Be sure to watch the video clip at the end...

Your Business Professor has students who regularly misspell my name. On a deliverable assignment.

The Alert Student will know that such critical attention to detail might be bad form and might be a prerequisite to earning an "A."

Students and Media, it seem, have the same challenge with 'Yoest.'

Back in 2005 Charmaine debated the Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss on MSNBC hosted by Rita Cosby.

They debated the buying and selling of a woman's...time...?

Heidi was for.

Charmaine was against that kind of market transaction.

You Can Rent the woman on the Left.

You Can't Touch the woman the Right.

The type of cash for favors reported at the notorious Moonlight Bunny Range where every girl has her price. YouTube of half-clad Bunnies follows:

Charmaine Yoest debates
Heidi Fleiss on Bunny Ranch

The Alert Reader will recall that the Bunny Range series was one of MSNBC's most popular features. This may have been the high point for the now liberal cable outlet.

MSNBC has gone down (in viewship?)

(in politics?) since.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Since this report Heidi, The Hollywood Madam has signed a Hollywood movie deal for Five Million Dollars, and

Charmaine has been appointed as president and CEO of Americans United for Life.

Every girl has her price; every girl makes her own deal.

Rita Cosby Live and Direct transcript.

Also see Beauty is as Beauty Does.

Be sure to follow Your Business Blogger(R) and Charmaine on Twitter: @JackYoest and @CharmaineYoest

Video Credit: Peter Shinn and The Dude.

Posted at 1:50 PM | Permalink
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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 from last year 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. Usually 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.

[Don't go there...]

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 colonoscopies every 5 years are 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,"

Thank you (foot)notes:

But we actually celebrate two anniversaries.

Two constants every man needs.

His car.

His woman.

Jack and Charmaine 1990 (Order may not be important to some.)

Even as Charmaine and I are moving into our 20th year of marriage toward that death do us part part; the other anniversary is a milestone of over two decades.

Alert Readers are thinking, I know Jack -- how did he do it?

Without a coffee cup holder...?

The Germans do not believe that people should drive and drink...coffee. Ergo, no coffee cup holder in that old model.

So the ride has been a series of spilled hot fluids. And I would do it again.

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine - Andy Williams, Peter Paul & Mary

20 years; one owner
Your Business Blogger(R) and The Dude

Financial Expert Larry Burkett believes that a man should own but one car and run that car 'til the wheels fall off then repair and repeat.

Replacing is poor stewardship of resources.

It is also Biblical and is based on the Babe Bargain: A man should be the husband of but one wife.

Replacing is poor stewardship of resources.

A car and a girl. What more could a guy want?

Larry Burkett continues,

Let's face it. The majority of new automobile sales in America are made because of the buyers' wants, not needs. Often they are just tired of their cars; they look old and out of date, or they need repairs to put them back into top condition, or their neighbors or coworkers have acquired new cars.

Lyrics to KISSES SWEETER THAN WINE here. My favorite version is by Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.

In May of 1987 Your Business Blogger(R) bought a new car from American Service Center in Arlington, Virginia from former Redskin football player Joe Tereshinski.

My two investments; my two May anniversaries.

Follow us on Twitter: @JackYoest; @CharmaineYoest

Posted at 7:07 AM | Permalink
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Charmaine will be appearing with Mike Huckabee on Huckabee on FOX.

She will be debating the issues spawned by the octo-birthing 33 year old Jolie-wannabee, octuplet mom Nadya Suleman.

Her bills are paid for by the taxpayers.

She might bankrupt her home state of California all by herself...and her 14 [bad word removed by editortrix] fatherless children.

George Weigel gave a lecture the other night in Your Nation's Capital. His theme was about the cultural shift in the recent election. It was not so much that Obama had won, but who, or, rather 'what' the real winner was.

The real winner of the presidential election was...the 1960's.

George Weigel recounts that the 60's as the winner actually began when convicted felon Bill Clinton was able to remain in the office of the president. The liberals and the elites and the academics and Hollywood and mainstream media would rather have a sexual harasser remain in office than restrain -- in any fashion -- the libertine sexual freedom born in the 60's generation.

Obama embodies that leftist sexual license, George Weigel writes,

My reading of Senator Obama's record is that he is a genuine leftist: not a pragmatic liberal, like Clinton, but a true man of the left, in the European sense of the term. And that's probably why he's so popular in European circles.

On abortion, though, he is not simply a leftist, but a radical: in the Illinois state legislature, he led the fight against a partial-birth abortion ban, and against a law that would have given legal protection to infants who survive a late-term abortion.

From the latter, one would have to include that Senator Obama thinks a women has a right, not only to an abortion, but to a dead baby.

This is a position far, far to the left of the American mainstream. Obama's instincts in foreign affairs are also leftist: he does not seem to understand that there are people who hate the West and who are determined to do it harm for their own reasons, not because of anything the West has putatively done for them.

The 1960's won. It will take some time for the adults to take back power.

The sexual revolution separated sex from procreation.

And today the sexual revolution has separated procreation from sex.

The Octo-mom wanted children. Lots of them. But a husband; a father for her children wasn't happening. No need. Like feminists the world over, she needed a man like a fish needs a bicycle.

Why a man? When the taxpayer will send home the bacon and pay the rent.

Tune in and let us know what you think. Hit time is 8pm eastern on FOX.

Thank you (foot)notes,

Charmaine served as Senior Advisor traveling with the Huckabee for president campaign.

Read more on Wiegel's Cube and Cathedral.

Posted at 10:31 PM | Permalink
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The Dancer, friend of all animals, wanted a date with Dad. And off we went to see the flicka that is making moviegoers cry across America.

She was one of the five million who read the book and wanted more.

Here's what we learned, as the 22 doggie-double Marleys gnawed their way across 15 years.

Yes, it is a dog story and no humans were hurt in the filming. But the lessons were made for the alphas in us all.

1) A dog is as much cost and effort as a child. Your Business Blogger(R) had a tamer Marley-like hundred pound German Shepherd: Shadrach, The Dog Genius, who chewed his way thru four houses. Shepherding our first two children. Dogs add more than they subtract. The shaggy dog is the origin of fuzzy math.

The Dreamer and The Dude at Shadrach's last Christmas, 1995

2) Dogs are a cost-center not a profit-center: a consumer of resources. But the indoor animals (with outdoor voices) generate enough goodwill to be an asset that doesn't need to be sold to be realized or appreciated. A lot like children.

3) The domestic animals do not always produce domestic tranquility. Until housebroken. Just as, Charmaine would say, husbands.

4) Moms and Dads always cry after a miscarriage. There's one in the movie. If you are Pro-Choice you have our permission not to look at the sonogram. Then again, go ahead. There was no heartbeat. One pregnancy in five miscarries. One woman in four has an abortion. There is a lot of crying in America, and it's not only over a dog in the Marley & Me movie.

5) Funerals are for the living. As Yogi Berra said, "Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours." There must be closure for the living over the dead. A miscarriage needs closure. An abortion needs closure. Too bad the Pro-Choice community insists that abortion is a private matter. Women (and the dads) would heal quicker with some remembrance of what was. What could have been. Funerals provide the venue for a good cry. Like dog movies.

Go read the book. Go see the movie. Take a date.

Even if you don't need a reason to cry.

Posted at 7:00 PM | Permalink
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Bill Maher doesn't care much for babies. And less for marriage.

Charmaine on PI
with (the liberal) Bishop Spong.
Part One, circa 2002 Charmaine made over a dozen appearances on his old Politically Incorrect show.

So all our paths have crossed a time or two in the Green Room in his LA studio.

Usually after Your Business Blogger® just changed a stinky diaper on one of the infant Penta-Posse .

I probably did not make a compelling case for fatherhood...

Anyway.

Charmaine did work on Bill Maher's eternal perspective.

At one point Maher asked us, not rhetorically, "So what is death; a dirt nap?"

Maher sums up neatly the atheist's worldview: there is no God, no Heaven.

No Hell.

At death, it all ends on this celestial sphere. A dirt nap in a grave.

Dinesh D'Souza addresses atheism in his New York Times best seller, What's So Great About Christianity?,

From page 274,

What's So Great
About Christianity?"If sex is unhooked from the old moral restraints [marriage], there are going to be unwanted pregnancies [babies]. Here we get to atheism's second sacrament, which is abortion. [The first sacrament is orgasm.] The real horror of abortion is not that a woman kills an unborn child

but

that a woman kills her own unborn child. [Emphasis mine.]

The guilt in doing this, for all morally healthy persons, can only be tremendous.

So it is necessary for atheism to pave the way for abortion with a clear conscience.

The first step is to get rid of God, because then there is no spirit of the dead child to disturb the conscience, no hell to pay for violating the commandment against the deliberate taking of life."

Politically Incorrect,
Part 2One pregnancy in five ends in a miscarriage.

Charmaine and I had one. We still dream of that baby. Now safe on the other side.

