Comments (2)

"Francis, Jamaica Plain, Mass.," 1971 Your Business Blogger eagerly awaits each issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. And not just for the articles...

Most every issue has nude photos of women (art, of course) that is Not Safe for Work.

Not family friendly. View and get fired.

Unless you are self-employed -- or in the academy where no professor is ever terminated for sex offenses including seducing co-eds (whether by grades or degrees). (Although Professor Leacher does sometimes get caught.)

Alert Readers will remember the, well, uninhibited, photo shoots of Professor Diana York Blaine. NSFW.

Not family friendly.

But times might be changing even if The Chronicle doesn't. Charmaine et. al. recently spoke at Princeton University where the faculty were most proud of recent human resource changes to encourage parents with children.

To be more family friendly. Princeton should be proud.

Princeton is on the right (tenure) track.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Be sure to see academic marketing from Princeton University Press.

Full Disclosure: Charmaine's dissertation was on family leave policies and tenure in academia. More at the jump.

Photos by Henry Horenstein in the article Family on Film, April 6, 2007, B19. The photos are of "...[M]y people...I grew up with as a kid... and met along the way...while making that awkward transition from adolescence to adulthood." The relationship with the nude woman is not described. And I really don't want to know the details.

Although it is surely a topic of academic discussion.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 10:45 AM | Permalink
Comments (4)

Charlotte's Web
movie poster In December, Your Business Blogger and Charmaine and the Penta-Posse went to a private screening of Charlotte's Web at the Motion Picture Associate of America.

The Yoests at the MPAAAt the Jack Valenti Building at 1600 Eye Street N by NW, in Your Nation's Capital.

Normally, institutions do not name buildings, roads or ships after a still-living legend.

But since Valenti, age 85, wasn't going to die, the MPAA went ahead and named the building after him anyway.

Jack Valenti, lower left, on Air Force One
November 22, 1963

Valenti served as the movie industry leader for 38 years and was a pilot in WWII. A veteran. A knack for being in the right place at the right time.

EB White's masterpiece is a favorite in our house. The movie was completely faithful to the tone and spirit of the original. And we enjoyed it immensely. Free food and adult beverages were helpful.

But it almost wasn't so.

As the credits rolled at the end, Charmaine and I sat and read the Who's Who of who did what where in the film.

I read with horror.

Julia Roberts was the voice of Charlotte, the spider
Oprah Winfrey was the voice of Gussy, the goose
Robert 'Whisperer' Redford was the voice of Ike, the horse, of course

At least Dakota Fanning, voice of Fern, didn't get raped (in this picture).

Yes, I knew the voices sounded familiar. But I was saved from a terrible movie experience by my ignorance. Blissfully. Your Business Blogger has been quite lucky over the years in this regard.

All those Surrender-Now liberals doing the voice-overs in a do-good, feel-good film would have ruined it for me. The voice medium is, indeed the message.

Charmaine, Allen, Jack

I do not have the maturity of my new best friend, Allen Covert.

We met Allen at the National Review Institute conference, here in DC. Alert Readers will recognize Allen as the long-time friend and colleague of Adam Sandler. Allen was the executive producer of The Longest Yard (2005) and Anger Management (2003) and many others. Covert wrote The Benchwarmers (2006) and Grandma's Boy (2006) and more. Covert is a master screenwriter and actor and producer and the nicest guy on the planet. He is, of course, a conservative.

From LA? In Hollywood?

Yep, him and a half dozen others, like Sylvester Stallone.

So I ask Covert how he was able to compartmentalize and work for months at a time with liberals. Something like in Academia.

He said it's all about focus on the mission of the movie and the work. Most of the Hollywood liberal elite know of Allen's political bent, but put show business first. Business first.

Impressive.

Allen Covert

Go see and buy the movie. And remember the wisdom of Allen Covert and enjoy the movie and the message, even if the voices, in real life, want you to surrender to the Islamic terrorists.

The voices in my head said so.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Not everyone enjoyed the film. Variety said it was "sorely disappointing." More at the jump.

We also saw a private screening of Amazing Grace. (This is hard work, blogging.) We saw the trailer a few months back and it is a soul-saving winner. See Wilberforce and Gapingvoid.

UPDATE: Jack Valenti 85, dies.
See What Jack Valenti Taught Us All, By Matt Gerson, Saturday, April 28, 2007,

One paragraph is a must-read for the BlackBerry-addicted. Jack quoted Emerson's observation that "for every gain, there is a loss. For every loss, there is a gain." While lamenting the number of nights he spent away from his family, he reminded us that attending one more reception meant missing a meal around the dinner table, and one extra night on a business trip would mean one less chance to help with homework or watch a soccer game.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 6:14 PM | Permalink
Comments (4)

"What about the baby?" asked The Dreamer.

Charmaine and our first born, The Dreamer, ventured to an academic venue to answer "What is Feminism?"

Charmaine was joined on the panel by Carrie Lukas, from the Independent Women's Forum.

The Dreamer was aghast at the harsh feminist literature on abortion.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Full Disclosure: Charmaine served as an Advisor to the Independent Women's Forum.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 9:18 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Mother in the Middle gid -- who blogs at TheGidcumbs.com

Forget the Academy Awards, gid really has the talent and entertainment. And is a class act to boot.

gid won our contest and will be receiving a copy of Mother in the Middle.

Your Business Blogger and Charmaine were interested in the winner who was from Monchengladbach, Germany.

But we were going to exercise some geographic license in favor of a salon-worthy retort.

TheGidcumbs came thru.

Here is their winning response to our search for visitor number 300,000:

Okay, how about this. I live in Chattanooga, TN. One of the sister cities of Chattanooga is Hamm, Germany. Monchengladbach in only a 140Km drive from Hamm.

I think that makes the book rightfully mine. :-)

Indeed it does. An autographed copy is on the way.

Thank you for reading and commenting.

Posted at 6:08 PM | Permalink
Comments (2)

Thank you so much for reading Reasoned Audacity!

If you think you were our 300,000th visitor -- see below, please comment. The first commenter will receive a copy of Charmaine's book Mother in the Middle: Searching for Peace in the Mommy Wars, published by HarperCollins. If your comment is not the first, but is more clever than creditable, we might send you a book anyway.

Alert Readers will remember that Reasoned Audacity will be two years old in two days. We launched on 23 February 2005 writing about Tocqueville. And the freedom of association of blog writers and readers.

Thank you for reading at least one of our 1,197 posts.

We remain in your debt, Charmaine and Jack.

Bill Maher with Mother in the Middle.

Posted at 1:27 PM | Permalink
Comments (3)

Your Business Blogger
at Stern Business School, NYUYour Business Blogger teaches management training. But there is no need to sit in my class, just visit An Interview with an Honest Manager.

To be a great manager, you must be a sociopath. Yes, The Devil Wears Prada. And ask Hugh MacLeod.

Let me know if you have ever had such an Honest Boss.

(Please, no hate mail...especially if you worked for me.)

Thank you (foot)notes:

From Hanan Levin at growabrain. Bookmark him -- He is everyone's favorite liberal.

Posted at 9:08 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Posted at 10:13 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

"This just in...oops, too late,
the bloggers got there before us.
from The Wall Street Journal Bloggers are first and best with the best rumors. But are bloogers always first with the best story? Is there really a difference in the research and writing styles in the best blogs compared to other writers?

Last week Charmaine and Your Business Blogger attended a gathering in Washington, DC. Alert Readers will remember two concurrent confabs: The National Review Institute and the Anti-WarPeaceNowGobalWarmingRally.

Guest where we cheered...

Anyway, we sat behind Paul Mirengoff from Powerline at the National Review event. (Surprise!) I ask him, "Will you be live blogging?"

"No," he says instantly. "I never live blog."

He was taking notes on a reporter-like skinny spiral note-pad just like MSM-types. I was expecting a yellow legal pad from the famed Washington attorney.

Paul then says "I like to think about the topic and write later."

I'm disappointed. I was hoping for a flaming slash and burning-brief from our favorite counselor. But no. This is a thinking, contemplative blogger.

Well.

This measured, thoughtful writing strategy was exactly what (some) paid journalists do. Charmaine and I talked with old friend Stanley (not Howard) Kurtz, now at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. We are big fans of his work.

"So how do you write?" I slobber. "Do you sit at a keyboard and open a vein -- rewrite and rewrite?"

"No," says Stanley. "I spend 80% of my time on research -- writing it over and over in my head -- and after a while I just sit and write it out."

Oh.

Chasing a thought-phrase around like that would have it leave my head on the first lap. Hence the need for instant posting/instant messaging.

This must be what the academics call the "Life of the Mind."

So it would appear that Paul Mirengoff and Stanley Kurtz both have the same writing strategies:
Think First.

Who knew?

Thank you (foot)notes:

Power Line graced Reasoned Audacity with a citation. This is an unpaid link.

Be sure to read about Stanley Kurtz's conservative conversion. Dr. Kurtz received degrees from Haverford College and Harvard University. (Not a typo.) Why I Turned Right: Leading Baby Boom Conservatives Chronicle Their Political Journeys

The Chronicle of Higher Education didn't care for the book.

Posted at 9:35 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Molly Ivins is gone. The wit of the impolite Texas writer will be missed.

My favorite Molly-phrase is,

"I could stay up all night nursing a sick paragraph..."

No more. Rest In Peace.

Posted at 11:07 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Art Buchwald Art Buchwald has died. Everyone has a favorite Buchwald ditty.

Mine is from the Vietnam era, that might apply in today's Global War on Terror.

Art Buchwald said that we lost Vietnam because we didn't have a war song to send the troops off. (Or welcome the Vets home.)

Buchwald suggested,

Pack up your napalm in your ol' kit bag
and bomb, bomb, bomb...

And we won't stop bombing
'Til it's over,
Over there.

Lord willing, we will win this war. Maybe Buchwald didn't intend this, but the humorist left us a good song to encourage us. To win over there.

Thank you (foot)notes:

ART BUCHWALD: 1925-2007
Satirist found humor even at life's end

Patricia Sullivan, Washington Post

Art Buchwald, the newspaper humor columnist for more than a half-century who found new comic material in the issues that come up at the end of life, died of kidney failure Wednesday night at his son's home in Washington, his family announced Thursday. He was 81.

More from the Washington Post.

Posted at 8:35 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Your Business Blogger and
Nehring the Edge were both honored
to be finalist in the 2006 WebLog Awards The Carnival is hosted by Nehring The Edge.

And while there be sure to read the review on Humanity and Paper Balloons at Westminster Wisdom. Brits have always been talented writers and playwrights -- re: Shakespeare.

My only disappointment is that Gracchi doesn't pretend to have all the answers. And that questionable ad for Amnesty International...

More on Gracchi at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 9:43 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

James Brown ca 1965 James Brown is dead at 73.

I'm so glad I got to hear him sing in person last year. He was an amazing performer.

UPDATE: Yes, he was an amazing performer. But. How do you want to be remembered at the end of your life?

Brown is survived by his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, one of his backup singers, and at least four children two daughters and sons Daryl and James Brown II. . .

At least?

Seems like the precise number children you've contributed genetic material to should be one of those things that, well, ought to be fairly easy to nail down. Just for the record, if nothing else.

Posted at 12:03 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Rocky
at the base of the steps Your Business Blogger was in Philly recently and wondered about the Rocky statue that was briefly at the top of the 72 steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Since September, the statue is now at the base of the steps.

So I decided to ask the man who might know, Sylvester Stallone.

Why? I asked him.

