Golden Oldies…That Move….WTIZ….Excuse me…after these two, twice…Time for Shower.

Kool and The Gang…Celebration

Kool and The Gang…Let’s Go Dancing (Ooh, La, La La)

On this one, check the older Chick, around 2:12, in….Yea baby…

For this election season:

I give you the Top Ten Hillary Campaign Slogans.

And:
The Top Twenty Conservative T-Shirt Slogans.

(h/t Dr. Sanity

Skinny Girls Need Love Too

Here we have an example of the unpredictable and undefinable “cuteness factor” I dread. I say dread because I have a harder time dealing with cute girls than with the strikingly beautiful ones. Not sure why that is.

Cheer up! Depression might be good for you.

With the World Health Organisation talking of increasing access to treatment to deal with the “global epidemic” in depression-related disability – predicting that it will be second only to heart disease as the most important cause of disability by 2010, British psychiatrist Paul Keedwell suggests that depression actually might serve some useful functions.

In a recent article, excerpted below, he writes that “The truth is that short-term pain can lead to longer-term gain.”

***

… Although technological advances in antidepressant treatments have undoubtedly been responsible for the alleviation of much suffering, strict adherence to the medical (disease) model is preventing a more complete understanding of why we as a species are so susceptible to depression, with at least 20% of men and 25% of women experiencing the condition in their lifetimes. The disease model may also be engendering a sense of powerlessness in those with depression or ex-sufferers. What so commonly goes along with this perspective is the implication that the condition is due to some unusual constitutional weakness. The only solution, therefore, is chemical.

It is a complete nonsense to talk of depression being unusual when it is plainly common. […] Most of us probably have a moderate susceptibility to the condition under certain stressful circumstances. Nevertheless, we see GPs overprescribing antidepressants, and the World Health Organisation talks of increasing access to “treatment” to deal with the global epidemic in depression-related disability – predicted to be second only to heart disease as the most important cause of disability by 2010. […]

My recent review of theories and personal observations suggests that depression might serve some useful functions. […] The truth is that short-term pain can lead to longer-term gain. A recently published follow-up study of depression in Holland – the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (Nemesis) – used a sample of 165 people with a major depressive episode, and provides some preliminary scientific evidence to suggest that depression is indeed helpful in the longer term. Researchers who were looking for evidence to suggest that depression leaves people chronically disabled were surprised to discover the opposite.

The population they followed from before illness to the period after recovery showed that people seemed to cope better with life’s trials after depression than they were doing before its onset. In the group as a whole, averaged ratings of vitality, psychological health, social and leisure activities, occupational performance and general health all significantly improved upon recovery from depression, compared to functioning prior to the depression. […]

Evolutionary theories of depression explore why the condition has apparently persisted so commonly and universally since ancient times. […] To explain why depression has not been “bred out” through Darwinian natural selection, theories have suggested that rather than being a defect, depression could be a defence against the chronic stress that misguided people can put themselves under. It is possible that depression defends us against the tendency to deny our true needs by chasing unobtainable goals and helps to bring these needs into sharper focus. More specifically, the proposed benefits are as follows: removal from a stressful situation, introspection, problem solving, the development of a new perspective, and reintegrating this with the community upon recovery. […]

Depression may have forced our ancestors to look again at their strengths and their limitations, their coping strategies, their direction, their priorities, their supports. Regardless of the reason for falling into depression, the journey has the potential to make us better equipped, in a general sense, for life.

If we are too busy to think and feel, to be mindful, depression might represent the first opportunity to take an honest inventory of ourselves. If the modern world prevents us from learning from depression, perhaps it is the fault of the modern world and not this ubiquitous human condition.

[emphasis mine]

***

This Is On Pelosi’s Head….Determined to lose this effort. The country can go to hell

That’s a strong op-ed in the Cincinnati Enquirer from McConnell Kathryn linked to below, explaining clearly why it’s urgent that Nancy Pelosi let the House vote on a version of the bipartisan Senate intelligence reform bill. He writes that without the legal authority needed:

If a Marine in Iraq captures a terrorist from a previously unidentified terror group, our agents will not be free to call the phone numbers in this terrorist’s laptop right away. If a call is placed to one of the numbers in this terrorist’s laptop and routed through U.S. phone lines, our agents will have to apply for a warrant, even though the people on the other end of the phone are half a world away, the terrorist with the laptop is not an American, and all this takes place in a theater of war.

 

Me: Are we supposed to pretend that this, too, is supporting our troops? And why would Pelosi be doing this? I don’t claim to know her motives but McConnell points out:

[B]ecause the law as written does not protect phone companies from lawsuits for helping the government trace terrorist calls, those companies now face crushing lawsuits. Such litigation may be good for trial lawyers, but it jeopardizes the financial future of the phone companies – who are only trying to aid the war effort in good faith.

Who donates more to Pelosi’s party then trial lawyers? Yet when I chided a well-known investigative reporter last week for saying nothing about that in his story (even as he cast doubt on who or what might be influencing my views on this issue) he said he saw “no evidence of a link.”

 

Worth reading the senator’s full piece.

The Corner/NRO

It’s Official: Rudd’s a Stud!

From The Sunday Telegraph:

Rudd a Style Leader

HIS frameless spectacles, colourful ties and neatly parted hair apparently caught the eye of Generation Next during the last federal election, and now it seems the rest of Australia is taking note of Kevin Rudd’s fashion sense.

A new survey, released exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph, reveals many believe the Prime Minister to be among the 10 most stylish people in Australia.

The nationwide survey, commissioned by Galaxy, took in the views of more than 1000 people. The unaided and open-ended question meant respondents could nominate anyone they saw fit as being Australia’s most stylish celebrity.

Expectant mum Nicole Kidman predictably topped the charts and received nearly 23 per cent of the votes, while Cate Blanchett came in second with pop princess Kylie Minogue and the recently retired Megan Gale tied for third.

The unexpected accolade for Mr Rudd comes a month after he took a walk on the wild side by sporting retro sideburns, before his wife Therese made him trim them back.

Lisa Saunders, group marketing manager at Rosemount Australia, says while Mr Rudd’s bullet entry took her by surprise, she believed style could be defined by more than just fashion.

“He’s very high on the popularity stakes at the moment, which explains the result,” she said.

Jackie Frank, editor of Marie Claire, said Mr Rudd’s polling wasn’t surprising, considering his extraordinary appeal to everyday Australians. “He is a good-looking man and, in terms of style, it’s very simple,” she said.

***

C’mon, Kev — Give us Blue Steel!

No, not that one… You know, the pouty Blue Steel look…

Waaaaiiiit. Is that “Blue Steel“, or “I Just Messed My Pants“?

.

And just for the record, Kevin came in 7th, with poor Elle down at 9th place.

On the Press Bus, Some Questions Over Favoritism

And yet, Mr. Cowan then described several advantages that he saw Mr. Obama as having over his rival. “He hasn’t been around as long, so there isn’t as much to pick at,” Mr. Cowan said. “He plays everything very cool. He’s not as much of a lightning rod. His personality just doesn’t seem to draw that kind of coverage.”

“Even in the conversations we have as colleagues, there is a sense of trying especially hard not to drink the Kool-Aid,” Mr. Cowan added. “It’s so rapturous, everything around him. All these huge rallies.”

 NYT

There you have it, people…The media admitting it’s bias.

Hail The Return!

Celebrate the return of the much loved C.L., to his new home at The Currency Lad!

Beer, wine and spirits are all available, because I’ve opened the bar!

Bolding for all!