scottlingamfelter

When Army soldiers are taught map reading and land navigation, they are trained to know where they are, the directions they will take, and how to navigate from point to point to their destination.  I recall doing this several times during my Army ROTC summer camp experience in 1972 at Read more

Today, many of us will gather around the table with family and friends to give thanks for the blessings of life.  My family—Shelley and I—have much to be thankful for, including our kids and grandkids. The former bless us with their example as adults.  The latter are a blessing by Read more

Like so many of you, I can hardly imagine what will be the outrage du jour.  Most of what passes for outrage today is vastly out of proportion to what should cause a person to be frothing at the mouth over a particular issue.  I thought I had seen it Read more

I am not an economist.  That’s a good thing because Econ 101 was not a strength for me as a freshman at the Virginia Military Institute in 1969.  Most of my physical and intellectual energies were devoted to surviving the “ratline” each day, not economics.  But I digress.  Despite suboptimal Read more

Imagine for a moment that you are a voter in New Jersey, New York City, or Virginia who has not decided who you will support in the election in your jurisdiction next week. Yes, it’s a hard thing to imagine such indecision given the flood of annoying television ads, glossy Read more

Government shutdowns are a failure of leadership.  There’s really no excuse for them.  I suppose that many readers can stop now. You know where I’m headed with this particular commentary.  We are almost a month into an impasse in the US Senate that cannot get 60 votes to proceed to Read more

Apologies are a personal thing for many people.  And if you are like me, you’ve had to make more than a few over your lifetime.  Apologies don’t always come easily because people often render them for pretty serious transgressions.  Of course, apologies are not one-size-fits-all.  Apologizing for bumping into someone Read more

In a recent election, several people confided in me that, while they wanted to see their side of the aisle win, they did not like the candidates themselves.  For them, the dilemma was the character of the candidates as opposed to their policies.  In sum, they did not like the Read more

If you are familiar with the concept of a Black Swan event, then you can appreciate that we have just experienced one.  A “Black Swan” is a metaphor for an event that is a complete surprise and has a significant disruptive impact.  When Black Swan events occur, they are typically Read more

In the last few years, some people have feared that the nation is in the early stages of a civil war. I hope they are wrong.  Yet I have thought the same in recent days.  While claiming civil war is around the corner may be strident, the violence we have witnessed Read more