#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 »

Colleges and their Athletes’ Education

By | April 28, 2014

[April 28, 2014] The story about colleges and universities giving their athletes unearned or worthless degrees is back in the news. Historically this has been around as an issue since at least the 1980s (maybe earlier) and re-surfaces now and again. Colleges have the mission of providing the best education possible to all who attend. Leadership demands it,… Read More »

Leadership Means Creating & Enforcing Standards

By | April 27, 2014

[April 27, 2014] As a young Army officer, I learned quickly that there is a direct relationship between keeping Army standards, success, and discipline. This lesson has carried me throughout my career and has been a simple guidepost to what I do in leading my units to accomplish whatever mission we have. I learned that one criteria of… Read More »

VA Scandal Brewing

By | April 26, 2014

[April 26, 2014] There are early reports of a scandal developing in the Veterans Administration, at one facility, alleging improper maintenance of veteran treatment records. It is suspected that VA managers kept two sets of books to make it appear that vets were being treated in a timely manner on the one hand, while not treating some in… Read More »

Reading List (Update)

By | April 25, 2014

[April 25, 2014] An exceptional book this week to review. Again, my travels have kept me limited in reading time but Rick Atkinson’s 628-page book was a great read for me and for students of World War II and Europe. Today, another book that I finished reading and find interesting and recommend: The Guns at Last Light: The… Read More »

South Korean Ferry Disaster

By | April 24, 2014

[April 24, 2014] When the Captain of a ferry failed in his leadership responsibilities, nearly 300 died – the death toll standing at 156 and another 150 are missing and presumed dead. The majority of the deaths are from a single high school near Seoul. Three-quarters of this high school student body are dead or missing. It is… Read More »

Supreme Court Decision on Discrimination

By | April 24, 2014

[April 24, 2014] Racial discrimination is legal and officially sanctioned at the highest levels of leadership in the United States government (discrimination in universities anyway). While this could be a shock to many, it should be surprising that there is also strong resistance to eliminating those legal racial barriers. Does this sound like the 1960s, pre-Civil Rights era?… Read More »