That P.J. O'Rourke is one pretty sharp dude. Except for not knowing the BB Gun ended production in 1960, he still sees what I do:

"We are the generation that changed everything. Of all the eras and epochs of Americans, ours is the one that made the biggest impression—on ourselves. That's an important accomplishment, because we're the generation that created the self, made the firmament of the self, divided the light of the self from the darkness of the self, and said, "Let there be self." If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you may have noticed this yourself. That's not to say we're a selfish generation. Selfish means 'too concerned with the self,' and we're not. Self isn't something we're just, you know, concerned with. We are self.

Before us, self was without form and void, like our parents in their dumpy clothes and vague ideas. Then we came along. Now the personal is the political. The personal is the socioeconomic. The personal is the religious and the secular, science and the arts. The personal is everything that creepeth upon the earth after his (and, let us hasten to add, her) kind. If the baby boom has done one thing, it's to beget a personal universe. (Our apologies for anyone who personally happens to be a jerk.)"

"We should have had a cooler name, the way the Lost Generation did. Except good luck to anybody who tries to tell us to get lost."

 "To address America's baby boom is to face big, broad problems. We number more than 75 million, and we're not only diverse but take a thorny pride in our every deviation from the norm (even though we're in therapy for it). We are all alike in that each of us thinks we're unusual.

Fortunately, we are all alike in our approach to big, broad problems too. We won't face them. There's a website for that, a support group to join, a class to take, alternative medicine, regular exercise, a book that explains it all, a celebrity on TV who's been through the same thing, or we can eliminate gluten from our diet."

That's pretty much been it - disgusting NewAge "America":

75 million dangerous, delusional, gibbering idiots.

Forever "offering" these useless choices, forced on me from birth,...

 

Whoo-hoo - it's the lit now:

"Twirling toothpick tips against the skin 'works' just as well or better than 'real' acupuncture. To top it all off, acupuncture and “traditional Chinese medicine” as we know it today were basically reinventions of Chinese folk medicine promoted by Chairman Mao to his people beginning a few years after World War II because his Communist regime couldn’t provide enough 'Western' doctors to supply the health care needs of the Chinese." 

 Repeat as needed,..

 

I'm 52 years old and, for 50 of those years, me and Frank have been watching liars - individuals, groups, and society at large - telling whoppers that, regularly, have to be dispelled:

"Being thinner doesn’t necessarily make you happier or healthier."

It'll take another 50 for that to take hold,...

 

Now, I ask you, serious business:

 "Is Gluten the Cause of Your Health Problems?" 

Or is it something else?

"Your choices are limited by who you are."

I love the ring of that phrase - and it's ring of truth - like a kick in the gut. So, since that seems to be the case (and since I'm *kinda safe* for the moment) excuse me as I jump in the fray, because culture is wailing on politics with a vengeance:

McAllister, running as an outsider, lined up an endorsement from "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson, the patriarch in the popular reality show, and cast member Willie Robertson appeared in a commercial for the candidate. The program is shot in the northeast part of Louisiana that McAllister will represent.

Unlike McAllister, Riser had the backing of a number of prominent Republicans including U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Riser agreed with the governor's stance to reject the Medicaid expansion.

…The funeral home owner was the contest's early favorite with backing from the conservative Tea Party of Louisiana and the national group FreedomWorks, which is aligned with the Tea Party movement.

The Right is so out of sync now, it's pitiful. Everyday is the day before the last election - and then the "unexpected" happens. Again. GlennBoy's even already back to warning Republicans not to get cocky. Why? What are they going to do? Keep coming on like The Party That Doesn't Give A Shit? We've seen that. "Maybe get a black point-man."

"Man Has Magnetic Powers, Can Make Objects Stick To Body"

New Headline:

You Are A Fucking Idiot, Go Back To School - Retake Science

Unoriginal second thought - do we even need another metal attracting guy? Bending spoons? Wow.

Do something useful.

 Now here's a something that gets my attention:

"Since Christianity has produced a lot of dysfunctional people, suicides will more than likely increase among Christians in the very near future."