The death still hurts and time does heal. But how much more would the hurt be if the mother was responsible for the loss of the baby?

How much more the pain if the mother murdered her baby?

The guilt these women feel must be horrendous.

Can Obama feel no pain?

I will take their heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.

Posted at 11:13 PM | Permalink
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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
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Alert Readers know that Your Business Blogger(R) teaches marketing at the Northern Virginia Community College.

Todd and Sarah Palin.

(This is the same College where James Carville has taught. I am not sure that this makes us "colleagues.")

Todd Palin was recently on Greta Van Susteren. And talked about supporting his wife as mayor, governor and, soon, Vice President.

Todd Palin is the new Brawny Man.

The Georgia-Pacific paper company did a series of Brawny Man ads a few years ago. The target market is women -- depicting the Real Man with Real Sensitivity.

Almost a mockery. But.

Certainly A Man With Appeal (to women...).

But this sells:

All Real Men, usually conservative men, want the women in their lives to succeed; to reach their full potential. And if there is a woman -- daughter, wife, sister, mother with the potential for outstanding success, Real Dudes support them. As Todd Palin supports Sarah.

Every feminist now realizes that breaking the glass ceiling requires a First Dude Brawny Man to back her up. This will never happen to feminists -- they really don't care that much for men.

Todd Palin: First Dude, The New Brawny Man. Men who love their Women.

See Advertising: The Good and The Bad.

Why Didn't Hillary Clinton Get the Dem VP Nomination?

Men: Get A Wife, Live A Better Life

For all of Carville's faults, he loves Mary.

Posted at 12:31 PM | Permalink
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In the Yoest household kitchen Answer: She's not married to Todd Palin.

On CNN yesterday Charmaine reinforced the point that women can succeed in any position at any level, if she has a deep support system. Beyond the government safety net.

The best support system is to marry a guy who will embrace the family mission, the family business. A husband who is not distracted by interns at 2am.

And will lift up his wife when her time comes...

And I'm not just talking pregnancy.

About half of all women who enter into a Ph.D. program do not finish. When Charmaine was working on her disertation at the University of Virginia, Your Business Blogger(R), MBA, and Charmaine's parents, Mom, Ph.D; Dad, Ph.D; Brother, Ph.D. and Penta-Posse gathered together and strategized on the path to make sure that Charmaine was in the half that got 'hooded.'

The extended family decided to invest in Charmaine.

Money was key but not the entire issue. Wisdom and logistical support were the real needs of house hold and five little ones.

Extended family and a hubby who will sacrifice for the family mission is the solution to whatever success the family, the mother, the mission will achieve.

Todd Palin is my kind of guy. Like me, he married way over his head and is not afraid to let the world know.

We are both married to CEO's who advance the family mission. Our extended families have made sacrifices and investments to advance very talented women, very talented wives.

If more feminists had devoted husbands, maybe they'd enjoy more success. As well as the other benefits of marital bliss (re Five Children...).

And this is the real reason the liberals hate Sarah Palin. She is normal.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Fish on a bicycle by Ray Troll Feminist icon Gloria Steinem can be blamed for a lot problems these days in verbiage and communication in the battle of men vs women.

But not this phrase.

Gloria Steinem writes to Time Magazine,

"In your note on my new and happy marital partnership with David Bale, you credit me with the witticism A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. In fact, Irina Dunn, a distinguished Australian educator, journalist and politician, coined the phrase back in 1970 when she was a student at the University of Sydney."

Credit should go to Irina Dunn, graffiti artist and Australian Senator from the Nuclear Disarmament Party.

And made popular more by U2.

Posted at 10:31 AM | Permalink
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Charmaine has been interviewed by a number of media outlets on John McCain's VP Palin pick and the announcement today that Palin's daughter is getting married and is pregnant.

Statement from Dr. Charmaine Yoest, Americans United for Life, on Palin Daughter's Pregnancy

Last update: 3:04 p.m. EDT Sept. 1, 2008 CHICAGO, Sept 01, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President and CEO of Americans United for Life, issued the following statement in response to news that the daughter of McCain running mate Sarah Palin is pregnant:

"As the mother of five children, I know this situation is not the ideal Sarah Palin wished for her daughter.

But the way we react to life's challenges is the true testament to our character. The Palin family is displaying courage and constancy.

We join them in welcoming this new life. Our prayers are with the entire Palin family as they deal with this in the intense glare of the media spotlight."

In Politico, Palin electrifies conservative base
By JONATHAN MARTIN, 8/31/08 7:16 AM EST

By tapping the anti-abortion and pro-gun Alaska governor just ahead of his convention, which is set to start here Monday, McCain hasn't just won approval from a skeptical Republican base - he's ignited a wave of elation and emotion that has led some grass-roots activists to weep with joy.

Serious questions remain about McCain's pick - exactly how much he knows about her and her positions, past and present, on key issues. But for the worker bee core of the party that is essential to any Republican victory, there are no doubts.

"I woke up and my e-mail was just going crazy," said Charmaine Yoest, head of the legislative arm of Americans United for Life and a former top official in Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign. "And then when it was announced - it was like you couldn't breathe."

The Independent from the UK, McCain's choice of running mate heads off potential rebellion, by David Usborne in St Paul, Sunday, 31 August 2008

Republican officials think that Mr McCain has solved that problem with the Palin pick. And they are cheered even more by the belief that it is the evangelical Christians who are most electrified - the same people who did so well by Mr Bush in 2000 and 2004.

Charmaine Yoest, a former top aide to presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee and a leading voice among conservative Republican women said the reaction to Mrs Palin has been beyond ecstatic. "I woke up and my e-mail was just going crazy," she said here in St Paul. "And then when it was announced - it was like you couldn't breathe."

LifeNews writes, Pro-Life Groups Say Sarah Palin's Abortion Rejection Reminds of McCain's' Adoption

Yoest told LifeNews.com that McCain's and Palin's actions and words point to the key differences between them and their pro-abortion rivals Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

"The Republican ticket stands in stark contrast to the stridently pro-abortion ticket put forth by the Democratic party," she said. "You can be sure the vice presidential selections will have far-reaching ramifications in this race."

Obama came under fire for appearing to back a potential decision by his daughters to seek an abortion saying he wouldn't "punish" them with a baby.

Thank you (foot)notes,

In related international abortion news,
LifeNews, Mexico Supreme Court's Decision to Allow Capital City Abortions Upsets Pro-Life Groups

Mexico City, Mexico (LifeNews.com) -- The decision by the highest court in Mexico to uphold the law allowing abortions up to 12 weeks into pregnancy is drawing sharp criticism from leading pro-life groups. The Mexico Supreme Court voted 8-3 this past week to uphold a federal district law allowing abortions and paying for them at taxpayer expense through the government health care program.

Charmaine Yoest, the president of Americans United for Life tells LifeNews.com that the ruling ignores the negative impact of abortion on women and is a devastating step toward abortion on demand for other Latin American nations.

Yoest's organization was one of the American pro-life groups to file an amicus brief with the Mexico Supreme Court in the case that could have ramifications throughout the region.

"We are dismayed the Mexican Supreme Court would ignore the overwhelming evidence that abortion hurts women. Upholding this law demonstrates a total lack of concern for the health and welfare of Mexican women," she said.

Posted at 3:19 PM | Permalink
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Your Business Blogger(R) once worked in medical device start-ups teaching new surgical procedures to clinicians.

My physicians were constantly demanding the latest data on patient care and what would work best to improve patient care.

They taught me that they were held to higher standards because the clinical community was the steward of the public's trust.

When a person is hurting, trust is the currency of the care giver.

The patient must believe that the doctor or nurse sincerely believes that the care given is the best -- and that the care giver would not violate the trust of the patient or the care givers' own conscience.
The public well understands that if a doctor will not violate his own conscience, he will not violate the patient.

This conscience clause of the medical community is being attacked by the homosexual activists. Homosexuals are demanding elective procedures -- non-life saving interventions -- medical attention that would violate the conscience of some clinicians.

And this is bad for business. Homosexuals are attempting to equate race with sexual preferences: attempting to make homosexuality a civil right.

The homosexual marketing campaign might be gaining traction in the courts -- but not with voters, not with legislators not with common sense.

An African-American will always be black; he has no choice and cannot stop being black.
A homosexual may return to hertosexuality; he has a choice and can stop being homosexual.

African-Americans are of a particular race from conception. Homosexuals make a decision well after birth. They are not born in that state. There is no homosexual gene in the human DNA. Race is not equal to homosexuality.

Look for more cases like this one in California where the homosexual activists are looking for businesses to take to court. Your business might be next.

Fox Business posted information from Americans United for Life,

California Supreme Court Ruling Threatens Medical Care and Religious FreedomBy Matthew Eppinette | August 18, 2008

Chicago, Illinois -- The California Supreme Court today ruled that patient demand for nonessential, elective care trumps the freedom of conscience of physicians and their ability to practice medicine in accordance with their religious or moral beliefs.