Rocky Sly says, It's better where it is -- at the base of the steps. At the top was the completion -- the end -- but it's not the completion that counts -- it's the journey. The Effort; The Passion.

Or, as Rocky says in the movie, The Beast trying to get out.

The step-climbing, the process, the journey, reminded me of Earl Nightingale's definition of success: The progressive realization of a worthy goal.

Success on this side of eternity and finishing the fight, the race, for the other side of eternity. The passion and The Passion.

The new Rocky movie was about the beast, the fire in the gut getting out and lighting up the world.

The Completion and incidentally, The End.

Your Business Blogger and Charmaine were guests for a premier showing of the film in Your Nation's Capital a few weeks ago. A must see. Blood and a beating and a victory...although not quite what you would think. And not quite a tie.

The pre-screening was at the Regal Theater on K Street in Georgetown, DC.

After the viewing, we were invited with a few dozen of our closest new best friends to meet Sylvester Stallone at the Four Seasons.

I made a little wager with Charmaine: when Rocky walked in, he'd get a standing O. Charmaine said O, no -- it will be respectful silence.

As it happened, we were both right; both of us winning. (A nice way to end a marital debate, as well as a movie) When Sly walked in (with only three handlers, security out of sight) there was enthusiastic applause -- but not standing and shouting as I would have thought, and I almost did, Charmaine enforcing a restraining order on my arm...

Sylvester Stallone at three score years and zero body fat and six Rocky movies (Rambo et.al. aside) strolled in wearing a comfortable-looking blue long sleeve shirt and blue jeans and funky shoes Charmaine could not ID. He sat at the head of a long conference table to talk about The Final Rocky Movie.

His Faith made him do it. And Jesus was in the details.

The music score kept up the motivation: A big score for a little man, he says.

The music alone is enough to have Rocky Top any opponent.

Rocky Balboa at the Top
Museum of Art, Phildephia
Totally Rocky.com But not without effort. Stallone says that he's one of three Republicans in Hollywood -- and that influences getting work -- don't let anyone say otherwise.

No wonder Sylvester Stallone was comfortable in Washington, DC: Congress now looks just like Hollywood...

Except Hollywood might have more conservatives than Congress.

Sly (we are on first names, natch) is a real professional at work, especially in how he worked the room. He is immediately likable. I'd vote for him. And see his movies.

(And he embodies the difference between liberals and conservatives:

Reagan was an Actor who became a Politician.
Clinton was a Politician who became an Actor.

Stallone is genuine. Authentic. Transparent.)

He spent some 40 minutes sharing his Faith and eternal values and how that made the movie moving. He loves Jesus and Liberals hate him. (Both Jesus and Rocky.)

The Diva and The Dude with
Art in Philadephia There is room all over Philly for all manner of "art" but not Rocky at the Top of the Museum of Art. The Rocky Statue is not considered art but only a "movie prop."

ROCKY
A. Thomas Schomberg, 1982 Where marketing meets real life.

DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer, says in Stallone still packs punch with Rocky

Besides filming most of the movie in the city, mostly in Kensington and South Philadelphia, Stallone has made several trips the last few months. The Rocky Balboa statue returned in September to the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, not far from the steps where the fictitious hard-luck fighter made movie history. And Stallone promoted the movie at a Philadelphia Eagles game earlier this month, earning another boisterous reaction.

Not many movie characters are as synonymous with a city as Rocky and Philadelphia.

Rocky Balboa
Faith Based Resource Kit
GET THE BOX
free Also see Faith Based resources

Thank you (foot)notes:

Management training tips and for more on Philadelphia and business, see:

John Wanamaker, Half of my marketing budget is wasted...problem is...I don't know which half.

Benjamin Franklin, A success story -- read how Franklin got Benjamin's.

John Kerry, Learn how swiss cheese cost him the election at Pat's Steakhouse.

Clowns in Philly, What two groups of people should never be at a negotiation table?

Rocky Balboa is in theaters now. And be sure to stay to the very end -- terrifc clips of common tourists running and boxing at the top of the steps. Required activity when visiting Philadelphia. Like eating at Pat's.

Full Disclosure: 2 movie tickets were provided at no charge, no popcorn and no request for a favorable review. I did attempt to sell out. The PR team didn't bite.

See Movie Review: Rocky Balboa.

In Brief: ROCKY BALBOA

RottenTomatoes has more.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 11:15 AM | Permalink
Comments (6)

Your Business Blogger and Charmaine and the Penta-Posse were honored to attend a private screening of The Nativity Story Saturday morning before last, in Northern Virginia. This is an unpaid review. We even bought our own popcorn.

(Multi-plex Theaters: the movies are a front; The real money is in the concession stands.)

Pope Benedict XVI turned down an invitation to attend the premiere on Sunday, November 26th, even though


Joseph and Mary and
baby Jesus it was screened in his backyard, The Vatican. The Nativity Story is a (true) story about an unmarried pregnant woman. The Catholic Church frowns on such conditions.

You would have thought that the Pope would have granted an indulgence for this one exception, this one out-of-wedlock birth.

Maybe just this one. Mary's. The Pope should have watched The Nativity Story.

For the Baby Jesus: Prophet, Prince and King.

I don't blame him, though, for being leary of a Hollywood interpretation of the Savior's birth. Given their track-record. But they played it straight, remained faithful to the original script, and have made a movie well worth seeing.

The movie opens on December 1st. Even though the Pope didn't see it; you should. Go see it this weekend and let us know what you think.

Charmaine didn't care for the Deep Space 9/Gabriel the archangel character. Too much a-blending of science fiction and theology. Not that Godless liberals could tell the difference.

The film gets its PG rating for the violence. Which really wasn't all that bad for our times, or for the turn of the last millennium. The movie opens with Roman soldiers drawing their short swords to chop up all the baby boys under two. No blood, no gore was depicted. (The Dude, pre-teen, was mildly disappointed.) But the scene was terrifying enough. Your women-folk will cry.

However, no actual babies or animals were harmed in the making of the film. Only in real life.

The Three Wise Men



Herod, right and his son. Really Bad Guys.

One of my favorite parts was where Herod's tax collectors would extract interest and penalties totaling one-third of a man's estate. Crucifixion compels compliance.

However.

However, we haven't seen a 1/3 tax rate since, well, Christ was born.

Goodness, tax collectors nowadays take 45% of our income each year.

Maybe the Romans were more civilized than we are today.

When you go to the movie, do get there on time, it starts fast with little credit rolling at the beginning.

And as Keith Appell from Creative Response Concepts says, "Prepare to be entertained."

My hero of the movie, and on this side of eternity, would be Joseph. His actions taking care of Mary, make him a better man than most. Especially for the shame he'd have to endure.

The other (anti) hero would be Herod, for keeping taxes low.

The Nativity, The Birth changed the world. The movie could change your life.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Publicity for the private screening was ably handled by Creative Response Concepts who invited Your Business Blogger, Kith and Kin to attend the screening for New Line Cinema.

For Cinephiles by a Cinephile has analysis and links.

UPDATE: Drudge reports The Nativity Story booted out of Chicago public festival.

By DON BABWIN, CHICAGO (AP) - A public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas story, the city says. Officials have asked organizers of a downtown Christmas festival, the German Christkindlmarket, to reconsider using a movie studio as a sponsor because it is worried ads for its film "The Nativity Story" might offend non-Christians.

New Line Cinema, which said it was dropped, had planned to play a loop of the new film on televisions at the event. The decision had both the studio and a prominent Christian group shaking their heads.

"The last time I checked, the first six letters of Christmas still spell out Christ," said Paul Braoudakis, spokesman for the Barrington, Ill.-based Willow Creek Association, a group of more than 11,000 churches of various denominations. "It's tantamount to celebrating Lincoln's birthday without talking about Abraham Lincoln."

Continue Reading »

Posted at 7:29 PM | Permalink
Comments (6) | TrackBacks (1)

Rush Limbaugh, the program

Rush Limbaugh gave a red meat speech to a red state audience to a sold out crowd at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC last week. The 1,800 plus capacity was treated to a two hour stand up of vintage Rush.

Rush led off with Howell Heflin's old joke about Ted Kennedy's "off shore drilling." It is funny the first four times one hears it. But most still laughed.

His delivery and timing were that of a practiced professional -- Rush referred to his "notes" infrequently. Notes in quotes because it looked like he scratched out something on the back of a cocktail napkin.

His talk was done from memory.

And it was entertainment and education at its best. Charmaine and Your Business Blogger were honored to be in the class as the guests of Rebecca Hagelin, the VP of Communications for Heritage.

The real purpose of the evening's show was raising money for the Fisher House.

There is at least one Fisher House TM at every major military medical center to assist families in need and to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment. Annually, the Fisher House TM program serves more than 8,500 families, and have made available more than two million days of lodging to family members since the program originated in 1990.

Consider a contribution to the Fisher House. Denzel Washington donates as a trustee of the Fisher House.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Rush Limbaugh's speech transcript and audio available at Rush 24/7.

Management Training Tip: When your presentation is important, memorize it.

More on the Warner Theater at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 6:06 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Visit Nehring the Edge
for movie reviews Nehring the Edge is hosting a terrific new carnival of cinema.

See Westminster Wisdom for a must movie review read on Memento. Charmaine and I saw the movie and determined that we would have to see it twice or thrice to completely understand and appreciate and enjoy. Gracchii explains why.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription or RSS for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Memento is not to be confused with Mentoes ...and Coke. Children, do not attempt without adult supervision.

Posted at 8:59 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Gun Deck
USS Constitution Last night at the Center for Military Readiness Celebration, Charmaine and I had the honor of having dinner with our dear friend Cynthia Grenier. Alert Readers will know her as a frequent contributor to The Weekly Standard. Many will remember her interviews with Faulkner, Moshe Dyan, Ingmar Bergman, Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney and Hugh Hefner. And many of our Alert Readers will have actually read her many articles in Playboy... where she made her reputation as a gifted writer. As an ink-stained wench. Not the normal career path for women in that organization.

Yes, she interviewed Faulkner.

We remember her husband Richard who passed on and is still deeply missed, but his many works live on. His eulogy was given by Senator D. Patrick Moynihan. Richard is proof that good did once come from Harvard. He buried in Arlington National Cemetery, not far from my dad. One of Richard's books The Marrakesh One-Two is Cynthia's all-time favorite.

Anyway, Your Business Blogger was still processing the rich background of Cynthia Grenier (pronounced "Gren-yeah") when I found this email in my box this morning. It was about a recent ceremony to acknowledge Medal of Honor awardees; and Cynthia Grenier writes,

Am impressed and touched to read of the ceremony aboard the USS Constitution. The CONSTITUTION is the vessel my great-grand father Mad Jack Percival commanded on its first round-the-world voyage April 1845 to September 1846. He was quite a character, and one with whom I am deeply proud to share some DNA.

Cynthia Grenier is an American Beauty, an American Treasure.

Cynthia Grenier
WorldNetDaily.comHugh Hefner would agree.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription or RSS for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The Marrakesh One-Two is available from Amazon.com.

From WND, Cynthia Grenier, an international film and theater critic, is the former Life editor of the Washington Times and acted as senior editor at The World & I, a national monthly magazine, for six years.

Posted at 12:32 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

The business of radio is driven by ratings and revenue. I'd like to add a third driver: Running. R-cubed.

Your Business Blogger
multi-tasking
credit: The Dude We North Americans pride ourselves on productivity -- getting things done -- winning. We work while being entertained and are entertained while working.

