Off Topic: Forgetting my Laptop

[May 05, 2014] No posts yesterday or this morning. That is what happens when I forget my laptop while before traveling across the country. My apologies for doing what my friends call a “brain dump.” While traveling without connectivity, the available time did provide me with a chance to eat in an airport restaurant – something I have… Read More »

The Changing Face of U.S. Leadership

[May 02, 2014] Leader traits are changing in the United States and not in the way people may think. Leadership changes have always been a reflection of the social environment and that will remain fundamentally true. Yet, American values and standards of conduct are changing and leaders are rushing to adapt. Leadership adaptation has been developing in the… Read More »

A Food Fight about Cheese

By | April 30, 2014

[April 30, 2014] It’s hard to believe I overlooked this tidbit about the on-going food figh” [pun intended] on the naming of cheese. The “European Union wants the United States to outright ban certain cheese names …”1,2 My Italian wife missed it too. Here’s the issue in a nutshell – the EU claims that certain foods have geographic… Read More »

Iraq: Democracy, The Purple Finger, and Leadership

By | April 30, 2014

[April 30, 2014] I remember the day began with an overcast and eerie stillness about it. This would be the first democratic election held in memory: Iraq, January 20, 2005. Our minds were full of anticipation; our plans prepared for combat, the unknowns frightening. It is now history that on that Sunday a successful election occurred – verifying… Read More »

The Ukraine (Update)

By | April 29, 2014

[April 29 2014] Prior to Russia’s on-going effort to gobble up a free nation, the U.S. State Department, the White House, and political pundits predicted that Russia would not interfere with the country of Ukraine. I wrote about this here and said that “since the U.S. had no strategy, policy, or leadership on the Ukraine, that … we… Read More »

#Hashtag Diplomacy

By | April 29, 2014

[April 29, 2014] The U.S. State Department is being ridiculed and mocked for using social media Twitter to draw support for the Ukraine and opposing Russian moves in that country. It’s being called “hashtag diplomacy.” Critics are pointing out it may do nothing other than embarrass the United States. Many are questioning, for example, whether the senior leadership… Read More »