Denise Burke, Vice President & Legal Director of Americans United for Life (AUL), said, "This ruling will deny physicians and other professionals the ability to freely exercise their religious convictions."

Added Burke, "By forcing healthcare professionals to choose between conscience and career, we will lose doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who are already in short supply."

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., President and CEO of AUL added, "Medical experts already project that existing shortages of nurses, physicians, and pharmacists will soon worsen, failing to meet future healthcare needs. Legal action to compel healthcare providers to participate in procedures to which they conscientiously object threatens to make the already dangerous situation disastrous."

Mailee Smith, AUL Staff Counsel, said, "It defies common sense that a patient would want a doctor to violate his or her conscience in practicing medicine. A diminished physician population is not good for medical care."

The case -- North Coast Women's Care Medical Group v. Superior Court of San Diego County (Benitez) - involves a situation where artificial insemination was not provided due to the marital status of the patient (Ms. Benitez).

Ms. Benitez filed suit arguing that she was not provided the procedure because she is a lesbian. However, the physicians testified that the real issue was her marital status, and that they would not have provided artificial insemination to any single woman.

Ultimately, Ms. Benitez received the procedure from another physician after receiving a referral from the objecting physicians (who paid the additional costs she incurred).

AUL filed an amicus brief in the California Supreme Court on behalf of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Physicians for Life, arguing that federal and state law as well as the ethics standards of major medical organizations support the physicians' right to conscientiously object to performing certain nonessential, elective medical procedures that conflict with physicians' religious and moral beliefs.

Media Contact
Matthew Eppinette
202-289-1479Matthew.Eppinette@AUL.org

MEDIA ALERT: Charmaine Soundbite CNN: Homosexual Marriage, The Problem.

Posted at 9:43 AM | Permalink
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Charmaine on an earlier
CNN appearance Charmaine will be recording a taped interview to appear on CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.

She will be discussing the recent court actions in California on homosexual marriage.

One of the questions these court rulings have is to remind us that we have allowed ourselves to be governed by judges. Five Guys now rule America: An oligarchy.

When Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government our infant nation had created for ourselves, he replied, "A republic, if you can keep it."

So what is the problem with homosexual marriage? Maggie Gallagher tells us that the homosexual activists are equating homosexual preferences with racial civil rights. Conservatives who disagree with homosexuals are called bigots and worse.

There is no free and open and honest debate with the members of the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). (Motto: Sex by 8 or it's too late.)

Just as racists these days cannot get, say, an FCC license, Gallagher says that the homosexuals will make it impossible for "homo-phobes" to be a part of the mainstream of society. "Gay Pride Parades" will be considered first normal then mandatory. And you better be there with your children, smiling. At all the nekked men.

John McCormack writes in The Weekly Standard, May 26, 2008,

...[T]wo Christian doctors [in California] are being sued for refusing to artificially inseminate a lesbian, and last summer four firefighters sued the city of San Diego on sexual harassment grounds after they were required to participate in a gay pride parade over their objections. How would California deal with doctors who refused to treat an African American? Revoke their licenses. How would San Diego treat firefighters who objected to marching in a Martin Luther King Jr. parade? Fire them.

Is this self-governance as envisioned by our Founding Fathers? Nope.

The homosexuals are on a marketing campaign using marriage and the military through the courts for acceptance.

Robert P. George, Ph.D. believes that we should have open vigorous debates on marriage, abortion, stem cells; the big moral issues of our day. George writes in First Things, January, 2008,

We will be advised to frame arguments in coded language so as not to scare off the soccer moms or whoever is playing their role in the next election cycle.

All of this must be resisted...

The question, then, is not whether there are truths about such things as the morality of abortion and the nature of marriage; the question in each case is, What is true?

The homosexual activists do not want truth or government by the citizens. Liberals and the homosexuals in the Obama-Nation are happy with the dictatorship of the courts.

Most people want the self governance of a constitutionally-limited republic -- protected by good Republicans...

CNN is attempting to open up the conversation on homosexual marriage. We are anxious to see how they edit the tape.

Hit time for Charmaine is between 4 and 6pm today. Tune in and let us know what you think.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Dr. George teaches at Princeton University and sits on a number of boards, including the Family Research Council and Americans United for Life.

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

Posted at 1:52 PM | Permalink
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Charmaine giving a lecture
at Princeton Nothing good comes out of a "shack job" as Dr. Laura often says.

Charmaine will be on Glenn Beck tonight to debate recent trends in co-habitation.

See
More view cohabitation as acceptable choice, By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY

An analysis of cohabitation, marriage and divorce data from 13 countries, including the USA, shows that living together has become so mainstream that growing numbers of Americans view it as an alternative to marriage.


The National Marriage Project study of a sampling of Western European and Scandinavian nations, Australia, Canada and New Zealand found that cohabitation elsewhere is far more common and indeed viewed as an option to matrimony.


The study found that anywhere from 15% to 30% of all couples identified themselves as living together, compared with about 10% right now in the USA.

The guys get the sex, the girls get the heart-break, the kids get Prozac and few couples stay together for long.

"Just like marriage," some would say. "After all, half of all marriages fail."

Wrong.

This is my favorite wrong statistic. Half of all marriages do not fail.

The 50% failure rate goes like this: In any one year there are about 2 million marriages and about 1 million divorces.

So: half of all marriages fail, right?

Nope.

The caveat needed to be emphasized is: "In any one year."

To get the numbers right, the stats should evaluate couples ever married. Not those marriages/divorces in a single year. One person can have multiple, multiple marriages.

This is the media run a-muck attempting to screw-up the culture.

For example, only marriages are counted, not the people in them. Charmaine and I have one marriage, Elizabeth Taylor has eight of them and she finally gave up, I think. Her last relationship with a Jason Winters was merely a shack job. Hollywood.

Not good for the couple. Not good for any children. Sharon Jayson continues,

Glenn Beck on CNN

The National Marriage Project report also cites findings from earlier studies showing that children of cohabiting couples are more likely to experience emotional problems, alcoholism and drug abuse.


But Raley says the research leaves unanswered questions.


"Many cohabiting couples use cohabitation to weather economic uncertainty or uncertainty about a relationship," she says. "We can't tell if the negative outcome for the child is due to the cohabitation or to the economic uncertainty or maybe the relationship uncertainty. That's a limitation of the data."

Guys: go get married. Make an honest woman out of her. For the children. For your health.

Hit time is 7 and 9 pm on CNN's Headline News. Email and let us know what you think.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The Baptists get it right, of course: More view cohabitation as acceptable choice.

See the Legal Theory Blog with Leckey on Cohabitation. Read how a professor can use the higher educational word "discursive" not once, not twice, but three -- THREE times in a single paragraph. "Diachronic" is used but once (in that same paragraph.) No network is going to ask that Ph.D. to debate on air, thank goodness...

Charmaine makes it look easy.

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

Posted at 3:45 PM | Permalink
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Charmaine will be in New Hampshire tomorrow, Friday the 6th to give a talk to strengthen the conservative, pro-life movement.

See the Family Forum Flyer,

Learn how to recapture Traditional American

FRIDAY, JUNE 6 – 9AM-3PM*
WHAT: A grassroots training seminar designed to educate and equip citizens to promote traditional family values in your community. Learn practical how-tos for effective communication and creating and managing your message to be persuasive in the public debate!
WHERE: Thomas More College
Merrimack, NH

Charmaine will be speaking on the power of words to frame a debate. She noticed that Your Business Blogger(R) has a line drawing of the HMS Victory over his desk; a profile of the body of the ship that Lord Nelson made famous in the sea battle at Trafalgar against the French; against Napoleon. The English won, as usual.

VICTORY. There is no ship in the Royal Navy named "Success." And this is where President Bush gets the Global War on Terror wrong: Men don't die in combat for "Success in Iraq." They will sacrifice and die for "Victory."

We don't have "Success in Jesus." We have Victory.

The wordsmith knows the difference. (And the Christian...)

Charmaine will also speak on Bimbos. If you are anywhere in the Northeast, go visit and sey hey to Charmaine.

"Bimbos" as we are using it, is the intellectual property of Merrie Spaeth. Another brilliant women who knows the power of words. And like Charmaine, she worked for Ronald Reagan, of course.

Spaeth reminds professionals and public speakers to always recite the positive and to never repeat the negative accusation -- usually advanced by a commie reporter. Public affairs should only be handled by professionals.

When I say 'public affairs' I am not speaking of Bill Clinton's weaknesses...

See Indra Nooyi: $5 Million Gets You Bimbos . . . and Boycotts. . .

Most Americans think the country is on the wrong track. Representatives like Heather Wilson may have been a part of the deterioration of the GOP branding and why citizens are dismayed: Republicans are not behaving like Conservatives. Wilson she wanted women in combat. She advanced abortion. This is not a conservative. Wilson just lost her primary race. Thank goodness.

