Communication Skills

Objects in the Media Are Often Smaller Than They Appear

by Bill Brenner September 25, 2013 Communication Skills

After yesterday’s post on the Washington Navy Yard massacre fueling the stigma around mental illness, I got the usual assortment of feedback after that post published. If you’re for gun control, you told me I was minimizing the reality of gun violence by suggesting more gun control laws will accomplish nothing. Those of you who don’t see this as a gun control issue took me to task for picking on NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre for suggesting…  [Read More]

Dumb, Racist Reactions to Miss America 2014

by Bill Brenner September 18, 2013 Communication Skills

I typically try to avoid passing judgement on people in this blog. I simply react to events from my own experiences and move on. I also always try to assume that the best of humanity will win out over the worst. I still believe that. Mood music: Sometimes, though, people do things that are so stupid and embarrassing for the rest of humanity that they simply must be called out on it. So it is…  [Read More]

The Problem With That ‘Crazy Wife’ Video

by Bill Brenner July 24, 2013 Communication Skills

A man decided to record his wife freaking out. Now it’s a YouTube sensation and the subject of a post on Gawker, a site seemingly dedicated to shit like this. People are gleefully talking about how bat-shit crazy this woman is. I’m here to rain on their parade. http://youtu.be/1JZZWA_sjJw This video seems to be real, but it’s getting harder to trust what you see on the Internet these days. Under the premise that this video…  [Read More]

“Rolling Stone” Outrage and the Bandwagon Mentality

by Bill Brenner July 18, 2013 Communication Skills

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence; nor is the law less stable than the fact. —John Adams, Summation, Rex v Wemms (1770) I wasn’t planning a follow-up to yesterday’s post about the Rolling Stone cover story on Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev. Then I saw all the outrage and realized there was more to…  [Read More]

The Little Boy, the LEGO Gun and a World Gone Mad

by Bill Brenner May 29, 2013 Communication Skills

I understand the anxiety educators feel over guns, especially after the horrific events in Newtown, Conn. What I don’t get is how absolutely stupid and unreasonable grownups have become over every little thing. Case in point: a 6-year-old boy getting in trouble for carrying a LEGO gun barely the size of a quarter. Mood music: [spotify:track:2bkpCVvOn2XZGhzA4fPyuZ] I already sensed we had gone off the deep end when a high-school girl got the book thrown at…  [Read More]

Narcissism on Facebook? No Kidding!

by Bill Brenner May 28, 2013 Communication Skills

Last year, The Guardian wrote about a report which concluded that Facebook is rampant with socially aggressive narcissism. No offense to the author or publication, but studies like this are laughable for the obviousness of their conclusions. Mood music: [spotify:track:6oNvmplQGUkmAh441Teows] From the report: Researchers have established a direct link between the number of friends you have on Facebook and the degree to which you are a “socially disruptive” narcissist, confirming the conclusions of many social media…  [Read More]

‘Dude, You Are Pathetic’

by Bill Brenner May 1, 2013 Communication Skills

I don’t always respond to readers who call me names in the comments section, but sometimes it’s necessary. Mood music: [spotify:track:0xfaolnQFiBRZLff8vvkUK] When I wrote a post the other day about being released from mental therapy, a guy named Jerry had this to say: Dude you are pathetic. Be a man, work out your issues outside, or in the gym. Talk to your friends and family. You don’t NEED anything, you just tell yourself you do….  [Read More]

When People Don’t Like A Discussion, They Call It Drama

by Bill Brenner April 17, 2013 Communication Skills

Since I write a lot about how we talk to each other in this blog and my professional one, I hear the word drama a lot. It’s almost always used to describe something people don’t want to discuss. It’s a one-word arsenal meant to shoot down anyone you disagree with. I get shot at a lot. And I’m perfectly fine with it. Yesterday I publicly took a local newsman to task for relishing his coverage…  [Read More]

Boston Marathon Explosion: Observations and Helpful Links

by Bill Brenner April 15, 2013 Communication Skills

I wasn’t in Boston for the marathon today, but I’m in that specific area all the time and am stunned. Far as I can tell, everyone in my family is safe and accounted for. I’ve started this post to use for communications. If anyone has information regarding the rail lines, alternate routes out of the city or wants to find out about friends and loved ones, I’m hoping the comments thread or the Facebook and…  [Read More]

People Without Filters

by Bill Brenner April 10, 2013 Communication Skills

My closest friends know that a true sign of affection from me is when I pick on them. For one friend’s birthday recently, I called him a “broken-down barge” on Facebook. He loved it, because he knows that when I talk that way, I cherish the friendship. I’m all too aware, though, that this trait is a double-edged sword that can cut deep when turned the wrong way. Mood music: [spotify:track:4xTjyX1PVTZJftjY2dUzBi] I guess you could…  [Read More]

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