We fully integrate business and pleasure. And the work/family balance may be moot because our waking hours are consumed with work/play.

So now business podcasts are being enjoyed by multi-tasking over-achievers. That would be you, Gentle Reader, yes? Be honest: I can hear Dave Matthews in the background, this screen is running next to a spread sheet, your boss is on line three, and your girl friend just IM'ed. And what's that pizza doing in your inbox?

Product and service providers (the pizza maker and that pizza deliverer) and advertisers love you. Which funds radio podcasts. For the six million listeners who downloaded podcasts.

But these days rating are easier to measure. Everyone can now know exactly how many podcasts are downloaded: Ratings.

Advertisers can now target messages with the Holy Grail of one-to-one marketing for greater efficiency and effectiveness: Revenue.

Podcasting News reports that,

Forrester projects that 700,000 households in the US in 2006 will use podcasts, and that this number will grow to 12.3 million households in the US by 2010.

[Charlene] Li suggests that companies focus their podcast efforts on repurposing existing content.

"Content that already exists -- such as earning calls, training updates, and executive presentations are all excellent fodder for podcasts," writes LI. "Think of us poor analysts who must listen to streamed quarterly calls while chained to our laptops! My caution is that companies shouldn't be dashing out to create expensive original content for a small audience -- unless they gain value from being seen as innovative."

And I'm looking, as we all are, for innovation.

Like multi-taskers everywhere, I look for time for multiple tasks. I combine running and business.

The 26.2 mile marathon is a long distance to run. Goodness, it's a long distance to drive. In my training, I would sometimes run for hours. Years ago it was with a WalkMan and cassettes by Earl Nightingale.

Today, it's an iPod with Podcasts. And Anita Campbell. Getting business done on the run.

And it's not just listening to the business of running, as in SteveRunner.com Or entertainment and music. Runners are listening to podcasts on small businesses, doing business. I'm learning Mandarin while the miles go by. Brad Feld, venture capitalist, is a regular runner with headphones piping in podcasts, and not just when he's a guest.

For your next workout run, take a podcast. With the kids and your cell phone.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Posted at 10:07 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Steve Forbes
Washington Post A few years ago Your Business Blogger was privileged and honored to introduce Steve Forbes at a fundraising event with 950 of my closest friends. I was tempted to honor him with the most flattering, and shortest intro by saying, "Here's Steve Forbes, who needs no introduction..."

But most of us will.

Need an introduction.

So when your big break comes, that magic moment arrives -- how do you that know you'll get that classy intro, with just the right touch?

You know your introduction will be perfect. Because you will write it.

History was very good to Winston Churchill because Winston Churchill wrote it himself. Here's a brief history outline -- to write your own story:

1) Short. Two minutes, 250 words.

2) Welcome. Say hello as if to a single person. Forget the other 949.

3) Bio. The current gig, then what you are best known for. Credentials and qualifications.

4) Topic. The topic.

5) So What? Review the key questions of why we are all here and why we should care

6) Clap. Join me in welcoming and start clapping...

Remember, a good introduction serves as a stepping stone, bridge, a segue to the Keynoter to begin for a smooth and exciting transition.

Not a bad introduction. The worst introduction I've experienced was a joke. Literally. And I didn't like not being in on the joke -- it wasn't funny because I swallowed the bait whole.

I was working a trade show and sat in on some breakfast speechifying. The Headliner, a Hal Becker, Mr. Motivational Speaker, supplied -- later, we learned -- his own introductory remarks, as Your Business Blogger suggests here. However, Becker's "background" included a series of terminal degrees from Ivy League universities and instructing at medical schools. Very, very impressive. But I should have known that a Nobel Laureate would not be speaking to this group.

This group being any group in which I was a member.

But, I settled back to enjoy the speech. I know a bit about hospitals, my wife knows a bit about academia -- I thought I was going to get some learning.

Instead I got surprised. The speaker was only [gasp] an ordinary business guy. I was duped. Which is, well, nothing new.

My expectations were not managed with me not seeing the ol' switcheroo. Everyone else thought the guy was a hoot.

I didn't hear the speech, which I am told, was very good.

But this Keynoter Hal Becker forgot Rule One in public speaking: Only experts should use humor.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Hal Becker does have quite a resume, even with a poor sense of humor -- he was the number one salesman at one time in Xerox's 11,000 person sales force. He is well worth his $7,500 speaking fee. Just introduce him yourself.

Posted at 8:30 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

The wife of
Your Business Blogger
at an impromptu
press conference.In your business promotion, you the boss, will someday be called to speak before a handheld microphone or a bank of microphones to talk about your particular expertise.

If you deign to be interviewed by a reporter, or instead will speak at a planned, orchestrated press conference, here are 7 tips to remember for the handheld or externally fixed microphone.

1) The microphone comes to you. When speaking to a reporter who is holding the microphone, she will move the mic to you. Or there will be a boom mic floating near-by. You do not move to the mic or bob around speaking here or there. Be still. Remember, you are the expert. The center of the Universe. The pro has measured movements.

2) Remain in the frame. Your mouth should be a spread-hand's width from the mic, just below your mouth. This is to allow cameras to get a better show of your fab face. And to prevent 'popping' into the mic -- 'd's,' 't's,' or 'p's' are explosives if directed straight into the microphone. If there is a bank or cluster of microphones, any cameras or the reporters will be centered directly in front of the of the mic stands. Do not move around. Don't make the camera guys or sounds guys work too much.

3) Watch your back. If the presser is planned by your PR flacks, your backdrop will have your company logo behind you. If not, see what's over your shoulder. Look for naked statues behind you.

4) Start with your name, rank and the mundane. Practice your FireDrill, your pitch. And like any good lawyer you already know all the answers, but more important, you know and have heard all the questions. Stating the obvious gets your mouth a-motoring and helps the sound guys start to fiddling with the knobs if needed -- your self intro will probably get edited out, but it will serve as sound check until you say something important. Assume they can hear you; don't ask.

5) Don't handle the microphones. Unless you are giving a 45 minute key noter and the mic belongs to you -- leave the equipment alone. There are apt to be a number of speakers coming to the mics. Handling the machinery might create noise picked up by the other mics. But if you must touch them, do it while talking in some connective or redundant phrase in case of noise. That will get edited out.

6) Bend your knees to get in range of an extremely short mic. This is, of course, the trick of tall teenage girls when dancing with short guys. Bending over at the waist gives an ungainly, slouching appearance. You, Gentle Reader, are no slouch. Stand tall. Bow to no man.

7) Lower your voice. Lower your pitch. Your voice may get high pitched as you get nervous. And you better be nervous. If you do not have any adrenaline flowing when speaking publicly, you are too complacent.

The successful small business owner is a successful promoter and leader and speaker. The microphone is now another tool in your professional hands.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Be sure to review Management: 10 Tips

And visit k-log On Speaking: Being Heard

Posted at 4:37 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Your (very young) Business Blogger
and Lily Tomlin Big Shows always start small. Lily Tomlin would test her acts, not on an off-Broadway hide-a-way in New York City -- not even another country, like say, New Jersey.

No, Lily would test her lines and the script in another world: Branson, Missouri.

A few decades ago, Your Business Blogger -- that's me, the dork on the left -- caught up with Tomlin backstage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. During the run of her solo -- one woman performance in The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe.

It was no secret that Tomlin is the consumate professional whose presentations seemed effortless. Yes, she and her team practiced with military precision.

But she knew to do a bit more. One of her secrets was to practice in front of a live crowd. To test her timing. For the laughs and special effects. Practice and pace. To hit the marks and watch the sparks.

Her testing would require stops and starts and direct interaction with her Branson audience -- which was a test market for her new show; her new product her new production. She would be a wizard alchemist reformulating as she observed and assessed her focus group's response. And the laughs.

Comedy is hard work.

The challenge of conducting the practice, the dry runs, was that the critical, cynical New Yorker would not sit still through trial run. Tomlin as magician perfected her act behind the curtain, away from the show-bizzie chattering classes. So Lily would go to 'fly-over country' where normal people live, to hone her act.

To Branson, Missouri, the Show Me state where over 100 shows play in over 40 theaters. Branson is called "The Live Music Show Capital of the World."

Lily Tomlin and her crew would then take her perfected, polished performance back to the Big Apple and the rest of civilization.

Her business lesson from show business was to quietly introduce a pilot show, a pilot project. Gauge reaction and launch a high percentage deal. And practice to a small sample size.

Because you will screw it up. And it is best to screw up on the farm team than before the big league crowd.

Do you have a pitch to practice? Find a small group who loves you.

Practice your sales pitch to a live audience. And ask for feedback.

Looking to flog your product on national television, the cables and network? Start with small radio wattage. Then take your show on the road.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Posted at 10:31 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

C-SPAN Charmaine will be on C-SPAN tomorrow Saturday at 0800hrs, that would be 8:00 am, EST civilian time. Debating the Plan B political play and other news stories of the day.

We all are going with the Penta-Posse to watch from the green room. And eat all their donuts.

C-SPAN Washington Journal video here.

Tune in or TiVo and let us know what you think.

Check local listing here.

The press release from Barr,

Plan B should not be used as routine contraception and does not protect against HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Barr's release, continues:

FDA Grants OTC Status to Barr's Plan B(R) Emergency Contraceptive Historic Dual Status Decision Provides OTC Access to Those 18 Years of Age and Older; Remains Prescription for Women 17 and Younger

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: BRL) today said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) filed by Barr's wholly-owned subsidiary, Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to market the Plan B(R) (levonorgestrel) emergency contraceptive Over-The-Counter (OTC) without a prescription. In approving the sNDA, FDA granted OTC status for consumers 18 years of age and older, while maintaining the prescription status for women 17 and younger. The Company's Plan B OTC product and the prescription product will be marketed as a single package, which will allow for a prescription label to be adhered to the package when dispensed to women age 17 and younger. Because Plan B will still remain a prescription product for women 17 and younger, it will be sold in retail pharmacy outlets from behind the counter. Duramed plans to introduce the dual status Rx/OTC version of the product before the end of the calendar year.

More on Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc..

Posted at 3:58 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Naomi Watts

The January issue of Vanity Fair features Naomi Watts, the new Fay Wraye in King Kong, on the cover.

After years and years of B roles, Watts has finally "made it."

And yet.

Rigg, Kidman, Watts
Credit: American Photo


The article features quotes from her friend and fellow Aussie, Nicole Kidman, who talks about their friendship with another less-famous fellow actress, Rebecca Rigg:

We always say to Rebecca that she is the successful one because she has the successful marriage with the three kids. . .

In our house we call three kids a 'starter family.'

The Penta-Posse

But the girls are on to something. Something bigger than themselves.

What are they doing in Hollywood?

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Cross Post from Reasoned Audacity.

Posted at 10:53 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Lori Piestewa,
single mother of two,
killed Katie Couric recently refused to go to Iraq. She gets this right,

Katie Couric, who takes over the CBS Evening News in September told Access Hollywood that at this point, she would not venture into the Middle East hot spot.

"I think the situation there is so dangerous, and as a single parent with two children, that's something I won't be doing," Katie said.

Couric lurches into the truth: War zones are not safe for anyone. Especially for moms and the kids left behind.

Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness reminds us that,

To date 60 women have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11. By contrast, only 16 women killed in all the years of Vietnam, most of them nurses. In the First Persian Gulf War, 33,000 women were deployed, but only 6 perished due to scud missile explosions or accidents.

Women should not be killed in combat.

No single mother with children should go to war. Not Katie. Not Lori.

