Sometimes nothing is as it seems, both in business and in life.  And sometimes that’s completely by design, especially in the realm of marketing, advertising and the crafty spin of strategic public relations.   Whether we realize it or not, all of us are bombarded daily with overtly manipulative techniques and propaganda every time we see [...]

That the impending holidays should be the catalytic force behind a national plague of depression that borders on the epidemic is the very essence, if not the definition itself, of irony, because the holidays are, if nothing else, a celebration.  The concept of irony is almost impossible to succinctly define on the fly (try it [...]

Our society runs on authority.  We are schooled in it from the moment we are born.  Cultures are defined by it.  Wars are waged over it.  Order is maintained by it.  Even the animal kingdom has some level of authority in play—when was the last time you saw a monkey take a swipe at the [...]