Wiley’s “Non Sequitur” reveals the power of context
Thanks to Wiley’s Non Sequitur for today’s wisdom about how context affects what we think is bullshit. (And why I still have a beard.)
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My Bloomberg interview and media mindsets (podcast)
I talked to Bloomberg Radio last week, thanks to a great guy, Woody Benson, who has a regular spot there. This was fun. I think radio is not necessarily ready for this level of honesty. This was fun, but the most interesting thing is the unspoken bias of where they’re coming from. At about 5:40 in…
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The batshit candor of Donald Trump
Yesterday, Donald Trump announced he’s a candidate. He is a politician like no other. We ask for honesty from candidates. We rarely get it. We are getting it from Trump. Other politicians occasionally let something slip that reveals how they really think. There are no slips with Trump, just a relentless flood of unfiltered candor. Fivethirtyeight’s Harry…
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Christopher L. Gasper’s passive voice approach to fixing the Red Sox
“Something must be done.” It’s the passive-voice cry of the handwringing editorial or the concerned memo. And it’s vacuous and worthless, since it doesn’t say who must do what. I’ll illustrate with Christopher L. Gasper’s article in today’s Boston Globe: “It’s time for the Red Sox to call for a changeup.” The story so far: despite a high payroll, the Boston…
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To write well and efficiently, choose the right level of editing
Editing is like going to the dentist — nobody likes it, but you’ll avoid a lot of pain and ugliness if you get the right help at the right time. And you need to pick the right intensity of editing to match what your writing needs; you can’t fix a toothache with just a cleaning. Good…
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McDonald’s announcement of marketing hires isn’t very meaty
Troubled McDonald’s announced a new chief marketing officer and PR head. While the press release is as bland as a Big Mac with no secret sauce, the media swallowed it whole anyway. Here’s the actual news: McDonald’s hired Robert Gibbs, former Obama press secretary, as EVP, Global Chief Communications Officer (that is, head of PR). It…
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Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report spawns predictable cliches
Mary Meeker’s latest 197-slide Internet Trends report is not bullshit. While some of the stats on the slides are questionable, overall it’s a pretty interesting, international grab-bag of facts. My issue is with what comes next — media and analyst cliché predictions based on those facts. In the tech world, predictions are predictable. There’s a cliché for each stage of technology…
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Truth and lies about Charter/Time Warner Cable Merger
You’re going to read a lot about this cable merger. Most of it will be bullshit. Here is the truth (based on more than a decade of closely watching the cable and TV industries): These cable operators will tell regulators that the efficiencies in this merger will enable them to improve customer service. But customer service…
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The bullshit in Philadelphia Magazine’s “No Bullshit Mayoral Election Guide”
Elections and bullshit go together. That’s why I was intrigued to get several suggestions to analyze Philadelphia Magazine’s “No Bullshit Mayoral Election Guide.” Sadly, I think bullshit is an essential element of all election guides, including this one. Patrick Kerkstra, writing in Philadelphia Magazine, describes his guide this way: … [W]e’ve put together this bottom-line assessment of the…