Watch Charmaine's debate with Heather Wilson(R) from New Mexico a few years ago on women in combat. Ignore the Army women exposing their breasts.

More at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 5:04 PM | Permalink
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Your Business Blogger(R) just received an email from Alert Reader Janice who tells us about Hillary's presence at the State Street United Methodist Church in Bowling Green, KY,

I just received an email letting me know that, yes indeed, the Paul Fryman who was our former student at Asbury was the pastor who preached at State Street UMC in Bowling Green, KY this past Sunday when Hillary was there. He has been the subject of abuse because his sermon was on adultery. He has received hate mail and all sorts of attacks – including accusations of being a pedophile and needing therapy, etc. He has chosen (wisely) not to react or respond at all. Paul is a humble, guileless servant of Christ.

The service and Paul have been distorted unbelievably.

Here are some facts, in case someone asks you:

· Hillary's people called Paul and told him she would be in his church, it was not a request.

· He told her people that they were in a series of sermons and that the morning sermon would be on adultery from the Sermon on The Mount, making sure she knew what she would hear, the bulletins were already printed.

· Paul’s sermon was 12 minutes (not the hour-long that was in the press – that was the length of the whole service)

· Paul acknowledged the presidential candidate’s presence in the service (some reports said that she was ignored and unwelcomed).

· Reporters sat in the service with their laptops – did not participate in the service respectfully.

· His sermon will be put online as soon as possible so that people can judge for themselves. [he called for members of the congregation to make a new commitment to their own marriages and to be aware of the temptations that they face – it was not an attack against Hillary

Thank you (foot)notes:

Alert Reader Janice is a former Board Member of Asbury College and, with her husband were professors at the Methodist institution of higher learning.

See, While Campaigning in Kentucky Hillary Clinton Hears Sermon On Infidelity.

Read where CNN gets it wrong. This is not news.

But what is news is that CNN can't spell. Nancy writes into CNN,

May 18th, 2008 5:15 pm ET

Just a note - please check the spelling on the word "alter," which I belive [sic] should be "altar". Or at least that's how it's spelled at my church. See, all democrats are not Godless heathens.

Nancy must be pro-life...

CORRECTION: Janice Crouse, Ph.D., is a current member of the Board of Directors for Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky.

Posted at 1:28 PM | Permalink
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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
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Dr. Mom has written extensively on women in management. I appreciate her writing: it keeps her and Charmaine out of Nordstroms...

Here is a speech she gave some 20 years ago -- it seems that mom was on the cutting edge.

Note her use of 'alliances' used by managers to get things done. Your Business Blogger(R) was using the term "networks." Bill Oncken uses "support" both as a verb and as an adjective describing 'system' in his "molecule of management."

Dr. Crouse has the better word, I believe.

The Managerial Woman
SETTLING IN, BRANCHING OUT, MOVING UP

By JANICE SHAW CROUSE, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs,
Taylor University

Delivered to the Career Women’s Council, Marion, Indiana, August 19, 1986

It is with a tremendous amount of gratitude and to be honest just a few pinches of regret that I stand here today and officially close the first year of the Marion-Grant County Career Women’s Council. I hope that you all share in the sense of satisfaction at what has been accomplished this year. There is a summary of the year’s activities at your place setting. Here you see the joint product of the hard work of this year’s officers and committee chairs as they worked to launch this organization and to plan challenging and interesting programs. I am proud of the growth and development that has occurred in our founding year and I know that you join me in expressing appreciation to each person who made this year such a success. Further, I look forward to the coming year since I know that the new officers whom we installed today are well-qualified and the plans which they have already begun laying out for next year are exciting. I look forward to seeing the continuing progress and growth which is sure to come under their leadership....

Continue Reading »

Posted at 1:41 PM | Permalink
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Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., 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.

Click thru and watch the video -- and listen to Richard Veilleux, the Executive Director from the Maine Assembly on School-Based Health Care. Richard does not discourage sex among 11 year-old girls.

Richard has a 12 year-old daughter -- he said he would not be upset if his daughter was having sex.

As long as his pre-teen didn't smoke a cigarette after...

Should Middle Schoolers Be Given Birth Control? Please forgive the extra click through at the FRC site.

One wag once said that, "the masses are @sses." Does the entire country think like Richard from Maine? Will the entire country slide into a Hillary-land next election?

Do the masses think like Charmaine -- or Richard?

Is our country without standards or commonsense values? Can the country embrace something other than Hillary or Baywatch?

Your Business Blogger has rules for his daughters based on the wisdom of W. Bruce Cameron.

And note the protection of Cameron's intellectual property.

Cameron is a much better model than Richard from Maine or Hillary from Arkansas.

Posted at 3:50 PM | Permalink
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There were three 14'ers we could find.

No, we were not taking in mountain scenery in Colorado. Charmaine and Your Business Blogger were looking for the youngest finishers at yesterday's 32nd running of the Marine Corps Marathon.

Billed as "The Peoples' Marathon" a runner had to be among the first 30,000 to enter. The run takes place from the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia ending at the Flag Raisers at the Iwo Jima memorial.

The run route passes Arlington Cemetery were my dad and friends rest.

We three had been following a work-out regiment for months, following the military dictum that the more one sweats in training, the less one bleeds in combat.

No one is bleeding, but everything still hurts. Charmaine didn't cry as much this time.

The marathon was run with, well, military precision. The Marines run a class act, having some experience with logistics and human relations and victory.

And business.

Challenge Coin from USAA The MCM is expensive. To help underwrite the event businesses lined up. Sponsors included CVS/Caremark; Wal*Mart; Brooks; CISCO, Saturn, Arlington, Virginia; Aetna; AT&T; BAE Systems; Bar Clif,; CROCS, Crystal City: EDS; jetBlue Airways; Maggiano's Little Italy; Rosslyn; symantic; UPS; VSP; The Washington Post; Sodexho: Einstein Bros Bagels: Her Sports; News Channel 8; ABC 7; HOT 99.5; BIG 100.3; DC 101; 97.1 WASH-FM; 98. WMZQ; SportsTalk 980.

But the best SWAG was from USAA.

Thank you (foot)notes:

About 20,600 of the 30,000 registrants finished. Thank you for not asking our time...

More on SWAG at All Things Orange Save the Date for The National Multiple Sclerosis Society Dinner in Baltimore and 7 Steps in Making Money at Trade Shows

History of the Challenge Coin at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 7:12 AM | Permalink
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Kinglsey Brown Alert Readers will know of Your Business Blogger's endorsement of Professor Kingsley Brown and his research. Brown is on faculty at Wayne State University teaching law.

He writes to John Howland with USNA At Large,

“Co-ed Combat: The New Evidence that Women Shouldn’t Fight the Nation’s Wars” is due out on November 8, although it can be pre-ordered now on Amazon...

My book examines physical and psychological differences between the sexes and their implication for integration of combat forces. This examination includes not just individual traits -- such as strength, endurance, risk-taking, physical aggression, fear, courage, and other traits that affect both combat motivation and combat performance -- but also the effect of psychological sex differences on the functioning of groups. As you know, individuals do not fight wars; groups do, and the sex composition of groups has a substantial impact on how the group functions.

As you have yourself noted, trust is the “coin of the realm” in combat groups. It appears that men are not “designed” to easily trust women in dangerous situations. I’m sure that you and the other At-Large members have had the experience of knowing leaders whom you would be willing to follow through the gates of Hell and others whom you would be reluctant to follow across the street. Some people trigger trust in their comrades, and others –

Women in Combat

no matter what kind of training they have had – simply cannot do so. I suggest in my book that women generally do not trigger that kind of trust in men, no matter how much men like and respect women. This is not a criticism of either women or men; it is simply the way our psyches work. As the continued opposition to women in and near combat suggests, this is not a problem that can be solved simply through “leadership” and “training,” which are usually invoked as the solution to problems with sexual integration.

My book also chronicles a number of other impediments to sexual integration, many of which are well known, such as problems of pregnancy, double standards, political correctness, and so forth.

Best regards,

Kingsley

Thank you (foot)notes:

Read more on Kingsley Browne's work at Hiring Super Stars vs Tolerating Turkeys

Thanks to John Howland at USNA At Large.

More on Professor Kingsley Brown at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 9:48 PM | Permalink
Comments (4)

No Free Lunch
Milton Friedman,
Robert A. Heinlein "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch," perhaps first said by science fiction writer Heinlein and made popular by Nobel Laureate Friedman. Often shortened to TANSTAAFL.

And you won't find one here either.

But.

Your Business Blogger has a number of 60-second commercials running in the DC market pitching a luncheon and the Managing Management Time(tm) seminars.

If you are in the greater Washington, DC area, here's a free lunch. Almost.

Trade me your time and talent.

