When I read about the Nir Rosen Twitter flap two weeks ago I dang near did a post on it. 

But who’s Nir Rosen and why should we care that he’d Tweeted about the assault of Lara Logan in Cairo? 

We shouldn’t care… but the media did.  Rosen posted some Twitter remarks to his 3000 followers that were so reprehensible to the media that they reported on it for days and expanded his comments from his 3000 followers to untold millions. 

The only part of the Rosen story that interested me was this:  He became the latest public figure to (more…)

People always expose more of themselves than they realize. 

No, not like your plumber’s coin slot… I’m talking about something much more personal than skin:  Their thoughts.

Consider this:  Your thoughts are the only ‘thing’ you have that: 

1-Can’t be taken away from you

2-Can’t be changed without your consent

3-Can’t be seen or known by another person  

The only caveat to all of this?  It centers on point three.   Since spoken words always begin with thought, every time we speak, we take the risk of (more…)

Hey, it’s two days ’til Halloween and the classic movie channels are loaded with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi masterpieces, so time is short…

But I wanted you to check out this clip of Florida Governor Charlie Crist on Greta Van Susteren’s show last night; it’s a blatant example of (more…)

It was my turn to address the group at a meeting of the National Speakers Association a few nights ago, and I opened by saying, “In my past life, I used to get confessions out of people…” 

Before I could say another word, a lady blurted out in amazement, “You used to be a priest?!” 

Me, a priest… wow, now that’s a new one.  Of course, the confessions I used to listen to were in a police station, not a church!

But occasionally I have a confession of my own, so here’s one now:  I watched ABC’s The Bachelorette.  Not just one night, but two.  I did it for my wife, okay?  Will I watch the whole season?  No.  Well, if she makes me.

Anyway, since confessions and accusations always travel together, I have one of those, too: (more…)

There’s more to April Fools’ Day than most people realize.

It’s “celebrated” in many countries, goes back to at least the 14th Century, and is practiced in some places according to the time of day.  Can get pretty intricate.  You can see a general history of it here.

Some people get pretty elaborate and use the day for cover to execute pranks on the unsuspecting.  If you’re the mischevious type, or you just want to know (more…)

Those of you up to speed on your Little Rascals might have realized where I got the inspiration for the title of my last post:  “Breaks is Gone, We’s Free-Wheelin!”.  It came from the episode where Spanky and Buckwheat start downhill in their car fashioned from an old crate, and mid-way down realize their brakes (also homemade) are out.  

I never questioned the title until I re-read it this week, and something ironic occurred to me. 

The Toyota story wasn’t about bad brakes; they worked fine, didn’t they?  The problem was just the opposite:  Too much gas! 

But consider this, having no way to stop and having too much power brings the same exact result:  An out of control vehicle.

Is a little strange that two opposites could be contained in the same thing?  You may have (more…)

When news broke this week about the accelerator sticking on a California man’s Prius, the media reported it as factual, and average people said to one another, “Hey,  did you hear (more…)

Coincidence is a funny thing… so strange I really don’t believe in it anymore. 

So it just happened to be that my travels landed me in St. Louis this week, on the very day that former Cardinal Mark McGwire finally admitted his steroid use… after years of dodging the subject.

Unlike most public figures under accusation, he never outright lied about his guilt.  But along with breaking Roger Maris’s season home run record, McGwire is also remembered for inartfully dodging questions about steroid use in his 2005 Congressional testimony.  You can see the video here.

Hey, it didn’t take Columbo to know that he was avoiding the truth.  It was easy to deduce by his “answers” that he had taken steroids.  Still, he accomplished his goal:  He didn’t admit the truth, and he didn’t lie… that’s the delicate art of (more…)

Have you ever you ever trusted another person… and later wished you hadn’t?  

Welcome to the club.  Subterfuge is a sport, and you’re in the game—whether you know it or not.

Trusting others is necessary… and it’s also risky.  Trust another person, and you’re taking a chance, you become vulnerable.  Cynical, you think?  Put to words, reality sometimes sounds that way.  

Why do people violate our trust?  Well, the specific situations are infinite, of course, but (more…)

If you read my post from a couple weeks back about duality (you did, right?) then you already know that, “It lures people into missing your real message.” 

Because I know how this stuff works, I’m usually leery of giving you examples that have religious or political components.

But here I go again, breaking my own “rules”.

Why? 

Well, 1-because I can’t ignore a great opportunity to give you something you might benefit (more…)