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Richmond Shreve is a former Senior Editor at OEN, a writer, and an author of short stories. His "Lost River Anthology" (amazon.com) was released in March 2009. His "Instructor Candidate Manual" (lulu.com) is widely used by motorsport clubs to train instructors of high performance driving.
"These days [he] calls himself a 'generalist.' He has excelled in several careers and has many areas of expertise. A retired business owner and marketing executive, he is also an electronics technician, a high pressure boiler operator, a published author, a website designer, a strategic planner, a Photo Shop professional, a race track driving instructor, a radio station engineer, a business consultant, and an active volunteer firefighter. He works from his home in Cape May Point, NJ." -- by Marguerite Chandler (his spouse)
Monday, September 10, 2012 The US is Broke -- Not! (35 comments)
Fears that the US is going broke abound and are unfounded. But there is a whisper campaign afoot to amplify them for political gain. This cynical belief is convenient and useful to the GOP in their bid for power in November. One element of the fear campaign is a video reportedly produced by a retired IBM accountant that shows [old news] that US tax revenue is insufficient to operate the government after entitlements are paid.
Thursday, July 5, 2012 A citizen's view of July 4th (1 comments)
Business Woman and social entrepreneur Marguerite Chandler writes about rebuilding the American Dream - a meditation for Independence Day 2012.
Sunday, May 13, 2012 How's That Workin' for Ya? (9 comments)
Author Shreve asserts that we are story animals and that political communications play upon and manipulate that trait. To assume that logical, rational arguments will counter propaganda is a false hope. The answer may lie in examining the story that drives the major parties and decide how and if it works for you personally.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 GOP Apologists' Viral Email Campaign (5 comments)
Chain Emails are a useful tool for propaganda because they foreclose the prospect of rebuttal, are forwarded by a trusted source, and probably won't be scrutinized very carefully. The audience wants to believe the message, and voices of dissent won't challenge. Here is and example of such a propaganda piece designed to bolster the GOP rank and file.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012 Whitman Advocates for 'Americans Elect' (17 comments)
Americans Elect sounds like a very idealistic and populist way to put a presidential candidate on the ballot. But we should be skeptical -- it's more likely to be a spoiler and help the GOP overcome their lack of appeal to centrist voters. Divide and conquer? Stay tuned ...
Sunday, April 1, 2012 Change the "Stand Your Ground Law" (3 comments)
The State Attorney for Monroe County, Florida offered the following opinion concerning the "Stand Your Ground" law. It articulates some of the most reasoned and practical thinking on the controversy I've see since the news first broke. Here it is, as published in the CONCH COLOR, a Key West tabloid.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 Barstool Economics - A Viral Conservative Fable (17 comments)
Viral stories on the internet purport to give a simple lesson in economics to liberal intellectuals who favor progressive taxation. This one's entertaining, but misleading. Use it to calibrate your BS meter.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 Help 'em get what "Occupy" is about (2 comments)
Grassroots protests don't fit into the thinking of many "successful people" who are unconsciously members of the 99%. What would you say to awaken them?
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 Can't Occupy? Then do a "Walk About"
Occupy sympathizers organize a "walk about" to bypass town's constraints restricting assembly in public spaces.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 How About a Combat Surtax? (4 comments)
A combat payroll tax combined with compulsory service would bring home the sacrifices and costs of war in defense of our nation's vital interests.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Birther Commemorative (Teaparty?) Mug
Displaying a great sense of humor, the Obama campaign is selling coffee (or maybe tea-party) mugs featuring the POTUS birth certificate.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 Witness (On Life and Love) (2 comments)
The "golden years" bring their own perspective on life love and the importance of having a witness to one's journey.
Saturday, April 3, 2010 A Trillion Here, a Trillion There (10 comments)
A few benchmarks for understanding the federal budget numbers.