Katie Couric

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Kathryn Lopez at NRO points us to Access Hollywood, blockquote above.

Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger also serves as the Vice President of the Center for Military Readiness.

See Saving Private Lori.

Get Women Out of Combat.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

Posted at 2:53 PM | Permalink
Comments (4)

World Trade Center "Redemption," wrote Cal Thomas earlier when he saw Oliver Stone's movie. Stone may have redeemed himself.

Tonight, Thursday, The Washington Insiders were invited to a private screening of World Trade Center. I got in on a waiver. I would have been easy to pick out of this cool crowd: I was the only one with a bucket of (fattening) buttered popcorn, slurping a giant Coke.

Your Business Blogger, Charmaine
Melissa and Rob Bluey

Charmaine and I joined Rob Bluey, blog editor at Human Events and his wife Melissa from The Atlantic Monthly and the smart crowd at a Cinema near Charmaine's office to see Stone's newest movie.

What it was and what it was not.

It was not a conspiracy movie.
It did not bash Bush.
It was not sappy.
It was not about stupid, church-going nuts.
It did not mock marriage.
It did not blame America.
It did not support radical Islam.
It did not mock Marines.
It did not mock Jesus.
It did not mock cops.

It did not mock family, faith or freedom.

Charmaine says, "It was a Hallmark Hall of Fame special...on steroids." Jim Pinkerton, from the New America Foundation DID NOT tear up. Me neither.

But the theater was a bit dusty. That stuff can get in your eyes. Or was it dust from the movie?

This is a movie that you will see in a few weeks and you will be glad you did. After the viewing, there was no applause, little talking. At the end, the crowd audibly exhaled, as one.

People moved out as if leaving a wake. Tony Blankley and his significant other were the last, the very last to leave. They were moved.

Laura Ingram moved out quick; she was among the first out. Dr. Land, President of the Southern Baptist Convention expected to walk out early and didn't.

We spoke to Blankley. He was surprised at Stone's movie, "Good, True, Patriotic, Religious."

Kate O'Beirne from Nation Review was a bit more skeptical about Oliver Stone, "His other movies don't sell, nobody goes to them. So he made this to appeal -- to sell. He wants to make money."

And so he will. You must see how Stone can make a movie with Jesus, yes Him, without a smirk. Mel Gibson can do Passion, sure. But Oliver Stone?

Better check the temperature in Hell. The impossible has happened. Oliver is redeemed.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The movie will be theaters August 9, 2006

Special thanks to Mike Thompson, Senior Vice President of Creative Response Concepts, who coordinated the event for Paramount Pictures.

More on the movie at the jump.

The Raw Story has more. Read the Comments, liberals still believe "9/11 was an inside job no doubt." And my favorite, "Hey cons, Jesus says watch this film or you'll go to hell."

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

OpFor has more.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 10:29 PM | Permalink
Comments (6)

Tom Peters "Look, there's Tom Peters," I whisper to Charmaine. "What's he doing here?"

We were at a show bizzie garden party in Georgetown in Your Nation's Capital. It's a pre-party for a big-party, for media moguls. Drink freely. Talk freely. It's Off The Record.

There are no name tags.

Tom Peters is a super star. But not in quite the same way as Joe Pantoliano from the Sopranos or Chris Matthews from Hardball or Tom Oliphant with the Boston Globe. (Who is looking good after a brain aneurysm last year. Don't like his opinions. But glad he's around to kick around.) Morgan Fairchild, Bernie Trainor and Tucker Carlson, who says he's quit smoking.

But ! is a business super star. So we elbow our past Michael Barone, Howard Kurtz, and step on Bob Schrum's feet. He's got no sense of humor. Democrat.

We go straight for Peters, unafraid to intrude and break in -- the roof constitutes an introduction as Miss Manners might say.

We reach our target. "Hello," I stick out my hand, "Jack Yoest," I've always wanted to meet you..."

He faces me, "Rick Kaplan, nice to meet you."

Who?

Rick Kaplan Charmaine sees my quarter second silence and knows immediately something's wrong. She jumps in. "Yes, Rick, I've done MSNBC and we loved your work on Nightline..." Kaplan makes eye contact; makes small talk. Bookings, Ratings, Revenue.

Then we are mercifully pushed aside by the slobbering scrum of lower lights, bottom billings. (How did they get in?)

Anyway, I might be forgiven in that Tom Peters and Rick Kaplan are twins, I think. But I don't think they've met.

Alert Readers will note that Rick Kaplan recently left his number three slot at MSNBC. I don't know his reason for leaving or how MSNBC will fare without him.

But I know that he is a gentleman. Because of how he treats bumbling unknown nobodies.

Like me.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The identifying names captioned below the pictures are... reversed.

See the Washington Post.

Posted at 5:17 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Alert Readers will remember Britney's nude prego pose. Alert Readers will also remember Spears' nuttiness from April last year. From Reasoned Audacity.

For the files of "amazingly stupid things the MSM says" . . . The AP is reporting that Britney Spears has announced that she is pregnant. And here's what they conclude:

Spears' impending motherhood may be the ultimate indicator that the former teen princess is all grown up.

Sorry, but that's just not the way it works. I do wish Britney and her husband good luck -- but unfortunatley, "growing up" is a different process entirely than getting pregnant. . .

Posted at 12:22 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

The Diva on Piano The Baptist Convention of Baltimore and Delware is sponsoring a music camp. Starts this Sunday and spaces are filling up.

Cost $99 per child -- We'll be sending our Penta-Posse.

Call Bryan at 410 -dot- 695 -dot- 5374 to reserve a spot. Reservations can also be made at the door at First Baptist Church in Laurel, Maryland. Or email Bryan at BPatrick AT FirstBaptistLaurel dot org

Or email me.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Cross posted at Reasoned Audacity.

Posted at 12:24 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

In the Army, Your Business Blogger first learned the '7 P's of Planning': Proper Prior Planning Prevents [Pretty] Poor Performance.

Except the fifth 'P' wasn't, well, Pretty.

Event Planning is made easy by being SAFE:

Speaker
Audience
Food
Entertainment

For more detail, please visit Event Planning: Keeping it SAFE in 4 Easy Steps at my weekly column in Small Business Trends.

Posted at 11:04 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

This is an update on that old story about an ugly dog. It came back to bite us.

The story, that is.

Charmaine was bumped last night off MSNBC for a segment on The World's Ugliest Dog.

You could choose:

Screeen Capture Credit:
Peter Shinn

or

World's Ugliest Dog

But I'd choose...

Charmaine

My friend Steve, on the bestiality beat. . .

Be sure to visit Small Business Trends Radio and see my weekly column. Topic today: Feed Your Family or Feed Your Ego: Sales.

Cross-posted at Zeitgeist and at Reasoned Audacity.

Posted at 1:20 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

So I ask Charmaine, isn't Britney Spears a God-fearing Jesus-loving celebrity superstar? Or is it Christina Aguilera?

"Britney Spears," says Charmaine, who knows all things cultural. Charmaine has the female X-chromosome, which, as scientists have proven, is absorbed from the inner pages of People Magazine. "She is oh-so spiritual," she says.

Not Christina Aguilera?

"I don't think so," says Charmaine.

Christina Aguilera

"Christina, Britney -- How would you know the difference?" I ask.

Charmaine says, "Britney is pregnant..."

"...And bare(foot) -- just the way I like 'em."

Charmaine doesn't laugh.

Britney, the church-going-girl might be making money, but she's not making a difference.

Britney Spears' Heart to Heart"So, there's no 'Christ' in Christina?" I ask.

Charmaine still doesn't laugh, "You're still not funny."

But she gives a thin smile.

I reply, even as my my extra Y-Chromosome rebels, "Yes dear."

Thank you (foot)notes:

Also see NSFW at The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Britney linked by link in Human Events.

Higher Education Titillation.

Str1ppers in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Real Painted Ladies Gone Wild.

N*pples and Circumcision: The Chronicle of Higher Education Makes the Cut

Basil's Blog has a picnic.

Visit Reasoned Audacity for the Uncensored version ... oh...never mind. Why bother?

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

Dr. Starling Hunter is hosting the Carnival of the Vanities. So go vist.

Posted at 2:14 PM | Permalink
Comments (6) | TrackBacks (1)

John Calvin, the French theologian, once said that "self-denial is the sum total of the Christian life." Which is why Hollywood doesn't care for faith or self-sacrifice themes. And creative marketers are sometimes confused by timeless basics.

The Penta-Posse
at the famous
Jack Rabbit Trading Post
on Rt. 66 But sometimes marketers and Hollywood lurch into Calvin's truth.

The Puritanical is not tyrannical.

Two items:
1. Disney's new movie "Cars" ended with the hero making (what for Hollywood is) the supreme sacrifice. And,
2. The movie took in $60 million on its opening weekend.

They are connected. By an old road.

Lisa Baertlein, from Reuters, reports, 'Cars' marks Disney-Pixar's third biggest opening:

"Cars," a heavily marketed film whose star is a talking race car named Lightning McQueen, is competing for the family audience with animal cartoon "Over the Hedge," which had weekend receipts of over $10 million.

Chuck Viane, Disney's president of distribution, expects "Cars" to cross the $100 million line sometime next weekend.

"Cars," featuring the voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt and racing icon Richard Petty, is the first Disney-Pixar collaboration since Disney acquired Pixar in January for $7.4 billion.

The feature, which is rated G for all ages, tells how Lightning McQueen learns valuable life lessons during a forced pit stop in a sleepy town. It is directed by John Lasseter, whose "Toy Story 2" opened at $57.4 million.

The sleepy town is located on the by-passed Route 66. John Steinbeck, in The Grapes of Wrath, blessed Route 66 as the "Mother Road." As in apple pie and America. Alert Drivers west of Chicago will know the road and the story well. The 2400 mile road links The Windy City to LA.

Get Your Kicks on
Route 66
TV from the 1960'sLast year Charmaine and Your Business Blogger took the Penta-Posse out west down parts of Route 66. Self Discovery, just like the early 60's TV series Route 66. We didn't take a Corvette -- we took another Chevy, the monster Suburban.

Down parts of Route 66. A Car Guy's Highway. It is the subtext of the "Cars" movie. An earlier time when America and Hollywood were proud to be great.

Today this greatness, this self-denial can only be marketed with a cartoon. But it's a start.

Pixar Animation Studios/Walt Disney Studios
A scene from "Cars," directed by John Lasseter,
which Pixar Animation Studios hopes
will be its seventh consecutive hit.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

See Route 66 News.

We took the Penta-Posse and other assorted family to see "Cars." Tickets, popcorn, drinks, candy; a great time. Thank goodness financing was available. Heatsongs reminds us to stay well past the credits after the movie.

More history at the jump.

See Your Business Bloggers' nostalgia for old Vettes, old times and getting kicks. On Route 66.

Seth Godin has ideas on entertainment marketing.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

Brand Autopsy has more on money in movies

Best of Me Symphony is up with self selected best posts over 60 days seasoned.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 9:48 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Every Friday, Your Business Blogger has an article up on Small Business Trends Radio. Here's a preview of this week's edition.

Bill Archer, Left
Your Business Blogger, Charmaine and
The Dreamer

A few years ago, Your Business Blogger and Charmaine and the 18 month-old Dreamer kicked off a press conference for Congressman Bill Archer who was introducing tax cut legislation. As I droned waxed eloquent, the little Dreamer got distracted by the microphones. With their soft, inviting, spongy covers.

So she reached out and gave the mike cover a good squishy squeeze. And when she did...