Listen to my commercial and leave me a comment on what you think about the marketing/sales pitch. You get a FREE lunch on the 23rd in DC or the 24th in Baltimore, save 25 bucks.

I get feedback.

Click here for the audio. And if you catch it on the air please let me know how it sounds.

Grade me on verbiage, volume, background music, cadence, sales hook.

The commercial is running for a week.

The ad is running tomorrow 17 August Friday at 12:30 pm (during Rush Limbaugh)
4:49 pm, and
6:49pm

Let me know what you think. And get lunch.

The seminar is for the benefit of the Susan B. Anthony List.

Thank you (foot)notes:

No Free Lunch--and No Free Health Care, Either

TANSTAAFL is the name of a snack bar in the Pierce dormitory of the University of Chicago. The name references the fact that the use of the term was popularized by Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize–winning former University of Chicago professor.

Restrictions apply. Supply is limited. A $25 donation will be made to the Susan B. Anthony List for each commenter. And the FREE lunch.

Posted at 8:52 PM | Permalink
Comments (41)

Charmaine on an earlier
marriage debate on CBS Charmaine will appear on CNN's Headline News this afternoon to discuss the latest trends on marriage and co-habitation.

Are shack-ups good for women? Good for children?

Tune in at 5pm and let us know what you think. Hit time is 5:30 live.

She will be on the other side of a married couple. Who are swingers.

Not to be confused with swinging both ways.

But that the swinging married couple have jimmied the (wed) lock, and are not monogamous.

So they have an 'open marriage' and a number of sexual partners.

At least the 'marriage' has a man and a woman...

It is not known if Charmaine's next segment will be with a monogamous homosexual couple.

So Your Business Blogger -- ever alert to the immediacy of news hooks -- asks Charmaine, What happened today? Jenna moved in with a boyfriend? Chelsea moved out from her live-in...?

Nope, she says. It's August.

Wtih congress in recess, there is very, very little a-going on.

It's August in Your Nation's Capitol.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Note that CNN HeadLine News and CNN are on different cable channels.

Posted at 4:09 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

Worthwhile Reads:

If this is our new guide, we’re lost by Gina Dalfonzo with excellent commentary on Dr. Drew Pinsky.

Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt Learn about FUD: fear, uncertainty and doubt, at Why Sell Is Still a Four Letter Word by Charles H. Green -- brought to us at no charge by Carnival of Sales & Management Success, hosted by Brad Trnavsky

Leading by Example in a World of Copy Cats By Michelle Cramer via Carnival of Leadership Development hosted by The Engaging Brand blog with Anna Farmery, Business Coach and Speaker

And be sure to visit the Carnival of Image & Influence | Vol. 2 hosted by Steve Silvers. He graciously points to my article What is the best tactic to get a referral?

But Steve minimized the best referral in one of the better posts lately -- which would be his. See references to Steve Silvers' quotes in Forbes and from an article in the Associated Press, 2 Wal-Mart Critics Leave Group, By MARCUS KABEL,

Corporate reputation expert Steven Silvers said the move may signal that the union campaigns are reaching an end, with little new ground to cover after criticizing Wal-Mart for two years.

"At some point an activist group has to ask itself if it's preaching to the choir," said Silvers, from the Denver-based consulting company GBSM Inc.

"What they're doing is going from rhetoric to relevance," Silvers said. He said Blank and Kofinis can have more impact on Wal-Mart from the national platform of the presidential race.

Steve would be a blogger with reach.

Thank you (foot)notes:

STEVEN SILVERS is a Principal at GBSM, Inc., 600 17th Street, Suite 2020 South in Denver, CO 80202. Go visit www.gbsm.com

Continue Reading »

Posted at 9:10 AM | Permalink
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My good friend Bob Miller has a compelling article on women in combat that deserves a wide audience.

Female sniper,
United States Air Force In September of last year, the Naval Institute Proceedings commemorated thirty years of sex-integration at the U.S. Naval Academy with a Commentary by Sharon Disher, USNA ’80, entitled “Women CAN Fight.” As a member of the first sex-integrated Naval Academy class, Disher wrote in conspicuous contradiction of former Marine combat hero, and now Senator, James Webb’s (USNA ‘ 68] then-troublesome 1979 Washingtonian Magazine essay: “Women Can’t Fight.”

Well of course women CAN fight. In Iraq, US military women have fought and still do fight bravely and selflessly. These armed daughters, sisters, wives and mothers can also become wounded, maimed, captured, abused and killed. In fact one hears military women, in particular, declaring their willingness to "die for my country," words far less often heard from men.

And women can kill; there's no doubt about it.

But please, put aside for a moment the tendency to rationalize, trivialize, scoff or scorn a cautionary perspective in order to reflect with candor on what this unarguably historic innovation of the "woman as warrior" may signify about a phenomenal cultural trajectory.

The stakes are high.

Read his entire article at the jump.

Robert H. Miller, CAPT, USN ret
Hope For America
PO Box 1007
Willow Grove, PA 19090
hfa@aol.com

Continue Reading »

Posted at 10:09 AM | Permalink
Comments (14)

Charmaine at Princeton University
April, 2007
Photo by Wes Shim Charmaine is quoted in Teen Sex Rates Stop Falling, Data Show, By Rob Stein, a Washington Post Staff Writer on Sunday, July 22, 2007; Page A01. Stein begins,

"The long decline in sexual activity among U.S. teenagers, hailed as one of the nation's most important social and public health successes, appears to have stalled.

After decreasing steadily and significantly for more than a decade, the percentage of teenagers having intercourse began to plateau in 2001 and has failed to budge since then, despite the intensified focus in recent years on encouraging sexual abstinence, according to new analyses of data from a large federal survey."

Charmaine's quote is not on A-1 at the beginning of the story, but on the continuation deep in A-16 something. But Stein did quote her accurately, and yes, fairly,

"Teenagers today live in an MTV-driven culture and are bombarded by sexual messages that say it is normative for them to get involved sexually," said Charmaine Yoest of the Family Research Council. "We need a message that sexual experimentation as a teenager is unhealthy."

The number one reason that teens have sex is not the need for intimacy, or the fun, or the good time, or the passion.

Tobacco Free Kids It's peer pressure.

The belief that every one is doing it.

And not everyone is. Just like smoking.

Proper parental supervision is more healthy than the teen's peers.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Abstinence programs should be encouraged in the same manner as teen smoking campaigns. See Tobacco Free Kids. For more information on Teens and smoking, please contact our good friend, Danny McGoldrick, Vice President, Research at TobaccoFreeKids.

See more on the marketing -- watch for negatives: The Marketing Bimbos.

Posted at 10:40 AM | Permalink
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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)

I have had a horrific number of strike outs, on and off the field. And it hurts.

But, only one thing hurts more.

To watch your boy strike out.

The Dude was playing for the Yankees, the local little league. Saturday before last, his team was in the District playoffs for the championship. Charmaine and I and the Penta-posse were all in attendance.

Please forgive the day in the life reflection, but we have always thought that life should not be too easy for kids -- that anything worth having has a fence around it. (Like a base ball diamond.) And they should learn to deal with overcoming obstacles.

So we are forever designing small age-appropriate challenges to stretch the young ones thinking, reasoning, and physical dexterity.

Alert Readers will remember that we allow our children restricted use of power tools to teach self-reliance. And to get some work done around here.

I wanted start early and teach our infant children about the harsh world outside their cribs... by placing barbed wire along the top rail. Charmaine did not think this amusing.

The Dude swings for the fences So The Dude had struck out.

But like most things in life, it was not his last time at bat. He had another chance.

He came to the plate and confidently stood his ground in the batter's box. Faced the pitch.

And swung and hit. Sending the ball over the fence ending the game.

A home run.

There is nothing better to have your son beat you at your own game.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Credit to Don Suber for citation for Rick Lee Photo.

See Rich Galen's similar experience of having a son surpass.

Full Disclosure: No barbed wire is used in our Management Training classes. Unless requested.

Posted at 10:24 PM | Permalink
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Tomorrow, Tuesday 22 May, Charmaine will be on MSNBC to debate parental leave. Alert Readers will remember that this was the subject of her doctoral dissertation. Hit times will be 9:30 and 10:00 in the morning. Please tune in and let us know what you think.

Barry Lynn
Americans United for the
Separation of Church and State Charmaine Yoest, appeared on MSNBC on May 17th, 2007 to discuss a move in Texas to encourage marriage counseling for couples seeking a marriage license. She was up against Rev. Barry Lynn. Forgive the click thru on the Family Research Council site.

Being a good spouse.

And again here Should the Government Interfere with Marriage?

The third segment pits Charmaine up against our libertarian friends at the CATO Institute, David Boaz, Executive Vice President.

Posted at 7:31 PM | Permalink
Comments (1)

The first week in every month of May Your Business Blogger has two anniversaries to celebrate.

Two constants every man needs.

His car.

His woman.

Jack and Charmaine 1990 (Order may not be important to some.)

