From the category archives:

POLITICS

TRUSTWORTHINESS: being deserving of one’s trust

December 28, 2011

An interview with Fordham professor Robert Hurley caught my attention.  His new book, How to Create a High-Trust Organization, puts the emphasis about the issue of trust in the right place.  It is only partially the responsibility of the receiver to develop trust in someone.   The primary responsibility, however, is for the person being considered [...]

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AUDACITY: boldness, courage

December 22, 2011

Three years ago the term audacity moved from the obscure to the common with the publication of then-Senator Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope.  It was a declaration of intention on the part of Obama to establish an era which put away negativity and embraced hope.  His premise in the book was seen as [...]

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LIBERTARIAN: a proponent of free will

December 21, 2011

[This is the first time I have re-posted a previous article.  I first published this posting on December 3, 2010.   However, with the rise in the polls of Ron Paul, libertarian candidate for the Republican nomination for President, it seemed timely. ] ————————————————————- For the past several years I have been confused by the intermittent [...]

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ZANY: archaic term?

December 16, 2011

When potential Republican candidate Mitt Romney indirectly referred to potential candidate Newt Gingrich as being zany many reporters laughed and said it was an archaic word.   Several have been quoted as saying that they haven’t heard the word used since the 70′s.  It turns out that the word was suggested by a college-age staff member, [...]

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SOPHISTRY: reasoning that sounds good, but is actually flawed

December 12, 2011

One of the most beautiful words in existence is sophia (sophos), a Greek word meaning wisdom.  For some reason, it is a word with a sound which stimulates me and encourages me to seek out more.  It is a woman’s name, Sophia/Wisdom always being characterized as feminine, most notably in the Bible, where the book [...]

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CAMPAIGN FATIGUE: growing tired of political campaigns

December 11, 2011

It’s just about now that staff members of a political candidate are beginning to experience serious campaign fatigue.   Sleep deprivation, poll anxiety, long days, short nights, constant noise, and who knows what else.  They all contribute to the phenomenon which leads to mistakes, blunders, and nasty exchanges bordering on near-firings. But campaign fatigue is not [...]

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SOUSVEILLANCE: ordinary citizens keeping recorded track of officials, instead of the other way around.

December 9, 2011

If you pay attention carefully, you’ll realize that the word sousveillance is a reversal of a more familiar word, surveillance.   Surveillance is a term originating in the French language which uses the prefix, sur, meaning above.   Veillance, the main body of the word means to watch.   Therefore, the meaning of surveillance is to “watch over.”   [...]

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DECLARATION OF WAR: one country’s announcement of military action against another

December 7, 2011

Perhaps the most humbling and frightening thing the President of the United States can do is to sign the document declaring war against another country.   It is not an act which creates war, as much as it is an act declaring a state of war to be in effect.   Something has to have precipitated the [...]

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HOLIDAY: a day or season of both sacred and secular observance

December 4, 2011

People all over the country are getting heated up over a faux controversy over the use of the term holiday and its related ornaments.    The current affection of many Americans with things “conservative” has not spared references to the season, as many people have chosen to greet friends, relatives and customers with the greeting, “Happy [...]

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DISINGENUOUS: lacking in candor, giving a false impression of integrity

November 29, 2011

To characterize someone as disingenuous is more than to call them a liar.  A disingenuous person is capable of leading you to believe that they are in synch with you, or support you.  However, the truth is that they secretly disregard you and oppose you.   The pain of discovering someone to be disingenuous is to [...]

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