GETTING REAL
The first to present his case seems right, until another comes forward and questions him. — Proverbs 18:16
It happens on Wall Street. It happens in Washington. And it happens in board rooms across the country. What we’re talking about is the misreading and misuse of data. This article is directed toward online marketing decisions based on analytics.
It’s self-evident that without accurate facts, you’re usually not going…
PROPAGANDA
Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. — Geo. Orwell, 1984
When future historians write about the 20th Century, it would not surprise me to find it had been nicknamed The Century of Spin. …
Two views on the pursuit of happiness.
I am proposing that what the Founding Fathers meant when they wrote “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” is totally at odds with what it has come to mean today. To elaborate on how this came about is not my aim here…
NOSTALGIA
“My work is a moving thing.” — Bob Dylan
The Minnesota music scene has produced some sensational talent through the years. Rock, folk, jazz, blues, bluegrass and even gospel music circles have developed exceptional performers and recording artists. One of these was David Curtis Glover, better known as Tony “Little Sun” Glover. …
WORK LIFE
“We are not a team because we work together. We are a team because we respect, trust and care for each other.” — Vala Alshar
For years I have referenced data from the Gallup organization for insights on various topics. What I like about Gallup Polls is that they stake a claim on getting the most diverse viewpoints from the broadest field of data. …
POP CULTURE
‘Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t going away.’ — Elvis Presley
How is it that Elvis became so famous? I mean, he’s been dead 44 years and yet a half million people a year still visit Graceland, his mansion in Memphis. With the exception of the White House, it is the most visited home in the U.S.
This summer I interviewed…
ART AND SOCIETY
Flashback Friday: Notes from a 2011 Brown Bag Lunch Discussion
During the noon hour yesterday a half dozen of us met for a Red Interactive Brown Bag Lunch Dialogue about art around the theme “Engagement or Chaos?” The main objective was to get clarification on what appears to be a problematic dichotomy in the arts. Is anything and everything art…
THE WRITING LIFE
There were 1.7 million self-published books in 2019.
Things were different in the early 1980’s when I started my writing career. There was no internet, so all correspondence with editors (except those you already had a relationship with and could call) was via the U.S. Postal Service. If writing articles, you would send a query letter (your pitch)…
MOVIES
“The world is arming faster than we can respond. Where’s 007?”
Last night I went to The West here in Duluth to see my first movie in a theater since pre-pandemic. It was just what the doctor ordered, an escape.
ENERGY
“Beating climate change is hard enough without taking away one of the best low-carbon tools we have. It’s time to talk about nuclear.” — David Watson
For 25 years I have been involved in the automotive aftermarket with a keen eye on the evolution of diesel engine technology and electric…
Ed Newman
An avid reader who writes about arts, culture, literature & other life obsessions. @ennyman3 Look for my books on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/y3l9sfpj