Read the rest at Small Business Trends Radio, Show Prep for Your Big Show Biz Break.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Small Business Trends is the creation of Anita Campbell.

Posted at 10:30 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

There's a war on. It's been in all the papers. And we all have to pay for it. Sacrifice somewhere.

But not the liberals at National People's Public Radio. They demand continued tax payer funding...for Big Bird.

When should entertainment have claim on the public purse?

Congress wants to reduce the NPR and PBS budget by $115 million. This is not as aggressive as the planned cuts hoped for last year that would have taken the welfare payment from $200,000,000 to a mere $100 million. Our friends on the left are Outraged! Outraged!

Cartoon credit: Blue Girl's "better half"

Our lefty friends (no friends of the free market) have different takes. Over at Blue Girl in a Red State there seems to be some confusion between work and charity.

For years now the Feminist Minority has feared for a free press:

Take Action for Independent Media

The U.S. House of Representatives is ...considering ...an appropriations bill which will make drastic cuts in the budgets of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) ...

In their ongoing efforts to control the media, the right wing is using the Congressional appropriations process to decimate public radio and television. We could lose this critical independent voice and quality programming.

Take action today! Click here to urge your Representative to stand up for the independent media free from partisan and ideological control by voting for full funding for PBS and NPR.

Charmaine, The Dreamer and
Your Business BloggerBig Bird can fly on its own. When The Dreamer was 18 months old we comforted her on camera when interviewed -- by a stuffed animal we had paid for with real money. Plus tax. (Or more likely, a grandmother paid for with real money. . .) The Yellow Bird to the rescue!

A cool 100 million dollars. We could get one very nice, brand new F-22 Raptor. And the world would be a better place.

Peggy Noonan says, news flash: PBS is liberal. . . and that Democrats may even admit as much. . . (though, obviously, not the Fem Minority who seems to think PBS/NPR is an "independent critical voice").

Our leftist friends at The Washington Monthly are upset.

A civil hat tip to the liberal GrubbyKid.

See Mudville Gazette with the unsubsidized Open Post.

Right Wing Sparkle has more at PBS Funding: Is It Worth It?

Trey Jackson sick of taxes for Lefty Liberal Bile Hat tip to Trey for pointing us to Atlas Shrugs...

Atlas Shrugs can lift and move any debate especially on PBS

Posted at 10:56 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Ramesh Ponnuru
credit: Charmaine Yoest The Harbour League, based near Baltimore, Maryland, Presents:

The Party of Death

Featuring

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is senior editor for National Review and has covered politics as a reporter for more than a decade. He has been a fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London and a media fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution

His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, the Washington Times, the Weekly Standard, and Financial Times.

He is also a frequent guest on television including appearances on FOX's The Big Story with John Gibson, CNN's Inside Politics, MSNBC's Scarborough Country, CSPAN's Washington Journal and HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher.

Ramesh Ponnuru is a graduate of Princeton University and lives in Washington, DC.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006
7:00pm -- 8:00pm (Reception to follow)
Doors open at 6:30pm
The Cloisters
10440 Falls Road
Lutherville, Maryland
Directions
There is no charge for this event; however, RSVP is a must. Seating is limited and Harbour League members have priority seating.
RSVP for this Event here.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Press Release at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 7:49 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

In your job search you are prepared to answer many questions.

But there are questions you should be prepared to ask. Questions for your possible new boss. And not just the trite and true, "Tell Me How You Came To XYZ Corp." My questions are to (dis)qualify him. You may not want to work for him. And if you really, really need the job, you at least won't be blind-sided.

1) Love. Does he love me? I was humbled to have Jesse Brown, the former Veteran's Administration Secretary for Bill Clinton, as a business partner.

"Does he love me?" was Jesse's one rule for taking on a new client or a new job. "If the love's there, all else will fall in." Look for; get the feel for the love. Yes, yes, I know it's an emotion. But so is misery. Look for the love.

The Honorable
Jesse BrownJesse was an honorary campaign manager for the Al Gore presidential race. Which meant he was a $100K contributor. And could have any job he wanted. So I asked him why he gave the money, he wasn't going to take a position in a new administration. "I wanted to help my friends get jobs." He didn't need anything for himself; he sincerely wanted to help others. Including me. And no, I was not about to take any Gore job. Please. But he could have made it happen.

2) Strategy. What would you do if you hit the lottery? Or the IPO is successful, the rich uncle dies. What would your potential boss do if he had a sudden windfall of piles of cash? I asked that in a job interview and was surprised. The hiring manager leaned back, and with a far away look in his eye talked about opening up a marina. His big dream. His big dream was not in that building and I wasn't a part of it. I didn't feel the love.

JJ Abrams with Tom Cruise
Credit: Stephen VaughanThe right answer is seen in JJ Abrams, the director of Mission Impossible III with Tom Cruise. He was recently asked what he did with all his money and about his work,

Next up for Abrams is a "Star Trek" movie, now in pre-production, which will unleash his inner geek as never before. He'll also be working on "Lost," trying to ensure the show doesn't splinter into so many directions that it chokes on itself or stops moving.

There's not a lot of talk from him about downtime.

Asked if he has any plans for his money, he seems confused.

"What money?"

You know, the money you get paid for all this incredibly lucrative work.

He thinks for a moment, then tilts his head and points to his locks.

"Hair care," he says.

The reporter's question was met with a joke. JJ Abrams really didn't think about the money, didn't think about the stuff it could buy. Or taking long vacations. He was consumed with his passion of making movies. The Love.

If you had the wealth of Solomon you should be doing exactly what you are doing now. The right answer from your potential manager is, "If I struck oil in my front yard, I'd still be doing what I'm doing now." And he is really saying, "I love it here and so will you."

3) Tactics. What classes are you taking now? Continuous learning is, well, continuous. Life-long-learning is the hallmark of leaders.

Benjamin Franklin"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest," said Benjamin Franklin. An outstanding prospective boss is reading a compelling book, just finished a seminar on international business etiquette, or studied parallels on initiative between business units and military units for a board presentation.

Education and continuous improvement is the one thing every boss should care about.

I was surprised to learn this.

Your Business Blogger once acted as the COO of a Fortune 350 size organization. In my first meeting with the human resource directors, I asked them what was the one thing our employees wanted.

I thought it would be more money. More time off. Vacations days. Sick leave. The typical union demands.

Nope. The nine HR professionals, who happened to all be women said, unanimously, education. More budget and time for improving knowlege, skills and abilities. More opportunities for studies and credentials. (Then they'd clamor for increased pay based on increased efficiency. Clever buggers.)

So we opened attendance for adult education programs at local universities and community colleges. And squeezed out budgets for fancy business consultants to teach advanced management skills. Everyone was happy. Our employee retention rate improved.

If your new manager doesn't care about adult education for himself, he won't care about it for you.

So you are now armed with three qualifying questions to test your next boss. Or try them on your current boss if you are looking for an excuse to leave. But get a new job first.

And let me know how it goes.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Jesse Brown passed away almost 4 years ago. I still miss him. My inaugural post was dedicated to him.

Basil's Blog has a Picnic.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

Posted at 9:49 AM | Permalink
Comments (2) | TrackBacks (2)

Hugh Hewilt, 3-Time Emmy Award Winner;
Charmaine Yoest
photo credit: Jack Yoest Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. The fifth of May is our wedding anniversary. Chuck deFeo, Director of Online Strategy for Town Hall, Beyond the News.com, with the Salem Web Network, asked us to join him with 300 of our closest friends in Your Nation's Capital. Karl Rove would say a few words.

Which is odd since he didn't know it was our anniversary. And no one mentioned it. The dinner was off the record, but I think I can report that Karl Rove was silent about Your Business Blogger and the Little Woman.

Other than forgetting our anniversay, Rove was quite engaging.

Charmaine, Mark Steyn making a point,
Michael Medved backgroundThere was a panel with Dennis Prager, Mark Steyn, Bill Bennett.

In the audience, asking questions, was Hugh Hewitt, James Dobson, Frank Gaffney, Mike Gallagher.

We picked up a copy of Hewitt's new book, Paint the Map Red. The Entertainment Industry has the best SWAG.

Janet Parshall; Elaine Bennett of Best Friends; Michael Medved. Some of the brightest stars and thinkers in the business.

Ken Blackwell, the next president Governor, of Ohio spoke.

There were some very, very smart people in that room. I wasn't one of them. I felt like a, well, journalist.

David Aikman moderated the panel. He spent two decades with Time magazine. He's the former Beijing bureau chief. He is such an unTimely kind of guy. (David and Dennis Prager greeted each other speaking fluent Russian.) Anyway, he wrote Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power. David says that China is changing. They are beginning to understand the rule of law. Lex Rex. He says most of the young lawyers--lawyers! there are Christians. Go figure.

I read Aikman's book. He starts his book with a lecture from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing in 2002. Aikman quotes a Chinese academic speaking to a group from the USA visiting China:

One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world...We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don't have any doubt about this.

The Chinese don't doubt the source of our cultural heritage. Sadly, American liberals do.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The National Day of Prayer was Thursday, May 4th. George Bush spoke.

Ed Atsinger
Salem President
and CEOSalem Communications Corporation, NASDAQ SALM,

... is the leading provider of radio programming, online resources and magazines targeted to the Christian and family themes audience. ...Salem Communications currently owns and operates 95 radio stations nation-wide, with 60 stations located in the top 25 most populated U.S. markets. ...Religious formats constitute the third largest radio format in the United States. Currently, over 2,000 radio stations are identified as having primarily a religious format. Approximately 52% of Americans been identified as listeners to religious formatted radio.

Read more on Salem's Editorial Board: Hugh Hewitt, Terry Eastland, Janet Parshall, Albert Mohler, Jr., Michael Medved, Phillip Johnson and David Aikman.

Basil's Blog has a Picnic.

Mudville has Open Post.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 7:14 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

The Saving of Private Ryan Movies about the American Soldier in this generation always regress to anti-war screeds.

Jarhead
the movie Charmaine and I rented Jarhead the other night. Slow moving movie. She mumbled, "Boring. I thought liberals could make movies..." then dozed off. Mercifully.

Jarhead missed the mark. Off target. Unless you wanted to bone up on Marine mast*rb*tion. Combat Jacks. Hollywood style.

Saving Private Ryan was only marginally better. Following is a review by Your Business Blogger originally published by the Scripps Howard News Service

WHY SAVING PRIVATE RYAN FALLS SHORT

By JOHN WESLEY YOEST JR.

"Please tell me I've been a good man," Private Ryan tearfully begs his wife when, as an old man, he visits the grave of the man who died for him. "Tell me I've led a good life."

Well frankly, Ryan, your life probably wasn't all that special. At least not good enough for another man to die in your place. No man is "good enough," no man is truly worthy of the ultimate sacrifice. In his heart, Ryan knows this. And so do we.

But as Hollywood prepares to honor the depictions of sacrifice in the movie "Saving Private Ryan," it's worth reflecting on true worth of that ultimate gesture. ...

...There is an Unknown God that we all seek. Speilberg was on to truth in depicting Captain Miller as "the teacher," a rabbi, a Christ-figure. In its final moments, the movie reveals its allegory of man's yearning for Christ. Only in this context does "Saving Private Ryan" make sense. Private Ryan cheated death, but he didn't cheat eternity. Was he good enough? No man is good enough.

In the end, Ryan falls to his knees before his savior's grave feeling his unworthiness. Asking in anguish the movie's central question: was I worthy? The only answer Speilberg leaves us with is a silently waving flag and Ryan's hollow cry ... I tried to be a good man! The difference between saying "I was a good man" and admitting, "I am not worthy" may seem slight. But traversing the chasm between the two provides the true liberation Ryan was seeking.