Monday, March 29, 2010 Net Neutrality - a 'Marxist Utopia"? (1 comments)
"Glenn Beck recently stood at his chalkboard to warn Fox News viewers of a sinister plot to shut down free speech. A 'gang of communists' had infiltrated Washington, he raged. Their goal: to pass Net Neutrality and turn the Internet into a 'Marxist utopia.'" -- Timothy Karr
Friday, March 26, 2010 What is Coffee Party USA? (7 comments)
Grass roots, bottom-up, democracy. Coffee Party USA seeks to move America away from extremes, out of the clutches of special interests, and into an age of civic duty and community. Imagine that.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Four Years. Go. (1 comments)
"The next four years will determine the quality of life on this planet for the next thousand."
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 Infiltrating the Truth Movement (54 comments)
An academic treatise on conspiracy theories has provoked howls of outrage among those who call themselves the truth movement. The paper can hardly be considered news, it was first released as a draft in January of 2008. But when of one of its authors, Cass Sunstein, became part of the Obama administration, the appointment alarmed conspiracists because his paper advocates "cognitive infiltration of extremist groups."
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 Honorable and Faithful Service (3 comments)
The honorable discharge certificate given servicemen and women when they return to civilian life says simply, "...awarded as a testimonial of Honest and Faithful Service." On Veteran's Day it behooves us all to consider what is required of our military as "Honest and Faithful" service. We honor each and every one of them for stepping forward.
Sunday, October 25, 2009 Hate Crimes Bill Passes (2 comments)
It took Congress 11 years, but it finally made hate crimes a Federal criminal offense.
Thursday, October 22, 2009 Making the Headlines (3 comments)
Want to see your article featured in the headlines? Want to go to the front of the line for quick publication? OEN Senior Editor Richmond Shreve reveals the secrets.
Sunday, October 18, 2009 Are You an Owner or a Trespasser? (9 comments)
Writer Richmond Shreve explores individual private ownership, a fundamental right the western world holds sacrosanct.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Skepticism Triggers -- Signs of Poor or Deceptive Arguments (4 comments)
Senior Editor Richmond Shreve offers a collections of signs and signals that herald deceptive arguments in the media. If you surf the internet for your information, or if you watch MSNBC, Fox News, and other such news-as-entertainment sources, you will find these tools useful in thinking critically and forming your own opinions.
Monday, October 12, 2009 Dangerous Skepticism (6 comments)
Ill-informed skepticism about the need for vaccination may be hazardous to your health and to the health of those you love.
Sunday, October 11, 2009 Verizon -- Too Big to Serve
When enterprises grow large they too often grow impersonal and unresponsive, much like government agencies. But competition can and does punish the enterprise that neglects customer service. Verizon faces just this situation.
Friday, September 18, 2009 The Marines Got it Right - Almost (12 comments)
The US Marine Corps changes its recruiting messages to depict the rigors of becoming a Marine challenging prospective enlistees to step up and see if they can cut it.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 What is "The Army Experience?"
The Army Experience Center, the target of anti-war activists, does not have a secret agenda -- it unabashedly seeks to present the Army as an attractive career to young people. Its creators hope to make the Army's attractions accessible to the public.
But when does good marketing cross over into unethical promotion. Are children appropriate visitors? Should there be full disclosure of the risks? See for yourself.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 Real Food at School?
Slow Food USA, and organization that promotes the desirability of locally grown, minimally processed foods, organized an National Day of Action in which tens of thousands across the us gathered to support better food in schools.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 News after Newspapers (8 comments)
With the crisis of shrinking advertising revenues and dwindling profits that is facing our major newspapers, innovative new revenue ideas are emerging that promise to reinvent journalism in the age of the internet.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 Follow the Risk (11 comments)
In the past when we tried to sort out causes and motivations, a good rule was "follow the money." But in our present circumstances it works better to follow the risk. A fundamental notion of capitalism is that profit is the reward for accepting the risk of entrepreneurship. Today's CEO is well separated from the risks of business, to the detriment of us all.
Monday, June 15, 2009 Protest draws Death Threats - Will Shame Alone Deter? (1 comments)
Equality Now, a women's rights advocacy group, published an action email opposing distribution of the video game RapeLay that has brought angry reactions including "an unprecedented amount of hate mail, including death and bomb threats."
Should games that simulate criminal acts of violence be illegal?
Thursday, June 11, 2009 Nobody has an Unrestrained Right of Self Expression (4 comments)
Producing and distributing any sort of media that fosters hate, violence, and pathological behavior is not a legitimate exercise of free expression.
