Slow road to nowhere

I value every job in our economy; we all should. I believe that every profession is worthy of our respect for without it the rest of us would frankly, not get far. However, I do question our educational paradigm. I question the value of teaching someone who ultimately ends up holding a road sign at…

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Speak clearly

I’ve been complaining about how institutions communicated for years. I’ve been frustrated by the code, the formalism, the double entendres, the misinformation and every other cryptic use of language destined to simultaneously cover their back sides and commit them to nothing. In some circles, this is called UN-speak. I admit that I have often called…

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I smell revolt

The fast food employees are on strike to increase their minimum wage of just above $7 an hour. McDonald’s made $5.5 billion in profit. What’s wrong with this picture? You might say that disparity is an economic driver. You might say that for centuries we have had a scale of success in our democratic societies…

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The Awakening

Can we put the planet on pause for one moment? Look at all that you have. Do not look at what you hope to achieve, gain or benefit from. Do not look at your need or want. I ask you, do you have too little, just enough or too much. Chances are that you’ll answer…

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$75 Logo

How about this as a response to this ad asking for a $75 logo in three days? “Let me get this straight. You are starting a surgical group, I assume with the intent of making millions of dollars selling products that, for instance, are in the field of robotic surgery, implying that you must have…

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Fight homophobia campaign

Today’s the International Day Against Homophobia (actually, it’s tomorrow but my calendar says today so I guess we’ll make it last two days!). This is the official website and this is their campaign poster for 2013. There are many things I really like about this poster. The graphics are good: the color is stark, the contrast…

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Divide and conquer

Communications is a tough business. Being good means being better than those who have come before us and goodness knows that we’ve had some great communications over the past century or so. I came across an ad that I believe deserves praise. This is not an endorsement of the product or the company; it is…

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Rule by vanity

Our countries are ruled by vanity. This morning, walking back from dropping off my daughter in school, I was crossed by a teenager on a bicycle. Nothing alarming about this, I grant you. In fact, he was clearly not alarming in that he was wearing a helmet. What struck me was the look on his…

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Bieber AP Breaking News

AP, sorry but you lost me. I have been a stalwart supporter of AP for as long as I have been in news, media and communications. Well, last night they lost me. I was sitting at the World Affairs Council gala, listening to the keynote speaker General Dempsey, the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of…

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The perfect alliance

This is NOT a political statement. This is NOT a historical reassessment. This IS an economic analysis. There, now that I’ve laid the groundwork, I’ll get right to the point: Imagine if Germany and Israel became economic allies! It struck me that the two countries in Eurasia that have consistently performed, economically speaking, are Germany…

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