I sincerely hope I’m wrong, but the 2022 news seemed eerily like the that preceding December 1941 when Hitler declared war on the United States of America. These days, Putin seems to be mimicking Hitler’s playbook of aggression, double-speak and terror. I’m currently reminded of Conservative politician Arthur Neville Chamberlain’s foreign policy of “appeasement,” and the “Munich Agreement,” signed by Hitler, which Chamberlain naively assumed would avert a world war, which it d...

Continue reading ...

LET’S face it: Information overload is here to stay. And much of it is spun, hoodwinked, tainted, biased or just plain untrue. I’m for a day — today — without any digital news. Nothing. Nada. And a little bit of nothing, I think, will go a long way to regaining my balance. My center. Especially in this unbalanced world. Think “The Qatsi Trilogy – Koyaanisqatsi/Powaqqatsi/Naqoyqatsi” (Hopi for “life out of balance”) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009D004MC. Then think THE EDG...

Continue reading ...

WHAT is it that “makes the world go round?” Money? Power? Business contracts? America’s legal systems? Law enforcers? Bravado? I’ve come to realize over the years that it’s really none of these. It’s all about trust. Without trust, none of the above apply.

According to merriam-webster.com, trust is “firm belief in the character, strength, or truth of someone or something,” the actionable word being “firm” which, according to the same source, means “securely or solidly f...

Continue reading ...

It's becoming harder these days to find unbiased news. What used to be dry factual reporting seems to have swung to its counterpoint: interpretation and opinion. What's missing, in my opinion, is BALANCE. But by balance I don't mean the "mean." 

Good news reporting involves presenting the facts (to be interpreted in various ways by the viewer/listener) and meaning (as be interpreted in various ways by the preparer/broadcaster). "Weighting" the news based on popularity moves it into the realm o...
Continue reading ...

"Fake news" isn't new. It's been around for centuries in the form of gossip. But society's never had a platform whereby gossip could be shared on a mass global basis, where its mere repetition and topic popularity could elevate it from believability to assumed truth. Bad news in a rapidly globalizing world, where politics and governments can depend on popular "news" to remain in power. 

The ancient Greeks taught us that there are five appeals that we as humans tend to accept: 1) logos (well-re...
Continue reading ...

If the currency of business is money (ask President Trump), then the currency of education, or, more accurately academia, is truth. Academic (truth) was always the counterweight for business (money), holding us in the end to a moral/ethical standard. But what today constitutes truth? It's a slippery slope at best these days. 

I still recall a time before computers first appeared! Couple that with the sheer magnitude and ease of access of the Internet, and I also recall the first academic paper...
Continue reading ...