Sunday, June 7, 2009 The Tower [Fiction]
The author's big mouth, and bigger ego, send him climbing heavenward -- in more ways than he expects. [fiction]
Saturday, June 6, 2009 How I Became a "Bestselling" Author (5 comments)
Richmond Shreve describes how his wife Marguerite made him a bestselling author and explains how self-publishing gives authors a path to profit and recognition where it most feeds the spirit -- among those we are closest to.
Thursday, March 5, 2009 Advocacy for Legalizing Drugs goes Mainstream
The Economist says, "Our solution is a messy one," but argues that legalizing and taxing recreational drugs, and the attendant social and health problems, would be far cheaper and more humane than our presently ineffective and expensive efforts.
Saturday, January 3, 2009 Obama's Health-Care Community Discussions – Update 2
Obama's transition team confirms that grass-roots input will form "a central pillar" of major health-care reform. Here is a report of one of the meetings posted by a transition team writer.
Sunday, December 28, 2008 Obama's Health-Care Community Discussions (7 comments)
Will these grass-roots meetings organized by the Obama transition team make a difference in the eventual legislation? ... and how?
Saturday, December 27, 2008 Can Indigenous Peoples Teach Us to Survive? (5 comments)
A grass-roots organization, mostly volunteer, offers to show us how to bring about environmental sustainability starting at home, by changing our own attitudes and behaviors.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 Just a Little Good Tea (1 comments)
Sometimes it doesn't take very much to make a Merry Christmas.
Sunday, December 21, 2008 "I Didn't see it coming" -- Saddest Words in Business (3 comments)
A collection of video clips shows various pundits trying to shout down Peter Schiff, who we now know got it right. How could we have known who to listen to back then?
Sunday, December 21, 2008 "Sweetheart, give me rewrite." (1 comments)
Citizen journalists face tough competition for reader attention. We have to be good to communicate.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Let's Fight for Freedom (2 comments)
A "patriotic" story circulating on the internet teaches important lessons. It is a caricature of the unexamined paradoxes in some American's sense of self-righteousness.
Monday, December 8, 2008 Attacking Terrorism (7 comments)
Terrorism expert Richard Clarke illustrate how we need to attack terrorists to prevail against them.
Friday, December 5, 2008 Roots of Conspiracy Exposed (56 comments)
The conspiracy theories that abound on the internet are produced by a malfunction of a basic process in human thinking: patternicity. The buzz about a 9/11 conspiracy is a classic example.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 Obama: Join the Conversation (5 comments)
Obama's transition team adds two-way communication to the change.gov website. Check it our and comment here.
Monday, December 1, 2008 News, Opinion, or Advocacy? (7 comments)
There are boundaries between straight reporting and opinion for good reason. Too often, especially on the internet, they disappear.
Thursday, November 27, 2008 A Reason for Thanks... (2 comments)
As the Bush era ends, and we embark on a new and more hopeful direction for national affairs, despite the looming economic crisis, we have much for which to be thankful.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 Will Obama Reform Education? (14 comments)
It looks like Obama's policy will be heavily influenced by professional educators-people who are affiliated with teacher's unions, and academics from schools that teach education. What's wrong with that? Nothing, provided these folks are able to break with the beliefs and traditions that are not presently producing the results we expect-the results we require to be competitive as a nation.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 It's Up to US (1 comments)
How the new tools of democracy make it possible, even necessary, for us to rescue ourselves from the threats that face America.
Friday, November 7, 2008 Take Heed My Progressive Friends (7 comments)
Conservative editors of the Wall Street Journal warn of exploiting control of the executive and congress.
Monday, November 3, 2008 Test Your "BS" Meter -- Obama and Wright (11 comments)
In Pennsylvania the GOP is running an attack ad that seeks to smear Obama for his association with Rev. J Wright -- Is your BS meter working? Test it here.
Sunday, November 2, 2008 Take Heart My Republican Friends (10 comments)
The downside for conservatives is much less dire that most think.
Monday, October 27, 2008 Look at the Base (1 comments)
Time to look beyond the political personalities at their organizations and the base of their power to achieve the change they promise.