In Spielberg's movie, Ryan is saved by Everyman. But the captain's grave provided no ultimate answers. For salvation, Ryan should have kneeled before an empty grave.

Read more at the jump.

Dog tags with P38
Service Number blurred

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Originally published by
the Scripps Howard News ServiceAlso titled The Salvation of Private Ryan by The Virginian Pilot.

Rule of Reason has more at the capitalist movie critic.

BlogCritic has an excellent review of Jarhead.

Mudville has Open Post.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 9:26 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Charmaine has proof that men think differently than women. Or that Your Business Blogger is different. And a story on how an old teacher can make a old soldier do strange things. A cross post from Reasoned Audacity:

Jack has a hilarious post up entitled "Walking the Red Carpet in 7 Easy Steps." I love the part where he points out the two tennis poles growing out of his and Chris Buckley's heads. . .

Morgan Fairchild

My favorite story from the event comes from one of the pre-dinner parties. At one point I was standing next to a beautiful woman who turned, put out her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Morgan Fairchild." Very friendly. I think I'm going to have to forgive her for being a Democrat.

We started to chat when I felt Jack pulling my elbow. "Come on. Quick," he whispered.

I wondered what could possibly be pulling us away from chatting with. . .Morgan Fairchild. But ever the dutiful wife, I hurried away with him. . .

Lt. Gen. Bernard Trainor
"Hurry," Jack says, a star-struck sound in his voice: "We've got to meet Bernie Trainor."

Kid. You. Not.

Charmaine really thought this was funny. And certainly odd. But she understands the military mind...

Here is the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. I had a Marine instructor at The Armor School, back in the days of the horse cavalry, whose name was Trainor. A mere Captain at the time who always won all the teaching awards. For good reason: I can still detail the functions of a coincidence range finder. I wanted to learn if the two Trainor's were related or even the same man. They weren't.

So I passed up Morgan for a Marine. A good teacher can have this kind of effect. Crazy devotion.

Mudville Gazette would get it. Visit Open Post and give congrats to Yankee Sailor.

Posted at 7:07 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Pin-up Grrrs
Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture The Grey Lady of the Academy isn't gray but does have ladies.

Or at least girls. I mean, grrrls. New, creative writing. So hip! So groovey! Valley Girl spelling for the dirty old male professors. Tired of Playboy and Hustler. Moving up to cultural raunch.

But there is more to the pictures than mere prurient interest. There's a book. By an academic. A Bitch, Ph.D. wannabe, Maria Elena Buszek. Her scholarly book has 464 pages. (Whatever.) And 103 photographs. (Now you're talking.) Including 9 pictures, NINE! IN COLOR!! (Hot D*M!)

The book is described as a,

brilliantly vibrant debut book, [where] Maria Elena Buszek gives a lucid, rich, and thorough account of ... history in which women employ the power of erotic imagery to celebrate themselves.

So. Patriots celebrate the 4th of July. Catholics celebrate Mass. Feminists celebrate... themselves.

Truth from The Chronicle of Higher Education. Your tuition dollars at work.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

More on Bitch, PhD.

Posted at 10:24 PM | Permalink
Comments (2)

L to R: Elaine Donnelly, President,
Center for Military Readiness;
Charmaine; Chris Buckley;
Your Business Blogger "Isn't that Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame up ahead?" Asks Charmaine.
"I think so," I said. "Quick, let's get in their frame."

Charmaine and Your Business Blogger are on The Red Carpet. Roped off from the unwashed masses as we enter the Washington Hilton for the White House Correspondent's Dinner Saturday night. Cameras, flashing lights, squeals.

No. Not for us. George Clooney is here somewhere. Probably trying to get in our frame.

We are there for the reception only, courtesy NRO. But we still get a walk on the red side.

There is a science to RCW, Red Carpet Walking. It takes years of study. But this should be a part of your business etiquette.

Here's Walking in 7 Steps:

1) Never a wear name tag. Ever see Madonna with badge on her breast? Or anything at all, besides traffic cones?

2) Drop the drink. It may be sparkling water, but looks like scotch and soda. Your board will think you are boozing it up. Or worse -- you're having a good time. Smiling with the staff.

3) Look back at your backdrop. Your assistant should handle this, but be aware of what's behind you. If I did, I would have noticed the light poles growing out of our heads. See pic above. Not cool -- even if the light poles were for the tennis courts where Justice Scalia was headed.

4) Delay at the door. This gives the person ahead of you time to clear out. It will also compress your posse behind you, if your entourage is to trail. Count to Five. Expectation mounts. Walk in with your head back and smile. They've been waiting for you.

5) Stop for the Paparazzi. And cameras. Even fast shutter times might blur. Walk slow. Smile. Again. The cameras never blink, as Dan Rather said.

6) Never wear a coat. Fur yes, but not outer winter wear. You are walking only from the limo car to the door. No need for a coat. And it hassles the staff. You don't do coat checks.

7) Get in the picture. Now if Maria Bartoloma is ahead of you, cameras will follow her. Camera equipment, as has been well documented, is carried by lonely, sex-starved men. Photo-journalists are like 14-year-old boys, but on the payroll. Get close behind the celebrity, especially if it's a woman. It makes it difficult to photoshop you out.

Now you know The Red Carpet. In case your daughter is part of the Academy Awards, or for your blockbuster IPO, or if you simply walk through the wrong door.

Like we did.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Cross Post at Management Training.

Read on the marketing brilliance of Chris Buckley's Smoking at Tony Snow, Bimbo's.

Be sure to read more at NRO's The Corner.

Basil's Blog has a picnic.

Open Post at Mudville Gazette.

Posted at 10:40 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

DC Metro subway
farecard One of the most popular web cams in Your Nation's Capital is not with the C-SPANing of lawmakers. Not Congress.

Nope. The other Zoo. The National Zoo.

With Panda-ring in both venues.

See the Panda Cam. Scroll down. Live shots of Tai Shan, the bear. National Zoo.

America, the world, has a thing for bears.

The Pandas are so popular that the Washington DC Metro System uses them as a branding image on the fare cards.

USA's Smokey Bear
Your Business Blogger was not content with watching. I wanted to see a Panda Bear IRL. And I wanted to study China's marketing equivalent of the USA's Smokey Bear.

Tourism for China. Forest fire prevention for America. Marketing to make money. Marketing to prevent loss. Using approachable bear images.

I was crazy, Charmaine says. I went over the top...

...of the world, chugging to Chengdu. Home of the Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center.

My Bamboo eating Buddy So I ask if I could cuddle a big critter.

Not the big one, the Panda Keepers suggested, but a smaller version. In red. Looks like a raccoon.

Not in the traditional black and white.

So I play with a live panda. For 100 Yuan. Twelve and a half bucks.

Panda in Black & WhiteA marketing adventure.

But I am a bit disappointed. My expectations were not managed. I was expecting a bit more, I guess.

A little danger, perhaps. Exotic Orient Express adrenaline rush. I got safely Shanghaied instead.

The Panda feels like a rat with coarse hair. Loved by kids and congressmen.

Not my cup of chai.

Sometimes a branding experience should not be handled too near at hand. Distance makes consultants more valuable; makes Pandas more valuable.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

April is Panda Month.

Basil's Blog has a Picnic.

Posted at 10:39 AM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had a baby. A girl named Suri, or something. It means Red Rose.

Charmaine and I were betting they'd get married first. We were wagering on a wedding.

We lost.

Katie Holmes
with her parentsKatie's dad was central in her life. We thought Katie's dad would put some boundaries on their passion. Until the knot was tied.

Charmaine wrote last year,

The tabloids are all agog with word that Katie Holmes has stated to the world that she will remain a virgin until she marries.

And now she's dating Tom Cruise (not really a Top Gun, but played one in the movies).

The tabloids have reported breathlessly that Cruise filled Katie's room with dozens of red roses...

Of course, we've seen this scenario before with other starlets. But my vote is with Katie. Why? Look at that picture of her with her parents. Both of them. While other reporters are fixated on the wolf with red roses, I'm interested in what she has to say about the other man in her life -- her father: She consults him on every major decision, and "He always tried to intimidate boys who wanted to date me," she says (according to Sky Showbiz )

It's a dad thing. In every culture.

So now Your Business Blogger is really worried. We have three daughters. We're determined to protect the little women from the wolves. With my version of W. Bruce Cameron's Rules.

We get lots of advice on girls dating, these days.

Sheila Lennon from The Providence (R.I.) Journal reported that, after reading my rules,

I chuckle, since my dad once met a dubious date with hammer in hand. I eluded parental controls as necessary, nonetheless. Mr. Yoest, you don't have a chance.

Sheila, this is not helpful.

So. I've some extra work to do. Extra vigilance. Civilization depends on it. On me.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

See Meatloaf's Wolf With Red Roses at the jump. The passion.

See Charmaine's Need for Social Censure.

And Values.

Basil's Blog has another picnic.

Outside the Beltway has Traffic Jam. And be sure to visit Mensa Barbie. Smart girl.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 10:48 PM | Permalink
Comments (2)

A tale of two sales guys. One made the big, small. The other made the small, big.

Cross Your Business Blogger recently was privileged to view an advance screening of the movie trailer about Wilberforce and his lifelong fight against slavery.

Amazing Grace. Due out in March, I saw the movie thru a marketing lens.

Wilberforce was able to sell a very big project by making the intangible, tangible. From global-big to individual-small. He made the individual slave real to the individual Member of Parliament.

Today, MacLeod is able to sell a very small project by making the tangible, intangible. From individual-small to global-big.

Micro brand to global presence:

A small, tiny brand, that "sells" all over the world.

Same Cross, Hugh MacLeod

Wilberforce and MacLeod: From the U.K. One-to-one marketing at its best.

Because we each have our Cross to bear.

Happy Easter.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Your Business Blogger has purchased calling cards from Gapingvoid. You should too. I got the 'company hierarchy card.' For sociopaths.

Mudville has Open Post.

Read Hugh MacLeod's Easter post. Like a visit to the country. In another country.

More on Walden Media at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 8:49 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

The Chronicle of Higher Education arrived in my mail box. In plastic wrap. But it should be covered in brown paper. Remember, Your Business Blogger subscribes for the articles. But I can always count on The Chronicle to titillate.

Here's this edition's nudie pics.

The liberals in academe cannot understand why us parental prudes might not want their daughters dancing naked on campus and posing in paint for publication.

This is bad for the education business. Looks bad on a resume.

But I could be wrong.

Rachel E. Beaulieu (above in tiger stripes), a senior...is treasurer of the Liquid Latex Club,...wanted to improve [her] outlook on the way [she] looked...

[and]

...the nudity may attract first-time audience members...

[but]

...Ms. Beaulieu says it is not what the show is about...

And boys read Playboy for the articles.

The co-ed concludes, "It's a very unique experience...the liquid latex allows you to do things you could never do," with conventional cloth and clothes and virtue.

This is a subtle hint to human resource managers: The more a girl has appeared nude in print, the greater the possibility that men would have seen her. And perhaps have stared. Some will oogle.

This is a longitudinal sexual harassment case study in the making.

Ms. Beaulieu, please let us know how the job search progresses.

We'll be watching.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

From The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 14, 2006. At least the picture was buried on A6.

Full Disclosure: The wife of Your Business Blogger has been published in The Chronicle. In conventional fashion.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

Basil's Blog has a Picnic.

