“Okay, America, are you ready for the results?” (Audience cheers.) Host: “The votes have been tallied and we are about to reveal the winner, but first… the top three finalists for… (Music builds)… America’s Next BUFFOON! “Okay, let’s get to it. “Finalist number one: Once a battle-ax wielding action star, now Bad A#$ extraordinaire. Give it up for Mel ‘uses-cell-phone-as-lethal-weapon’ Gibson.” (Audience roars.)...

Okay, that’s really a fancy way of saying that I’m going on vacation. Actually, I’m not going much of anywhere. What I will be doing is spending a lot more time, reading, thinking, and writing. I need some time away from a deadline to be able to step back and get some perspective. Looking at this year’s archive, here are a few...

Baseball is a game obsessed with the number nine: nine players on each team; nine innings; ninety feet between the bases; and if you’re a pitcher with “stuff,” three strikes against three batters total nine and you’re out of the inning. Think of the players that wore the number 9: Roger Maris, Bill Mazeroski, Minnie Minoso, Enos Slaughter, Reggie Jackson...

Last Sunday (July 25), The New York Times released their findings on some 92,000 secret documents detailing a variety of information from the last six years of the war in Afghanistan The secret reports were posted online by WikiLeaks.org whose goal, writes The Times, “is to reveal ‘unethical behavior’ by governments and corporations.” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told The Times that the documents show “not only the severe incidents...

After a week of sensational claims, a resignation, revelations, apologies, non-apologies, and hype surrounding wrongful allegations of racism against Shirley Sherrod, three points emerge: Point 1. Andrew Breitbart, the faux journalist who broke the story of Sherrod’s faux racism refused to apologize after the truth came out.  While most of the media did a 180, includingFox’s Bill O’Reilly, Breitbart played the...

It began with words that insult and incite, then quickly escalated to rapid-fire judgments so full of agendas, and self-interest that is was doomed to collapse under the weight of its own hypocrisy. And what was revealed in the end was a lie. “All drama is about lies. When the lie is exposed, the play is over.” That’s David Mamet...

The first ethics talk I gave was in September 1995 before 400 California teachers. I remember checking into the hotel about five hours before I was due to speak. I don’t know how other speakers prepare, but I am constantly writing and rewriting – sometimes just before I go on – all in an effort to include the most current news stories....

The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan had an interesting take this weekend (July 17) on President Obama’s poll numbers and problems with the economy and other issues. “…you know what I think people miss when they look at Washington and our political leadership,” Noonan asks. “They miss old and august. They miss wise and weathered. They miss the presence of bruised...

In a week that has seen The Vapid, where I looked at the media’s obsession with stories more meaningless than meaningful; Stupid, where I talk about the tactless remarks made by Cleveland Cavalier’s owner Dan Gilbert in reaction to LeBron James’ decision to leave the team, followed by the equally irresponsible comments by Rev. Jesse Jackson about Gilbert’s, I thought we needed a little break....

Q: How many egos does it take to screw things up? A:  In the case LeBron James’ recent decision to leave theCleveland Cavaliers and play for the Miami Heat, three: James, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert and Reverend Jesse Jackson. After The Decision, it didn’t take long for majority owner Gilbert to post an open-letter addressed to “Cleveland Fans” regarding James’ choice: “As you now know,  » Read more about: Stupid...