Charmaine and I are moving into our 18th year of marriage toward that death do us part part.

The other anniversary is a milestone of two decades: 20 years.

Alert Readers are thinking, I know Jack -- how did he do it?

Without a coffee cup holder...?

The Germans do not believe that people should drive and drink...coffee. Ergo, no coffee cup holder in that old model.

So the ride has been a series of spilled hot fluids. And I would do it again.

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine - Andy Williams, Peter Paul & Mary

20 years; one owner
Your Business Blogger and The Dude

Financial Expert Larry Burkett believes that a man should own but one car and run that car 'til the wheels fall off then repair and repeat.

Replacing is poor stewardship of resources.

It is also Biblical and is based on the Babe Bargain: A man should be the husband of but one wife.

Replacing is poor stewardship of resources.

A car and a girl. What more could a guy want?

Thank you (foot)notes:

Larry Burkett continues,

Let’s face it. The majority of new automobile sales in America are made because of the buyers’ wants, not needs. Often they are just tired of their cars; they look old and out of date, or they need repairs to put them back into top condition, or their neighbors or coworkers have acquired new cars.

Lyrics to KISSES SWEETER THAN WINE at the jump. My favorite version is by Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.

In May of 1987 Your Business Blogger bought a new car from American Service Center in Arlington, Virginia from former Redskin football player Joe Tereshinski.

My two investments; my two May anniversaries.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 8:37 PM | Permalink
Comments (9)

FOX News Charmaine recently appeared on FOX News Sunday to discuss the data and wisdom and public policy of day care.

She is debating a professional who loves day care.

Charmaine reviews the data that confirms the mother's intuition that the more time a mother spends with her child, the better the child will be. The better the world will be.

Moms know best. Who knew?

Child care liberal feminist activists take the other side. So that women can make money. Because money, to feminists, is the most important thing in the world...besides sex. And power.

(Money, Sex, Power. Liberal feminists would do well to remember a Democratic President who warned against this trifecta: Harry Truman.

Three things ruin a man

power, money, and women.

I never wanted power.

I never had any money,

and the only woman in my life is up at the house right now.

He also dropped the Atomic Bomb...my kind of guy.)

Anyway. Charmaine's short clip is available here. Please forgive the extra click thru on the Family Research Council site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

See: Emptying the Nest: Does Day Care Work?

Lauren Bacall and Harry Truman
As a child, Truman would wake at 5am to practice Chopin.
The piano player can get the girl, as I tell my sons,
Practice chop-sticks and get the chicks. Also see: Women's Work: A journalist warns women that once they leave the career track, they may never get back on, in The Washington Post.

Posted at 7:36 AM | Permalink
Comments (5)

How Abortion Harms Women
Princeton University Charmaine and Your Business Blogger will be a-traveling with the Penta-Posse (minus The Dreamer at crew camp) to Princeton University over the spring break.

Charmaine will be giving a talk on abortion/women/work/life. Alert Readers will remember that she used to teach a course The Family and Politics at The University of Virginia.

From the Princeton Campus Announcements,

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D.

A lecture titled "How Abortion Harms Women" is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, in 16 Robertson Hall.

The talk will be delivered by Charmaine Yoest, [Ph.D.] vice president for communications at the Family Research Council, a nonprofit lobbying organization that promotes socially conservative views.

Yoest also is project director of the Family, Gender and Tenure Project at the University of Virginia, a nationwide study focused on parental leave policy.

She is the author (with Deborah Shaw Lewis) of "Mother in the Middle" and is working on a new book, "A G.I. Bill for Moms: Mothers, the Market and the American Way."

The talk is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

The event is free and is open to the public. Come by and join us and let us know what you think.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Special thank you to Andy McCarthy at The Corner at NRO for "How Abortion Harms Women" -- a forum sponsored ... by Princeton! Andy says that he has,

...duked it out before (in an exchange at Commentary on international law) with Anne-Marie Slaughter, the Dean at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She is, though, a fair-minded liberal in the great but dying academic tradition of allowing all thoughtful voices — including, yes, conservative voices — to be heard on campus.

Thank you also to Tiger Hawk for the announcement and poster pic.

See also Princeton to allow Charmaine Yoest to speak about abortion! at RealChoice: The reality of "choice" in America. In a breathtaking, courageous example of fostering real diversity of thought...

And note Abortion foe to lecture at Princeton University from The Princeton Packet.

Posted at 10:53 AM | Permalink
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L to R: Your Business Blogger,
Charmaine
Senator Guy Barnett
Our liberal homosexual activist friends will always cite foreign law as a precedence for new law here in the US of A.

But there is one country that the activists and mainstream media will never mention in this debate:

Australia.

Your Business Blogger and Charmaine joined Guy Barnett, a Senator from the Land Down Under for dinner the other night at the Occidental in DC. (Do try the crab cakes.)

Same sex marriage was one of our topics and our concerns.

But it is not a concern in Australia. It has been tested by their courts and is "settled law."

The Australian law states that,

Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

Certain unions are not marriages.

A union solemnised in a foreign country between:

(a) a man and another man; or
(b) a woman and another woman; must not be recognised as a marriage in Australia.

We should also look to the Aussies for homosexual adoption:

They don't allow it.

We should also look to the Aussies for Civil Unions.

They don't allow it.

Australia might also be ahead of us on the thought-control/mind-control/hate-crime nonsense. The Australian Supreme Court recently stood up to the Muslim victim-lobby when the courts permitted two pastors to quote from the Quran. WorldNetDaily reports,

Quran did tell men they could beat their wives [and]

Yes, it did have verses calling on Muslims to fight infidels until they submitted

Infidels. They would be non-Muslims in America: Republicans. (The Democrats have already submitted.)

WND continues,

Many of the "hate crimes" proposals in the United States are based on a similar concept: designating as "crimes" the statements people make about their own beliefs or convictions.

The Aussies are ahead of us on marriage, homosexuals and thought crimes.

Now if they could only get 'gays in the military' right...

Thank you (foot)notes:

Guy Barnett is the (classical) liberal senator for Tasmania. He was recently at the UN working with Bill Clinton on support for diabetes education.

Jihadists and homosexuals: please log you death threats here.

Posted at 10:43 AM | Permalink
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Fish on a bicycle by Ray Troll We can blame Gloria Steinem for a lot problems these days in verbiage and communication in the battle of men vs women.

But not this phrase.

Steinem writes to Time Magazine,

"In your note on my new and happy marital partnership with David Bale, you credit me with the witticism A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. In fact, Irina Dunn, a distinguished Australian educator, journalist and politician, coined the phrase back in 1970 when she was a student at the University of Sydney."

Credit should go to Irina Dunn, graffiti artist and Australian Senator from the Nuclear Disarmament Party.

And made popular more by U2.

Liberals have the same world-view the world over.

In the Yoest household kitchen

Thank you (foot)notes:

Charmaine at
Murrayfield Stadium
Edinburgh, Scotland
Live8: The Final Push
with U2
shortly before
the London Bombings
July 7, 2005 Be sure to read My Wife Flew off with Bono and Branson; Bombed in London 7.7.05

Background research for Charmaine's speech today at Harvard.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 8:40 AM | Permalink
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No ‘cookie-cutter’ solutions: Family expert Charmaine Yoest says creativity, flexibility are keys to resolving work/family issues

Charmaine Yoest acknowledges that creative solutions to juggling work and family are never easy. “That’s part of why I study it as an issue.”

By Elizabeth Kiem [from May 14, 2004]

Charmaine Yoest, a doctoral candidate in U.Va.’s Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics, is an up-and-coming young expert on family policy issues.

Charmaine Yoest
Photo by Andrew Shurtleff By normal counts, her 10 years at the University have been hyper-productive: Her papers on the subject are prolific, as are her media appearances, congressional testimonies and academic presentations. She has written a book on working mothers and is completing a second on parental leave policies.

But Yoest's career must be viewed in the context of a not-so-typical doctoral student’s family life -- she is the 39-year-old mother of five children, ranging from age 10 to infancy.

"I hope it’s inspirational to some," she said of her ability to pursue her studies and career even with a full capacity mini-van. "Obviously I couldn’t do what I’ve done unless my husband was willing to live a nontraditional life as well."

Yoest acknowledges that her domestic situation, with close family near by to step into the child-care breach and a husband willing to reduce his workload significantly to help raise children, has been unusually conducive to her career. Nonetheless, she would like to see more families adopt a "nontraditional lifestyle" to accommodate childrearing and professional equality among the parents.

There is such an emphasis on work and family that sometimes the family gets lost because people are so focused on ‘how can we facilitate work? she said.

A regular on the political talk-shows, Yoest is careful with her words, aware of just how politicized the debate has become. She is quick to emphasize that her pro-family stance in no way negates her advocacy for women to pursue careers and advanced education, as she has done. The mission, she says, is to find creative ways to do both -- and women require the participation of spouses and employers to do so.

