Christmas is a season of gift-giving as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. While Christmas has become very commercialized, it remains a special time of the year. I like to go gift shopping, normally by myself as I stroll through malls and stores. These days I think about small and Read more…
As I sit down to write this week, I am conflicted. That’s the emotion of our age given our divisions. The chasm between individuals, groups, and political parties is as great as we have seen since the American Civil War. Moreover, people are not satisfied simply to disagree. Oh no. That Read more…
After spending much time studying the Middle East, I am—as many of you are—appalled at the October 7 Hamas massacre of innocent Israelis. I won’t recount the unspeakable horrors, many of which are so violent and depraved that they cannot be discussed in any civil forum. Hamas has proven itself to Read more…
The season is changing. Soon we will enter Astronomical winter on the winter solstice on 21 December. At this writing, an outside temperature of 20 degrees suggests that it has already arrived. There’s another season that begins this Sunday in the Christian calendar: Advent. Advent is that time during the Church Read more…
Here is a reminder on why we celebrate Thanksgiving. Do so in the spirit that George Washington commended to us. Transcript of President George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation from October 3, 1789. By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge Read more…
As Thanksgiving approaches, so too the discussions that will occur around the dinner table. The health of a loved one. Catching up on family lore—both true and mythical—and contemporary news. The latter is dangerous territory, particularly when politics enters the discussion. Better to enjoy the tender meat of a well prepared turkey than to consume the bitterness Read more…
Years ago, when I was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, we would conduct force-on-force training at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. It’s a vast complex in a high desert environment where training was quite realistic. We would conduct maneuvers against what was termed “the world-class OPFOR” or opposition forces, Read more…
This week, President Biden’s Administration drew a clear equivalence between antisemitism and islamophobia. His press secretary used both terms in the same sentence in contending—properly so—that neither is acceptable. Most people can agree that neither is a good thing. However, the two definitions are quite different. Let’s start with what Webster’s dictionary Read more…
A Trip to the Midwest Well, next week we’re off to the Midwest plains of America. I love them. My very first trip to the land of the “big sky”—to Fort Sill, Oklahoma—was in the summer of 1973. I had just finished airborne school and was off to the Officers’ Basic Course (OBC) Read more…
I try to be an optimist. Genuinely so. But with all that is going on in the world it’s harder these days. Like many of you, I want to live in peace with my family and I hope so much for a world of peace for my grandchildren. I have no desire to see Read more…