So it's a self-correcting system - cool. Kinda like this:

"Lady Gaga's 'ARTPOP' Flop Expected to Lose Label Reported $25M in Marketing Costs"

Word is people will be fired - at Christmas. Perfect. Contrast and compare with the netherworld:

 "Michael Jackson Tops List of Highest-Earning Dead Celebrities of 2013"

He's dead, and still a better entertainer than we've got now. What a wasteland. No, really, a wasteland. And nobody knows the difference, either, so far as I can tell. Everything just slips by.

"The Jamaican Maroons were runaway slaves who fought the British during the 18th century. When the British invaded Jamaica in 1655 the Spanish colonists fled leaving a large number of Africans who they had enslaved."

I'm beginning to think they're all a little insane. 

But probably not without good reason,...

"Dragging a piece of rotting meat through the jungle right next to your vulnerable young is actually a really great way to attract predators,…"

For consumers with a  conscience, they are top of the shopping list.

But it seems free-range eggs may not be all they are cracked up to be. According to researchers, hens kept indoors in cages lead happier lives.

A study found birds raised in ‘enriched cages’ enjoyed lower levels of stress and mortality, and were less likely to suffer from bone fractures or pecking than free-range chickens.

Demand for free-range eggs, which cost almost double the caged equivalent, has risen steeply as a result of high-profile campaigns.

A naturally slender woman, who is 26 weeks pregnant with her first child, has come under fire for promoting an extreme diet which sees her eat predominantly bananas.

Loni Jane Anthony, 25, from Australia, reveals on her blog Aleven:11 that she eats up to 20 per day, raw and in smoothies, for breakfast, often lunch and sometimes mixes it up by having salad for dinner.

After opening up about her fruit-based meal plan to news.com.au, commentators deemed the pretty blonde 'irresponsible' and 'narcissistic' - especially as her Instagram account, which boasts almost 100,000 followers, features dozens of 'selfies' showcasing her svelte figure.

“If we put out a social media ad based on scientific facts, how many hits would we get?”

"The reality is, most of us will struggle an entire lifetime to resolve one or two main issues. Yoga is the most effective way I know to aid that resolution, but it’s no magic spell (though there is plenty of magic)."

"I am in trouble here. I am dying, I am dead.”

"It doesn’t matter what vitamins they’re on, how healthy they are, how natural everything is, everything organic. It’s irrelevant. Your child is going to get sick."

“Coeliacs make up only one in 100 of the population, while one in five of us is buying gluten-free products. Surveys of US consumers show that, of these, only five per cent are buying to combat coeliac disease, with the vast majority citing their reasons as 'digestive health', 'nutritional value' and 'to help me lose weight'. People have been eating bread since biblical times without reporting adverse effects.”

“A study by the Rand research institute released in May found that fewer than half of employees at offices with wellness programs undergo clinical screenings and assessments, and less than than 20 percent take part in either weight loss or smoking cessation programs.

Employees who did head to the nearest gym or Prancercise track at their employer’s behest did lose weight—but only about a pound a year over the course of three years, Rand found. Those lackluster findings were bolstered by another study from the University of California, which showed that 'participating in work-based wellness programs does not lower blood pressure, blood sugar, or cholesterol and rarely leads to weight loss,' Reuters reported. And just 2 percent of the employers Rand surveyed had reported measurable cost savings through the programs.”

"This seems to be a trend with teenagers that is far from healthy. They become obsessed and paranoid and can accuse people with very little evidence of being a reptilian."

Punctuality mattered to Romney. Christie’s lateness bugged him. Mitt also cared about fitness and was prone to poke fun at those who didn’t. (“Oh, there’s your date for tonight,” he would say to male members of his traveling crew when they spied a chunky lady on the street.) Romney marveled at Christie’s girth, his difficulties in making his way down the narrow aisle of the campaign bus. Watching a video of Christie without his suit jacket on, Romney cackled to his aides, “Guys! Look at that!”

NewAge is Witches - we're told acting against them is bad.

But find bugs in Healthcare.gov and We Need a Witch Hunt.

Witch means - since we're including witches - that could just be one of their witchy spells, turning everything every witch-way, so we'll eventually excuse ourselves to confuse ourselves (even further) on what's right or wrong or even true.

Witchever it is, it's working pretty well so far,...