Monthly Archives: January 2022

Clearing the Spindle: Wokism

By | January 21, 2022

[January 21, 2022]  I’m sick of wokism.  Wokism, a pernicious ideology that has wrecked grief and misery upon all of us because it requires, at its very core, a soft tyranny bordering on fascism, destroying the unfaithful and crushing our souls.  It is the forced acceptance of race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference as the fundamental defining characteristic… Read More »

Dougisms: Some Not-so-Random Thoughts

By | January 19, 2022

[January 19, 2022]  Occasionally, I offer some not-so-random thoughts in writing that I’ve stored away in my mental rucksack.  My “rucksack” will never be retired.  Today, I’m pulling out a number of these for comment.  I like them.  Regular readers will instantly recognize the list.  Some have taken to calling them “Dougisms.” Dougisms: Tell the truth or you’ll… Read More »

To Stop Bullying, Stand up Straight

By | January 18, 2022

[January 18, 2022]  In the iconic holiday movie, A Christmas Story (1983), a young boy named Ralphie is harassed by local bully Scut Farkus and his toadie Grover Dill.  Spoiler alert, Ralphie figures out how to stop bullying and live his life as an innocent kid, having fun with friends and loving his family. The more serious topic… Read More »

For the Common Good

By | January 16, 2022

[January 16, 2022]  For the common good.  When someone asked why they visited disgrace upon those Spartans among them who lost their shields but did not do the same thing to those who lost their helmets or breastplates, the Spartan King Demaratus is said to have replied: “Because the latter they put on for their own protection, but… Read More »

Getting After It

By | January 15, 2022

[January 15, 2022]  Shortly after returning from my first deployment to Iraq in 2005 (documented in my recent book), I was notified of another pending deployment.  2006 and 2007 would find me again in Iraq with about a year off for “good behavior.”  A good friend told me that I should be happy ‘getting after it again. He… Read More »

Off-Line for a Few Days

By | January 14, 2022

[January 14, 2022]  Yesterday, I had no post on my blog, something very rare.  I make it a point to post each day.  Part of posting is the discipline making it so.  But due to a sudden medical condition, I spent many hours in my local hospital Emergency Room.  I’ll be off-line for a few days. A few… Read More »