Michelle Malkin has more on education.

Outside the Beltway has Traffic Jam.

Posted at 10:24 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

The Onion Your audience can laugh with you. Or at you. Today's dual case study has the wife of Your Business Blogger and her employer, the Family Research Council as the subject of both. And a little about me.

First, the gentle, genteel example:

The Onion, published Critics Blast Bush For Not Praying Hard Enough, quoting FRC's Bob Jensen.

George W. BushThe story reveals that:

"Every time the president is criticized, he insists that the nation is in his prayers," said the Family Research Council's Bob Jensen. "That may be, but it's becoming more and more clear that these prayers are either too infrequent, too brief, or not strongly worded enough to be effective."

There is, of course, no Bob Jensen at FRC. But Charmaine should take credit for the media hit.

(Media hit is a good thing. Mafia hit is a bad thing.) (Sometimes hard to tell the difference.)

And so the second example

is somewhat more brutal.

Marketing expert Seth Godin explains.

Seth Godin's
Purple CowIn his bestseller, Purple Cow, Seth says that your marketing campaign must stand out from the herd of common "brown cows" to be noticed.

A "Purple Cow" would be eye-catching.

Today's products and services must "be different, remarkable, extraordinary, exciting...challenging" to standout. To succeed.

So how would you know if you got it right?

Seth reminds us that:

For decades, mass marketing through television worked wonders and it sold billions of dollars worth of products. It even worked for the internet...for awhile.

But no longer. Seth, once the President of Direct Marketing for Yahoo, gives a number of benchmarks for success today. One that caught my attention was parody.

An advertising and marketing program might be labeled a success when it is cited as comedy or satire. If Saturday Night Live makes fun of your brand -- you've got a winner. Seth writes:

If you can show up in a parody, it means you've got something unique, something worth poking fun at.

It means there's a Purple Cow at work.

By this parody definition, Your Business Blogger and wife have become a "success." We got hit by Tbogg last year.

Quite an honor. I think.

Tbogg, was the winner of the 2003 Koufax Most Humorous Award for left/liberal blogs. He gets 12,762 visits daily. (And to his credit he unmasks his sitemeter.)

A link from Tbogg is almost as good as an insta-launch from Glenn Reynolds in the blogosphere.

The anonymous Tbogg described one of my posts as paste-eating stupid and Charmaine as a fat drunken cow. Funny.

It'd be funnier if Tbogg called her a purple fat cow. Maybe. Not.

Later, Tbogg criticises Charmaine's spelling. For comparison, Michelle Malkin is merely a crazy-a** bi*ch.

Parody, as I think Seth would correctly describe, is a bit different from being the butt of a joke.

But it sure feels the same. In any event, Seth is right: Sales and marketing and advertising these days requires being a Purple Cow, with a thick hide.

The Onion does parody right. Tbogg does not.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Warning: Onion has explicit language. Tbogg has explicit language. Dick Cheney has explicit language.

Seth's Blog has more with his book, The Big Moo. Good reviews from readers. I will be joining fellow Seth supporters and reviewing also. (Even though Seth is not a Bush supporter. And prays to no god I know.)

Charmaine Crouse Yoest, Ph.D., is Vice President for External Affairs at Family Research Council. She serves as the Executive Producer of FRC's weekly and daily radio programs, Washington Watch Weekly and Washington Watch Minute, and oversees all aspects of FRC's online and new media communications. Including the FRCBlog.

Charmaine also blogs at Reasoned Audacity.

Washington Post has more on Bush.

This is an update from 24 October 2005.

Basil's Blog has a picnic and good reads. Learn who got married.

Posted at 3:52 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Vince Lombardi once said, "The Green Bay Packers never lost a football game. They just ran out of time."

Coach Scott Grebenstein must be saying the same thing. Running out of time and innings in the final championship game Sunday afternoon with the Maryland Cardinals. Score: Savage behind Cardinals, 11 to 12, to place second.

He led the Savage Spirit baseball team this weekend on a series of wins and a "slaughter rule" upset over the Maryland Mud Hens.

It started Friday nite. Your Business Blogger packed up Charmaine and the Penta-Posse into the monster SUV for two nites in Aberdeen, Maryland. Home of the Cal Ripken Stadium complex. Opening Day Tournaments.

We saw old friends from Charlottesville baseball allstar days. Charmaine teared up. Not me. Although it was windy andblowingdustgetsinyoureyesandwateruptogetdustout.

(Hint: moving 11 times in 15 years of marriage is too many good-bys. Too many hellos.)

Anyway. The team played well. The Dude played well.

The Dude pitching

Wind up

Delivery: 3 up, 3 down

The Dude can hit The Dude got his first over the fence home run on Sunday.

Congratulations Savage Spirit on a great season's opener!

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Cal Ripken Baseball

Posted at 9:05 AM | Permalink
Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

George Mason University A dozen years ago Your Business Blogger went school shopping.

To buy an MBA. Living in Northern Virginia, we were considering one of the three local Georges -- Washington, 'Town, Mason.

We were budgeting north of 40K. Self pay. So I was really, really interested in the cost.

So I ask GW, "How much?"

"Around $42,000 or so."

"Or so? So what does that mean?" I wondered.

"It might be a bit more." Said the major university big time recruiter smarty pants.

I was a sales manager at the time. I turned on the huffy sales manager voice, "Can you tell me the number it will cost me. The number I need to budget."

"We don't have the exact number," says the GWU MBA seat seller.

I pause. Why would I buy an MBA from a business school that can't even forecast their own costs? And they're supposed to teach me this stuff?

I would have thought this unusual. But Georgetown said the same thing.

So I go visit Peggy at George Mason. She had the exact cost. No hidden charges. I like her. I bought a seat. Two years later, another consultant is set loose on the world.

George Mason had long been known for two things.

1) Favorable mentions by Tom Clancy in his books. And,

2) A university with a conservative flavor. Walter Williams et. al.

Now GMU is in the NCAA final four. Set to beat Florida Saturday nite.

Which creates a business opportunity. Alan Merten, the GMU president is scrambling to take advantage in the serge of applications that follow winning basketball teams.

"A target rich opportunity," says Merten.

You can bet Mason will get the business branding of higher education right.

Mason can do the numbers. George Mason knows how to do business. Now basketball scores. Increased enrollment numbers are next.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

We should be hearing from Professor Starling Hunter, at The Business of America is Business. He teaches in the United Arab Emirates. George Mason has 31 students in an extension campus there. The UAE has Patriot fever, I understand.

My church pastor, David Wayne, the JollyBlogger, is a Gator guy. Can't wait for Sunday's sermon.

The Happy Booker has more.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

Jollyblogger is on the other side.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 5:45 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Brent Bozell
MRC's Founder...at the Media Research Center's DisHonor Awards. Your Business Blogger and Charmaine attended last night's fund raising dinner with 960 of our closest DC friends.

Typical rubber chicken talk-a-thon? Nope. Steak at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Humor and hand-held noise makers. Real Laughter.

Brent Bozell, with his master of ceremonies, Peabody Awarding winning Cal Thomas, had terrific material to work with.

Poking fun at the liberal media bias. With actual footage of the nincompoopheads that bring us the news. The Goliaths.

The Army of Davids was in the audience.

Media Research CenterThere were multiple categories. Nominees included Andrea Mitchell, Chris Matthews, Nina Totenberg, Jack Cafferty, Keith Obermann, Nancy Giles, Rick Kaplan, David Gergen, Ted Turner, Harry Smith, Mary Mapes, Kathy Griffin, Alec Baldwin, Rosie O'Donnell.

Oddly, none of the nominees were in attendance.

The presenters included Tony Blankley, Larry Kudlow, Mark Levin, Brent Bozell.

The winners were Chris Mathews, Rosie O'Donnell, Ted Turner.

The West's Last ChanceHigh class swell swag was to be had. Courtesy MRC: copies of Tony Blankley's new book.*

Ted Turner's award winning interview was his political analysis. Critical of the USA, and fawning of North Korea and Kim Jong-il. Oppression, torture, starvation north of the 38th parallel? He didn't see any. "I saw thin people...riding bikes," lectured Turner.

Odd to hear an American hating southern accent. Well, his and Jimmy Carter's.

Conservatives have a liberal sense of humor. Mark Levin said, "...Rosie O'Donnell went to charm school...on a football scholarship."

Tony Blankley mused that CNN's AAron Burr Brown believes all conservative policies and programs are delivered from "the anus of satan."

Larry Kudlow comma Capitalist, as he always introduces himself on CNBC, rolled the Chris Matthews clip. This is where the host of Harball says, "We've got to get out of our American skin...the North Vietnamese were ...objectively the good guys..." in the Vietnam War. This is what passes for journalism. And is failing.

Stan Evans bemoaned the lack of liberal's grammar. "Brokeback Mountain?...It's not Brokeback -- it's BROKENback Mountain..."

See the video at the Media Research Center.

The evening closed with A Tribute to the American Military. Some cried. Out loud.

Brent Bozell is a class act. Who loves America.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

* I picked up a few extra copies of the Blankley book. Leave me a comment on liberal bias and the benefit of blog reading and I'll mail you a FREE copy. Include mailing address, will not be published. While supplies last.

The DisHonors Awards have been held since 1999. More at the jump.

Soldier's Angel has more on the media bias.

Visit Pundit Review for real analysis.

Full Disclosure: Brent Brozell has said nice things about Your Business Blogger's wife and one of her appearances on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 6:51 AM | Permalink
Comments (2)

Lifted shamelessly from the Jollyblogger.

This is a cat.

Aslan's on the move

For all of you who live in the Baltimore and Washington DC area I want to invite you to an event at our church this Thursday night featuring author and C. S. Lewis Scholar Art Lindsley. Here's the announcement from the church:

C. S. Lewis has found a new generation of fans with the overwhelming success of the movie adaptation of his book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

You are invited to a lecture and a dessert discussing C. S. Lewis and the importance of the imagination in his life and writings.

Date: Thursday, March 30, 2006

Time: 7:00 -- 9:00pm

Location: Glen Burnie Evangelical Presbyterian Church

710 Aquahart Rd, Glen Burnie, MD

For more info: 410-766-5363 or office@gbepc.org

Arthur Lindsley, Ph.DOur Speaker

Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow -- C. S. Lewis Institute

Art Lindsley has served at the C.S. Lewis Institute since 1987. Formerly, he was Director of Educational Ministries at the Ligonier Valley Study Center, and Staff Specialist with the Coalition for Christian Outreach. He is the author of the books True Truth and C. S. Lewis's Case for Christ and is the co-author of the book Classical Apologetics along with R.C. Sproul and John Gerstner. He has written numerous articles on theology, apologetics, C.S. Lewis, and the lives and works of many other authors and teachers. Art earned his M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.

I hope you can come!

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Free Stuff at the C S Lewis Institute.

Visit the Jollyblogger.

Posted at 10:37 AM | Permalink
Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Internet Cafe in Chongqing, ChinaYour Business Blogger just bought The Big Blogger, Glenn Reynolds' new book An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths.

The Instapundit thesis is not, I think, limited to the US of A.

Technology; people; institutions face the same challenges the world over. Your Business Blogger has become, gasp! a globalist.

An Army of Davids

When working in China I was reminded of another army -- an army of blue ants. Twenty years ago, foreign visitors noted, not unkindly, the ubiquitous blue Mao suits. A hard-working populous; one mind; one suit.

Fashion has changed in China.

Colors, style, trend. Pushed by teenagers and embraced by all.

