[August 15, 2014] One hundred years ago today, the Panama Canal was opened for traffic. We all know about the engineering effort to build the 51 mile long canal, the effort to eradicate diseases in the area, and the economic and military need to have it built. Long recognized as a shortcut between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans,… Read More »
[August 14, 2014] That question is often debated and tinged with passion. Working my way through college, I trained dogs for a couple of years on the side; made good money, cash. Texas was a good state for dog training and I sure had a great time and earned a few extra dollars to pay the tuition bill.… Read More »
[August 14, 2014] When Chicken Little was hit on the head with the proverbial acorn, he ran to the King to tell him that the sky is falling. All of us grew up reading fables and this is one of the more impressionable ones from our childhood. Chicken Little, also known as Henny Penny, is a name often… Read More »
[August 13, 2014] At a recent graduation ceremony, the speaker said that “People just hate to fail, but there’s simply no escaping the fact that success is the daughter of failure.” U.S. Navy Admiral “Sandy” Winnefeld, Jr.,1 speaks frequently and passionately about the art of command. For him, command means leading change, as well as possessing certain values… Read More »
[August 13, 2014] “It’s all ancient history so forget about it.” I was told by a number of political science professors that what happened in the country of Cambodia is unimportant in today’s world. The legacy of the “killing fields” that resulted in the death of approximately 2 million Cambodians, out of a population of 8 million, was… Read More »
[August 12, 2014] In 2006 a senior U.S. Army officer had his Bronze Star medal revoked; it had been awarded for exception service in combat. I had the sad duty to write the justification to remove this award because of the officer’s highly toxic command climate during this combat tour. This was well before the subject of command… Read More »
[August 12, 2014] Los Angeles, California nearly 50 years ago experienced one of the worse riots in American history. The Watts Race Riots took place August 11 to 17, 1965 and involved massive racially-fueled violence. Many have studied the riots and a number of lessons for city government have come from that effort. There is usually an “inciting… Read More »
[August 11, 2014] If a person was to look out across time and culture to find the greatest weakness of senior leaders, what would they discover? The intrigue involved in the search would surely be high drama for a television show or a book. What is it that human’s possess that is so precious that its loss was… Read More »
[August 11, 2014] There are many who believe that Pope John Paul II will be remembered as one of the most effective Popes and most understanding of people in the last century. Known as Saint John Paul the Great, he was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005. One of the most famous… Read More »
[August 10, 2014] The senior leadership of a television sports channel has suspended its third host, this one for revealing domestic abuse against a girlfriend more than 20 years ago. It is clear that the leaders at this television studio are taking a hard line against certain comments made by their hosts. Comments on domestic abuse are a… Read More »