Continue reading at the jump.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Originially published by UVA Insider May 2004.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 12:02 AM | Permalink
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Jack has a marketing angle to the love, marriage, children business.

Tom McMahon's 4-Block World is proof that truth is simple as salt and sells.

Tom points us to the block to be in for us marketing guys positioning a brand: Love and Respect.

Love and Respect. Ying and Yang. Nuts and Bolts. Male and Female. Like Sex.

It has ancient Biblical proportions. Where each gender has a different directive from that Good Book: Men are commanded to Love their wives. Wives are commanded to Respect their husbands.

Together, the two become one. Eternal. Brand.

With children as dividends.

As a Lovemark.

Bookmark Tom McMahon for your daily reading enjoyment.

Cross Post from Jack Yoest and Great Brands.

Posted at 10:24 PM | Permalink
Comments (2)

Cross Post from Jack Yoest with Adultery.

Charmaine appeared on Joe Scarborough's show last night. She was debating a recent New York Times article. It said that cheating on a spouse can be good.

The Grey Lady has gone crazy.

But that's not news.

Congressman/talk show host Scarborough was able to find a woman to agree that extra, extra-marital sex can be, well, therapeutic.

The woman, Jennifer Berman, is some kind of doctor; a licensed therapist. She treats the crazies.

She should put the Grey Lady on the couch.

Then they could waste each other's time and leave normal people alone.

Anyway, here's the clip, courtesy Peter Shinn:

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D. on Scarborough Country.

Charmaine in hair and makeup
Photo Credit: The Dude

Charmaine on the set on remote.
Photo Credit: The Dude

Charmaine and The Dude at MSNBC in DC

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

Thankyou (foot)notes:

Be sure to see It Doesn't Matter What The Media Says, As Long As They Spell Your Name Right over on Small Business Trends Radio. My weekly column appears there on Fridays.

Posted at 11:15 PM | Permalink
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Alert reader, Carl at Gelf Magazine has outstanding reporting and an astute observation.

Dr. Yoest, I saw your post about yesterday's NYT article ...And noticed your comment about the methodology: "The article is heavy on anecdote and fails to ever explain its methodology -- the source of its "data" is email responses from some young women at the Ivy's. So, even though I think the conclusion is interesting and one that I agree with, in all honesty the researcher in me has to point out to you that this is not terribly reliable reporting."

Carl continues:

It seems you had reason to be suspicious. Over at Gelf, to which I contribute, we've run a copy of the survey the NYT reporter emailed to Yale students, as sent to us by one of the recipients. The survey seems to have leading questions, basically implying that all Yale women must be straight and want kids: story here David Goldenberg byline .

Well done. Carl nails it down:

Among the leading questions, many from right at the top of the survey:

When you have children, do you plan to stay at home with them or do you plan to continue working? Why?

If you plan to continue working, do you plan to work full-time in an office, or full-time from your house, or part-time in an office, or part-time from your house? Why?

If you plan to stay at home with your kids, do you plan to return to work? If so, how old will you wait for your kids to be when you return?

Was your mom a stay-at-home mom? Explain whether she worked, and how much she worked! Were you glad with her choice (to either work or stay-at-home or whatever combination she did)?

How do you think college-age men at Yale feel about whether wives should stay at home with their kids?/

In polling we call this "priming the pump." It is used to direct answers with subtle questions with subtle assumptions. Good polls are designed to uncover the truth (of opinion) across a broad sample. Bad polls have an agenda. This is, as Carl suggests, a bad survey.

I will have more in coming posts on The NYT's political and cultural agenda.

No matter what our differences in the blogosphere, the work by Gelf Magazine shows us why the NYT chopped 500 jobs and is bleeding red ink. The NYT has lost the public trust -- because of such questionable reporting.

Outside The Beltway has more on the NYT's firings.

Posted at 2:43 PM | Permalink
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David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch

Last night at the Independent Women's Forum, David Blankenhorn, President of the Institute for American Values, and Jonathan Rauch, author of Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America debated the issue of gay marriage.

Perhaps one of the more interesting elements of the evening was that I thought Jonathan Rauch made one really important point. He said that as he has been giving speeches about his book, he was surprised when he "found myself having to sell marriage to straight people."

Sigh. Sad, but true.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 10:13 PM | Permalink
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Be careful whom you marry: they might get to pick your gravestone.

As Janette at Common Sense Runs Wild and Jody at Steal the Bandwagon have noted, Terri Schiavo's grave marker, is All About Michael.

And an inscription lesson for us all. Sadly, Terri was not the first to be slighted by a surviving spouse. Remember Fred Astaire? Oh, yeah, him, the husband of What's-Her-Name:

The Wall Street Journal reminded us of selfish spouses in Having a Say in Your Epitaph:

He was the world's best-known dancer and a legendary film star. But if you visit Fred Astaire's gravesite in Chatsworth, Calif., you're reminded only of this: He had a widow.

He married his second wife, Robyn, in 1980, when he was 81 years old and she was 35. After he died in 1987, she wrote the 11 words on his grave marker: "Fred Astaire. I will always love you my darling. Thank you."

There's a lesson here. If you want your tombstone to be about you, you'd better speak up. Otherwise, whoever is in charge of picking out your marker might decide to chisel something along the lines of: "Enough about him. Let me tell you about me."

And so we see the same nonsense from Michael "I Kept my Promise" Schiavo (Which promise was that? The one about being faithful Till Death Do Us Part?):

With apologies to Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar:

I come to bury Terri,

Not to praise her.

The evil that I do lives after her;

The good is interred with her bones...

When love begins to sicken and decay,


It useth an enforcèd ceremony.

By heaven, I had rather have coins,


And drop her blood for drachmas...

Pick your mate with care. They just might get the last word.

See also Tammy at A Mom and Her Blog.

A salute to Mudville Gazette who understand duty and honor at Open Post.

Thank you to Outside The Beltway giving voice to others on Beltway Traffic Jam.

ProLifeBlogs gets it right in the debate in Bobby Schindler Responds

More Shakespeare's Sister speaking out on BlogWhoring.

Posted at 8:21 AM | Permalink

Thank you for clicking through to the Independent Women's Forum and to Reasoned Audacity. It is an honor to have you visit.

Posted at 8:35 PM | Permalink
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Thank heaven for little girls for little girls get bigger every day! Thank heaven for little girls they grow up in the most delightful way! Those little eyes so helpless and appealing one day will flash and send you crashin' thru the ceilin'. . .

George Stephanopoulos
and Ali Wentworth
Credit: Andrea Renault/Globe
Shortly after she became engaged to George Stephanopoulos, Alexandra, "Ali" Wentworth and I were riding the elevator up to tape Politically Incorrect. George was, at the time, one of Washington's most eligible bachelors, so the engagement was a Big Deal here in the Nation's Capital. Just to make conversation, I asked Ali if it was weird for her personal happiness to be such a big media event.

She looked at me quizzically, shrugged, and replied: "Well, it would have been the same if I'd married a rock star."

Oh. Right.

Well huzzah for high expectations. She was actually quite pleasant, so I'm glad to see that my cynically low expectations for their union appear ill-founded. The Big News now is the arrival of a new Stephanopoulos: their second daugher, Harper.

You can read all about it at the Celebrity Baby Blog, which is a hoot. But they missed the news of another important recent baby girl arrival, blog baby: Caitlyn King!

Caitlyn King

But she's a celebrity here: look at that cute face. Caitlyn is the daughter of Jeffrey King at [defunct blog]Three Fingers. Daddy and daughter and mom are doing fine.

The years go by too fast . . . we're thanking heaven for our first baby girl, who turned twelve this week. Before you know it, you turn around, and they look like this. . .Happy Birthday, baby, I love you.

My sweet Dreamer
Photo credit: Helena Yoest

So Congratulations George and Jeffrey! And welcome Harper and Caitlyn.

While I am all teary over my baby girl's birthday, my husband, Jack is gearing up for battle with the boys. He insists I send along to you new fathers his battle-plan -- W. Bruce Cameron's 8 Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter, a must-read for every dad with a daughter. He thinks you might want to keep it handy. . .

Rule One: If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure as heck not picking anything up.

Rule Two: You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.

Thank you to Mudville Gazette for Open Post

(** And if this trackback belongs to you:» http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2576807, please contact me: I owe you a link! **)

Update: Thanks to Wizbang with Carnival of the Trackbacks XV for helping to celebrate.

Update: Big Congratulations for another girl-baby blogger! June 6th, 2005 “BORN” Lillianne Grace Ransom. Newport Beach, CA. 8 pounds, three ounces. Posted by Greg Ransom at PrestoPundit, alerted byMusing Minds at Congratulations to the Ransoms

The world is a better place.

