Fire and Knowledge

Love the sound effects.

Sorry, I was channeling Palin. Seriously though, Powell endorsed Obama, and I thought he did a good job summing up why I’m bothered by McCain’s recent campaign tactics:

The Chicago Tribune has endorsed Obama for President — the first time they have endorsed a democrat in its history. The endorsement is worth reading.

“Retail sales plunge 1.2 percent in September”

I didn’t realize a drop of 1.2 percent was now considered a “plunge.” Gosh, what if it drops 3%? Would that be the end of the world?

Maybe next month’s headline will be: “Retail sales skyrocket 1.3 percent in October.”

If I try to use human influence strategies and tactics of how to get other people to do what I want, to work better, to be more motivated, to live me and each other — while my character is fundamentally flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity — then, in the long run, I cannot be successful. My duplicity will breed distrust, and everything I do — even using so-called good human relations techniques — will be perceived as manipulative.

It simply makes no difference how good the rhetoric is or even how good the intentions are; if there is little or no trust, there is no foundation for permanent success. Only basic goodness gives life to technique.

—Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, p. 21.

He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others.

—Samuel Johnson

This is the funniest interview I’ve seen in a long time:

“I’ll put you down for C” — oh man. That had me laughing pretty hard.

This is very cool: