There was a distinct lack of swagger about the hosts' play in a dour first half.

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Ever since Ron Johnson took the helm at JC Penney fourteen months ago, there has been much talk and swagger about the new JC Penney.

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"The players have all got a little bit of a swagger about them and we need to make sure we keep that when we got back to the league, " he said.

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Still, there is something reassuring about the swagger with which Cleveland Clinic pulls back the curtain on the quality of its care.

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CEOs of small and privately held companies still swagger and invest, unpuckered, but Americans don't read as much about small and private companies.

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Perhaps the most telling indication of the change in the signature Gates swagger is how the foundation handled one of its first big "solution" announcements: About three years ago, the foundation issued a press release declaring that it had provided at least one computer to every library in America.

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