28 June 2005, Up Date on another baby girl alerted by Marla Swoffer.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 7:36 AM | Permalink
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Every time we've made the left turn onto Eisenhower Drive, and passed through the imposing brick gates of Arlington National Cemetery, I've been overwhelmed with emotion. Family members of those buried at Arlington National Cemetery are given a special pass and may drive onto the Hallowed Grounds to visit the grave of their loved one. It's an enormous honor which makes me feel humbled.

The Penta-Posse
at Arlington National Cemetery

My husband's father served thirty years in the United States Navy, and died the year I married into the family, so I didn't know him well. And the fact is, after a lifetime of nine-month Mediterranean tours, wars, and rumors of war, there is a lot my husband doesn't know as well.

However, over the 15 years that we've been married, I have gotten to know my mother-in-law well. She doesn't talk either about the sacrifices she made, but there is one story that she has told me several times.

Once, when my father-in-law was out on tour, and she was home with three small children, the car broke down and, of course, she had to take care of it. My husband marched up and said, "Don't worry, Mom, I'll fix it." He was about five years old at the time.

My mother-in-law laughs. . . the little man, takin' care of things. But it makes me cry.

We owe a lot to our military families.

When we visited Arlington this past week, we passed at least three funeral ceremonies on the way to Section 64. I lost track of the fresh graves and the still-standing tents, either just vacated by other grieving families, or awaiting the afternoon's fresh, raw sorrow.

As we pulled up on Bradley Avenue, an Air Force honor guard was marching precisely back to their bus after a ceremony for an airman who had been a POW in Korea. While we searched for my father-in-law's headstone, an empty horse-drawn caisson lumbered past, and settled briefly in the shade nearby, awaiting their next assignment. . .

We found my father-in-law's headstone: The front has the Christian Cross with the old Chief's Curriculum Vita. Chief Yoest cut high school to catch World War II. He retired with rows of ribbons and a "v" device, and pinned butterbars on his boy. He now has a grandson, The Dude, who bears his name and wants to be a Navy pilot.

The reverse of the stone is blank, awaiting the inscripton for Chief Yoest's high school sweetheart, his wife, Jack's mom, "Babcia" (Polish for Grandmother), who is still with us. In the end, they will be buried together, an honor she earned.

As we turned to go, the Diva took her jingle-bell necklace from around her neck, and left it on the headstone. A fitting tribute for a warrior.



Sailors, rest your oars.

We drove back down Bradley Avenue -- past a fresh grave covered by a tarp. In front of us, sparkling in the bright sunlight of a gorgeous day, stretched row after row of white marble markers, orderly, peaceful, some weathered, others new and crisply chiseled . . .

I turned to the Penta-Posse. "I want you to look," I said. "I want you to understand, that each one of these headstones represents someone who gave their life so that you could be free."

They were quiet and solemn. The weight of it is beyond measure.

The Dreamer said, "Don't cry, Mom."

We made the right turn onto Eisenhower. We drove slowly toward the exit, passing the drive to the Tomb of the Unknowns to our left, until we came to a crosswalk thronged with tourists. The guard on duty motioned to the crowd to stop, and we drove through, passing through the gates, back to a busy day, leaving behind -- the curious crowds, the chattering school children. . . and the silent stones.

Other Memorial Day Links:
Blackfive with "Opening the Gates of Heaven."
Intel Dump

Marine Corps Moms

LaShawn Barber's Corner

See Traffic Jam

Posted at 9:28 AM | Permalink
Comments (3) | TrackBacks (4)

Sex and virtue . . . Men across cultures: Are good-girls back still in style? Maybe there are some customs so enduring they sell in both Hollywood . . . and Iraq.

Army Colonel John R. Martin writes from Iraq:

One of the servicemen here married an Iraqi woman working for us. Even in the twenty-first century, American soldiers are supposed to ask permission before doing such things. He didn’t, but we’re still trying to help him get his war bride home.

I took the issue to the consular officer at the embassy today, so I got to look at the application. The marriage certificate included certification that a dowry had been requested ($25,000) and excused by the bride’s family.

Also had a statement of the bride’s chastity. Wonder if those things would sell in the U.S.

Well, yes, Col. Martin, they just might.

The tabloids are all agog with word that Katie Holmes has stated to the world that she will remain a virgin until she marries.

Katie Holmes
with her parents

And now she's dating Tom Cruise (not really a Top Gun, but played one in the movies).

Tom and Katie together in Rome

The tabloids have reported breathlessly that Cruise filled Katie's room with dozens of red roses.

I wish I could tell Lynndie England she could have done so much better than having sex with a dud.

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, link above.)

It's a dad thing. In every culture.

On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?

Would he offer me his mouth?

Yes

Would he offer me his teeth?

Yes

Would he offer me his jaws?

Yes

Would he offer me his hunger?

Yes

Again, would he offer me his hunger?

Yes

And would he starve without me?

Yes

And does he love me?

Yes

Yes

On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?

Yes

You took the words right out of my mouth. . .

© by MeatLoaf

Thanks to alert readers, Stan H., and the Brilliant Brother.

Link to Mudville's Open Post

Attaboy to Attaboy

See Jackson's Junction

Outside the Beltway has news and pic

Update: Blogger 11D also thinks the couple is odd.

Update: Common Sense Runs Wild is making sense

Update: See what the Professor thinks at Daniel W. Drezner about Katie Holmes/Cruise

Update: Steal The Bandwagon presents another question at Katie Holmes...

Update: Michelle Malkin has pic of the Death Grip

update 22 June 2005: The Owner's Manual has more wisdom/wit at Tom Cruise: The Movie

The Anchoress has an excellent opinion as always

Update July 14: The Movie Star Blog says Cruise Gets Results.

Posted at 9:15 AM | Permalink
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Two very different stories this morning -- the loss of a young mother in Wales. . . and a mocking, snide piece on gay marriage on Arianna Huffington's new blog -- both via Michelle Malkin, and I want to tie them together this morning. The first story is real life; the second politics -- where they meet, here, is Politics in Real Life. . .

Helen and Ffion
Tributes to mothers were everywhere this weekend, of course. But the story about Helen Harcombe's death was among the saddest. Helen died at age 28 after a battle with breast cancer, leaving her husband Antony to raise their daughter Ffion, age seven, by himself.

Helen, however, left a "Mummy Manual" for Antony, and mothers everywhere, in every country, will recognize some of the issues she worried her husband might need a little female input on:

Xmas time, don't forget smaller things like stocking fillers to make it look more + fill the stockings - chocs, bobbles, clips, make-up, joke stuff, fun stuff, girly fun etc.

Make sure serve food with veg/peas - get fruit down her - don't let her live out of cans, noodles + toast etc.

Regular trims on hair - may need extra conditioner or leave in conditioner for knots. Ensure hair is tied back for school - neat parting, no bump. Smooth with tail comb if necessary, ensure fixed with spray & hairspray to keep neat + no straggly bits.

It's the "girly fun" and the "no straggly bits" that get me. It's a mom thing.

Which is precisely the point. When confronted with the loss of a mother, or a father, we all instantly understand -- in our gut, where it really matters -- the empty space left in the child's life. And it's not just the person, per se: It's also their role as Mom, as Dad.

Ffion still has a Dad. But there is still a place in her heart, and her everyday life, where Mom should be . . . Helen understood that. So she left the Mummy Manual, that covers uniquely mum things.

So skip with me over to Arianna's blog, where you will find your daily quotient of pseudo-sophistication -- the very top post is from Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (she of Seinfeld fame) and her husband, Brad Hall, with a snarky little entry on gay marriage. . . Here's some blue-state sarcasm from Brad on the Defense of Marriage Act. Ironically, he stumbles into an important truth in the middle:

Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Brad Hall

I have been married to a beautiful, smart, funny woman since 1987. Together we have had two happy children and shared nearly 18 years of marital bliss. Now the whole thing is ruined.

Like most Americans, I had hoped that the Defense of Marriage Act would do just that: defend my marriage. Apparently not. Look around and you’ll see the gays getting gay-married all over the place, and, to quote, well, everyone: gay marriage destroys real marriage. Now, when I come home to my wife, I feel nothing. How could I? SHE COULD BE A MAN. Thanks a lot, gays. Thanks for rendering our vows obsolete. Thanks for illegitimizing our sons. Thanks for tearing asunder a great institution that has heretofore withstood Las Vegas, Elizabeth Taylor, Larry King and Britney Spears combined.

She could be a man!! Right. My point exactly. . . She couldn't be a man.

We can make a lot of arguments about the importance of marriage between a man and a woman -- from natural law, from philosophy, from sociology, from epidemiology, from tradition, from theology, from utilitarianism -- all of those are worth visiting. Today, in the wake of Mother's Day, I want to point us back, for a moment, to a gut check.

Helen left a Mummy Manual for her husband and daughter because she wasn't a man. And she knew in her heart that being a woman, a mom, was important. And irreplaceable.

I think I'll go get my girls' hair trimmed today. . .thank you Helen. And God bless sweet Ffion.

Posted at 8:54 AM | Permalink
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