And the teens are pushing, as they do the world over, in other directions.

Your Business Blogger visited an internet cafe on my last China trip. Etiquette hint: Don't ask for the non-smoking terminals. A non-smoking section? Heh, as Reynolds would write. The whole country is, well, Marlboro country.

Directions to the cafe were complicated. It was hidden in a dimly lit smokey warehouse accessible thru a back alley -- safety was never a concern -- workstations as far as the eye could see. 100's of them. An hour on a keyboard sets a hacker back one yuan. 12.5 cents.

The arena was filled with 20-somethings all gone gaming. Smoking and practicing English.

The kids looked like they were there for days. I was there a few hours myself.

And not a Mao suit in sight.

What's the matter with kids these days? Beijing is wondering.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that China is attempting to limit the Web's influence on young people.

Goodness. Attempting to limit access to the web! Big Brother stopping freedom! Big Government controlling all behavior!

Except.

Except Beijing wants to limit kids under 18 to five hours -- five hours of on-line gaming each day.

Maybe that's not such a bad law after all.

Now if China could keep the kids from smoking...

Like our Government does.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

More on Mao suits at the jump.

Dana Blankenhorn has his limits. An excellent review.

Tim Wu, from the Columbia Law School has a white paper at The World Trade Law of Internet Filtering.

For the best in business in China, visit David Daniels at Global Market Development and Internet Adoption in China.

Median Sib has excellent review of Davids.

Don Surber has best of Thursday Posts. Bookmark him.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

See Feld's Thoughts on A Different View on China.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 1:51 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Yesterday, Your Business Blogger was on a major university campus in East Asia watching students play basketball outdoors. Acres of concrete courts. A football-sized outside arena with dozens and dozens of hoops.

The play is not quite like the intramural competition in USA. On this side of the world the students don't play defense. Just shooting.

So I ask my host about this -- offense only, no defense.

I'm expecting a deep relevelation of cultural differences. A difference in innovation or strategies or team play or ego or losing face. Maybe something about DNA differences?

Nope.

The answer?

American TV.

These students watch ESPN. They learned to play basketball watching America's NBA.

Where you will never see any defensive play.

The basketball style of play will probably change when college ball is broadcast into East Asia.

So. The world is watching the USA. And picking up some bad habits, in addition to watching Spong Bob Square Pants.

Posted at 7:38 PM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Rush Limbaugh
credit: Jack Yoest There are only two items that matter in radio:

Ratings

Revenue

Charmaine was on NPR's Talk of the Nation this week in the 2 to 3pm EST slot. NRP up against Rush Limbaugh.

Who wins in that capitalist competition?

NPR is a public service; subsidized by your tax dollars. Rush Limbaugh is paid through outrageous ad rates by advertisers. Who clamor to get the ears of millions of eager listeners.

NPR can't command an audience for money-making ad rates. Your tax dollars keep this public service sounding off.

National Public RadioSo why does no one listen to NPR? A brief review of Charmaine's gig will suffice.

The talking heads on the show were:

1) The Host; a liberal
2) A USAToday reporter; a liberal
3) Adoption Agency representative who does lots and lots of homosexual adoptions; liberal
4) Think tank expert; a liberal
5) Think tank expert; a conservative

In the sense of fair play, the liberal notion of egalitarianism, each participant, including the hostess gets equal time.

Charmaine gets 20% of talking time. The conservative point of view.

Liberals get 80% of the air time.

So when Limbaugh goes with his tag line/punch line of "I am equal time," this is what he means.

But the media bias is more than packing a panel. Liberals commit sins not only of commission but of omission. To wit:

There is no mention that guest Rob Woronoff, think tank "expert," is the Program Manager for the LGTQ, Youth Services, for the Child Welfare League of America. And that he is not a scientist. He's an activist.

(I understand Lesbian, the Gay, T for trans-gendered. But what on earth does the 'Q' stand for? Other?)

Charmaine was the only one on the panel who knows her way around multiple regression. She was never addressed as Dr. Yoest.

Listen to Charmaine and learn why liberals are losing.

Limbaugh is entertaining.

NPR is propaganda.

Rush Limbaugh gets 20 million listeners a week.

Talk of the Nation gets 3. Million.

Ratings and revenues.

Rush wins.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

More on Rush Limbaugh at the jump.

Don Surber has best Thursday articles.

Update: Willism has numbers.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 7:16 AM | Permalink
Comments (3)

Small Business Trends
Forbes Winner Your Business Blogger will be discussing Top 10 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make with Their Employees.

Hit time is Tuesday, March 7th at 1pm EST.

Anita Campbell

Live.

Visit Small Business Trends and click through the microphone at top right.

Small
Business
Trends
Radio

The award winning Small Business Trends is hosted by Anita Campbell. Her collaborator is Steve Rucinski at Small Business CEO.

Small Business CEO, published since May 2004

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Small Business Trends is sponsored by Six Disciplines on www.business.voiceamerica.com. Safe for workplace listening.

Posted at 6:10 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Reagan and ReaganitesCharmaine and Your Business Blogger celebrated belatedly The Gipper's Birthday at the Ropewalk in Downtown Balitmore.

Good food. Good company. Good politics.

A perfect evening.

>

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Ropewalk Tavern is located at 1209 S. Charles Street; Baltimore, Maryland, 410.727.1298, in the historic Federal Hill 'hood. Owner Marc McFaul is doing everthing right. This is an unpaid endorsement.

Posted at 12:55 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Public
Broadcasting
SystemLast week Charmaine did the Fred Friendly Seminars. A civilized shouting show on PBS.

The program was on Ethics in America: My Brother's Keeper. The moderator was Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School.

L to R: Rabbi Daniel Zemel, Elayne Bennett, Barney Frank, Charmaine Yoest,
Anita Allen

Charmaine in make-up

The Dude and The Diva get the camera angles

Cook's Tour by
Producer Pamela Mason Wagner

Executive Producer Richard Kilberg with Charmaine

Note Ethics' compass. Magnetic north?
Or left tilt?

Professor Ogletree assured us during taping that the repeated use of the words "penis" and "sexually transmitted diseases" would probably end up on the cutting floor. The liberal panelists seemed to like very direct language.

Certainly Barney Frank did. Only the congressman from Massachusettes could use the words "fetish" and "fetish-ize" multiple times. Into a live mike. For cable.

We'll let you know when it airs.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The PBS operating revenue in fiscal year 2004 was $333 million. Leading sources of revenue included: ...CPB and federal grants (24%); ...and educational product sales (12%).

And the generous support of Annenberg Media.

The Seminar tapes are available from Fred Friendly Seminars for a fee. As part of their consulting offering and education packages. The guests appearing on the show are not compensated. Save for the croissants and coffee. Now that's a business model.

See more on The Seminars at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 8:29 AM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Cross Post from Reasoned Audacity

Tom Ford and Keira Knightly
on the cover of Vanity Fair

I'll admit that Vanity Fair is not exactly a high defender of morality in our culture, even on a good day. The ads they accept in their pages have been problematic for quite some time. But for the most part, their cover art, even though edgy, has stayed on the right side of discretion.

But this month, they leapt over the line, with a cover photograph of Tom Ford -- fully clothed -- biting Keira Knightly's ear. Knightly is completely naked. Reclining in front of them is Scarlett Johanssen, also completely nude.

CNBC Video Clip Here

So much for progress toward female empowerment. That's the argument I made on CNBC Wednesday night when they asked me to discuss the cover with an editor from Forbes and Todd Myers, Lead Consultant for Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve.

I've included the clip up above if you'd like to see it. But WARNING! Almost the entire segment is the three of us talking over b-roll of the Vanity Fair cover. They just replay lingering shots of the nudity over and over and over again.

There are two issues that particularly trouble me about the cover. The first is the juxtaposition of Ford, the man, being fully clothed . . . while the women are nude. Feminists ought to be outraged. I am. What's the message being sent there? There are several -- pick one. None of them are ones you want sent to your daughter.

And that brings me to my second concern. What does this cover say to young women about success in Hollywood? Anywhere? Both Knightley and Johanssen are well-respected young actresses. Keira Knightly, in particular, is one that my own girls have admired.

I wish these two had had the moral courage to take a stand for virtue.

Or, if that couldn't clear that high bar, at least make a stand for talent over crass commodification.

Rachel McAdams
Let me be sure, then, to send praises along to one who did: Rachel McAdams, another young Hollywood actress ("Wedding Crashers"). Defamer reports that she was supposed to be on the cover with Keira and Scarlett, but when she found out the plan for the shoot involved nudity, she left. . . and fired her publicist. Good going, Rachel.

Posted at 1:58 PM | Permalink
Comments (2)

A weblog reader wrote to Powerline: "Thanks for Changing the World!" When they wrote about errors on the CBS icon 60 Minutes. And bringing to the public news and expertise that had not been seen anywhere else.

Scott Allen is continuing this trend.

Whenever Your Business Blogger talks with journalists from the Main Stream Media, they always complain that there is no editorial oversight in the blogosphere.

The journalists are wrong. As usual.

Note the emergence and growth of Carnivals. They review and select the best offerings. Weblog readers and writers are segmenting down to narrower and narrower niches with greater and greater expertise.

Until they become like the old joke about Ph.D. dissertations: Knowing more and more about less and less.

And this is good. Blog readers and commenters provide some of the sharpest insight and critique around in any medium. Editorial oversight, as it were.

Here is the case study: Scott Allen has started up a start-up for start ups for weblog readers and writers. Free consulting. Every Week.

At The Carnival of Entrepreneurship. Up and running at Scott's.

Michael Barone, Scott Johnson, Paul Mirengoff
credit: Jack Yoest

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

See more on the expertise of Scott Allen in the extended entry.

See Don Surber's Thursday Best Blogs.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 8:58 AM | Permalink
Comments (0)

Vanity FairCharmaine appeared on CNBC (attempting) to debate the cover of Vanity Fair. Is it art? Or money-making-porn?

CNBCCNBC's On The Money

Click here for the CNBC Vanity Fair video.

This is a long 6 minute segment.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D. blogs at Reasoned Audacity and FRCBlog

Be sure to visit Basil's Blog.

Don Surber has best Wednesday posts.

Mudville has Open Post.

OutsideTheBeltway as links.

Aquila has more (or less).

See The Washington Post.

Posted at 11:27 AM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Vanity FairCharmaine will be on CNBC tonight, Tuesday at 7:30 to debate the cover of Vanity Fair. Is it art? Or money-making-porn?

CNBCCNBC's On The Money debate begins at 7:00pm. Charmaine will be appearing with Todd Myers, Lead Consultant for Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve and a woman from Forbes.

Be sure to tune in and let us know what you think!

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

More on Todd Myers on extended entry.

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D. blogs at Reasoned Audacity and FRCBlog

Continue Reading »

Posted at 5:22 PM | Permalink
Comments (2)

The Beatles Shea Stadium 1965The Beatles in their closing years decided to stop performing outdoor concerts. Even though the gig in Shea Stadium was a success.

The Fab Four said the music didn't sound the same.

The Rolling StonesAlthough the roof covered the Stones' performance in the stadium last night in Detroit, the singing didn't sound the same.

Your Business Blogger saw the Rolling Stones North American Tour, in Norfolk, Virginia on July 5, 1972.

The Stones didn't sound the same. Now compared to then.

And it doesn't really matter.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

My dad got me Stones tickets. Courtesy: United States Navy, I think. (How did he do that?) (I don't think I ever thanked him.) Too late now. That matters.

Posted at 6:56 AM | Permalink
Comments (1)