[July 31, 2014] The Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS), as predicted, slowed its southward advance into the heart of Iraq. While many in the U.S. Department of State predicted otherwise and the thinking was Iraq was in a state of collapse, the latest update from Iraq is that ISIS is “consolidating” its gains. In short, the… Read More »
[July 30, 2014] Anyone not under the proverbial rock these days knows that the U.S. immigration debate on policy is about as heated as it can get. It seems that everyone has an opinion, that opinion is not just the right one for the country but morally and constitutionally the right one. One side argues that U.S. federal law is… Read More »
[July 30, 2014] Wilson, a childhood friend of mine told the story of his days picking blackberries, many years ago in his father’s land. Those were the days before a heavy reliance on pesticides and so it was expected to have losses due to insect activity. My friend insisted that all those blackberries were “perfect” in every way,… Read More »
[July 29, 2014] Recognition began last night began of the 100th Anniversary of World War I. In Europe and American, there are many events and tours of the battlefields planned. This is good news because it provides leaders the opportunity to tell of the horrors, the sacrifice, and the heroism of the war. It also provides the world… Read More »
[July 28, 2014] Social media and news organizations are reporting on and sometimes participating in an increasing chorus of anti-Semitism. Largely a Middle Eastern and European event, we have seen it also in New York City and other large places globally. The country of Turkey is the latest to push the extremes of the rising tide of anti-Semitism.… Read More »
[July 27, 2014] Much has been written here in these pages about Socialism and its failure as an economic model (see links here, here, and here). It does function around the world as a strong political force and seems to be very prevalent even in democratic nations, especially in Europe in a milder form. It’s debasement of humans… Read More »
[July 27, 2014] It is incumbent upon military senior leaders to help set the right tone for their organizations. All leaders should be doing it and is absolutely the right thing to do. That was the bottom line of an article in the most recent U.S. Army’s magazine entitled “Military Leaders Defend Prisoner Exchange.” The magazine’s editor in… Read More »
[July 25, 2014] In the late 1950s when our family traveled to a big southern city (population 10,000) to go shopping, there were two places we always went. We never missed a trip to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and to Walgreens. I remember two things about each one. First, they each had air conditioning. Second, the workers… Read More »
[July 25, 2014] A small group of friends and I had our first taste of college life after graduating from high school. We were all engineer majors and figured that since we knew nothing about their trigonometry courses we would take one our first summer. The teacher was smart and dedicated but his accent made us struggle to… Read More »
[July 24, 2014] Military commanders know that they are personally responsible for what does or does not happen inside their unit and also in “unit cohesiveness”. Leadership at all levels means building and maintaining teams, building and maintaining a togetherness, a cohesiveness that allows the group to accomplish things far greater than any individual can accomplish. The worst… Read More »