The Bad News Bores (Celebratory Nature of The News)

By Richard Laermer, Guest Author I noticed it first at a Kwanzaa party late last year. Having trouble keeping myself amused, I started quizzing those holding drinks and discovered that everyone there was kind of “into” news and recent events.

I Just Want This Election to be Good (What’s So Wrong With That?)

by Richard Laermer, Guest Author It’s no secret that I lean left. I think the world of FDR and JFK, and I don’t know if I can stand to hear one more misguided ditto-head, all glassy-eyed and empty-headed, deify Reagan. (Really, people, my gag reflex can only take so much.)

Demeaning (Any) President (Really): America’s New Low

By Guest Author Richard Laermer Last year, responding to a question about President Bush, now-beleaguered Representative Charles Rangel told his television interviewer: “I really think that he shatters the myth of white supremacy once and for all; it shows that, in this great country, anybody can become president.”

Devolution: The Language of Life

Language is the currency of communication…The power inherent in language is within us all.

Why Reality TV Will Soon Die a Healthy Death

By Richard Laermer, Guest Author Besides writing the stories that Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck and A Scanner Darkly were all based upon, Philip K. Dick was also known for his own reality-bending brand of social commentary. His observation that “reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it”

Read Full Article »

Oh My Blog: What’s the big deal about “new media” influence?

By Richard Laermer, Guest Author Buzz Bissinger is an investigative journalist and well-regarded sportswriter and author of the acclaimed football story, “Friday Night Lights.” Will Leitch was until this week editor of Deadspin, typically considered the country’s most influential and widely read sports blog. Several weeks ago Bob Costas invited them to appear on his

Read Full Article »

Just Think …

By Richard Laermer, Guest Author It’s uncanny how little we do for our brains considering all they do for us. Imagine the following scene: One day restaurants put a simple bin near the door. Not for lost and found. Not for umbrellas. But for our cell phones, Blackberries, Treos (do they still make those?), anything

Read Full Article »

The Last Thing You’ll Ever Have to Read about “Sex and The City”

By Richard Laermer, Guest Author Arthur Harris of the Royal Air Force is often credited as the innovator of carpet bombing during World War Two, which was a tactic used to achieve the complete destruction of a target region and demoralization of its residents. When the head of marketing at New Line Cinema sends out

Read Full Article »