[December 22, 2024] One of the most useful abilities of a good leader is to take a highly complex idea (or set of ideas) and put into a few short words the meaning that best describes that idea. So it was with Frederic J. Stimson, who took a formal challenge to debate a then-famous Socialist, James F. Carey.… Read More »
[December 14, 2024] The Big Band Era was in full swing and growing up in the 1950s and 60s, my parents made us all watch The Lawrence Welk Show. And they made me polka dance to the music. I hated it more than anything. Broadcast on black and white television until about 1965 (and then in Living Color),… Read More »
[December 13, 2024] Growing up in the pre-computer, pre-smart phone age offered a number of unexpected opportunities and advantages for boys. These were times when your parents expected you to take care of yourself, be self-reliant and possess grit and determination. And that’s where the saying, boys will be boys originated. Boys were essentially pushed out of the… Read More »
[December 12, 2024] I honestly never heard about this shopping cart theory before this morning. After reading an article about it, click, I immediately understood the idea behind the theory. The “theory” states that you can tell whether somebody is fundamentally a member of civilization or a savage based on whether they return their shopping cart. It’s obviously… Read More »
[December 11, 2024] On this date in 2006, the Iraq War was entering a new phase. There was yet no new Army Operations Order, no special briefings, no new command guidance, or change in leadership. We would not even recognize this date for what would later become – the beginning of pre-Surge deployments of troops designed to destroy… Read More »
[December 10. 2024] The foreign policies of President-Elect Donald Trump are going to be radically different from the Biden Administration. We see this difference most easily regarding the Hamas strategy of holding hostages since October last year. “Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World,… Read More »
[December 8, 2024] From my earliest memory as a child, I remember my dad kicking the tires on our old car. “Why do you do that, Dad,” I asked, completely clueless. “Well,” he said, “that’s how you check to make sure the tires don’t fall off when driving.” Dads are always right, of course, so that’s always what… Read More »
[December 5, 2024] A crucial skill for any leader to possess is the ability to judge the character of others. Leaders are looking for specific traits that predict successful mission completion or are obstacles to teamwork. Sadly, we often see inexperienced leaders who misjudge character, leading to unforeseen problems. I wrote these words in January 2021 after looking… Read More »
[December 3, 2024] With Pete Hegseth’s nomination as Secretary of Defense by President-elect Donald Trump, an age-old argument about women serving in combat is back in the public eye. In an interview on The Shawn Ryan Show, November 7, Hegseth made it clear that he believed, “We should not have women in combat roles!”* What he said previously… Read More »
[November 30, 2024] Throughout the 1960s, there was a credible belief that the expanding world population would drive global starvation and other catastrophic consequences. In response to a request from the U.S. Population Council, Frederick Jaffe wrote a memorandum outlining then-current ideas for population control (reducing total population numbers and growth). At the time, Jaffe was the vice… Read More »