Author Archives: Douglas R. Satterfield
[October 2, 2025] As a product myself of the Louisiana educational system in the 1950s and 60s, I can attest to the abysmal rates of reading and arithmetic achievement. Mississippi and Louisiana were competitors in the race to the bottom in national education. However, things have turned around, and we have what is known as the Mississippi Reading… Read More »
[October 1, 2025] The journey to fulfillment in life is found through suffering. Taking on all the responsibility you can means confronting everything that needs to be faced. Doing so leads to the gradual improvement of your surroundings. If we accept this as an unavoidable truth, then, facing the world and doing so nobly, there is no upper… Read More »
[September 30, 2025] I’ve had plenty of bad leaders in my 40 years in the Army, and one thing I’ve learned is that sometimes it’s beneficial to work for a bad leader. What that means is that experiencing poor leadership can help us understand what to avoid in the future. That’s how we learn and improve. For all… Read More »
[September 29, 2025] This article is not about the Assyrian Empire, but it’s worth noting that at one time, this empire was the most powerful in the known world. Historians continue to study this complex empire from its early days in ancient Mesopotamia, lasting nearly 3,000 years, with Assyrians still living today as a recognizable ethnic group.… Read More »
[September 28, 2025] One doesn’t need to be a keen observer to see that political leftists have turned to violence in advance of their causes. Some say the violence has become an epidemic. The real question is why? Mark Steyn, in his article “When the ‘Nice People’ Want to Kill You,” writes: “All that can be said for… Read More »
[September 27, 2025] I was sitting in the veterinarian’s waiting room to have my dog, Bella, have a blood draw. Amazingly, the room is crowded and there are another four Yellow Labs there, looking friendly. I’ve been thinking recently about lessons learned from the twentieth century, which should be obvious, but they are not. Few are as visible… Read More »
[September 26, 2025] Earlier this week, President Donald Trump gave his fifth speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. I admit to a bias about the UN. For decades, I had to work with UN representatives. I don’t like them because they are bureaucrats who, at best, get in the way of trying to prevent… Read More »
[September 25, 2025] At some point in Junior High School, students in my hometown were tested for their IQ, and the results were sent home to parents. I presume the purpose was to set future expectations and channel those students into the educational track most suited to their capabilities. With an IQ of 88, I was tracked into… Read More »
[September 24, 2025] After a week of activities honoring those who fought in the Vietnam War, I was privileged to speak with a woman whose father was a survivor of the Bataan Death March in April 1942. This is his story, reprinted with permission from his daughter, Barbara. Bataan Peninsula is a mountainous promontory of Luzon Island, part… Read More »
[September 23, 2025] I couldn’t let this opportunity go by without commenting on the Charlie Kirk memorial, held this past Sunday. Attendance was massive by any measure; something like 200,000 with about 70,000 in the stadium. Millions more, like myself, watched online and on television. The memorial represents something more profound than perhaps we can imagine. Long before… Read More »