It is by pure coincidence that the election of the 46th President of the United States happened in the year of the 46th volume of the personal daily journal kept by Yours Truly. It is also just a mere coincidence that the vast majority of the preceding forty-five volumes of that personal daily journal chronicle…
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V-J Day at 75
Five years ago I commemorated the 70th anniversary of this event with a much of which was dedicated to the service and sacrifice of those whose collective efforts made the end result of the greatest conflagration of the 20th Century possible. True to the title of that entry, I also commented at length regarding America’s…
Continue ReadingLearning how to win
Back during my enlisted naval service, I vividly remember talking with a few shipmates who had been Navy recruiters. Recruiting requires a mindset similar to that of politics. It not only deals heavily with numbers but also salesmanship. The better the sales pitch the better the numbers. To improve each, The Navy sent new recruiters…
Continue ReadingWrapping up Volume 45
As 2019 ebbs out, the annual ritual of waxing nostalgic assumes center stage. One thing about keeping a daily journal is it makes one very aware of time in the sense of days, weeks, months and years that have passed. As this tailored ponderable undergoes its yearly evaluation, here are some items worthy of note….
Continue ReadingFive years of Reason Rest Stop
Just like that, earlier this month RRS celebrated its fifth anniversary of offering liberal news and views from the Mother Road’s most conservative stretch. Due to a larger endeavor taken on by Yours Truly, postings have declined considerably in 2019 and that trend will continue for the foreseeable future. That by no means should be…
Continue ReadingA look back in crisis
It has been a year of milestone anniversaries both personal, national and universal. While reflecting on some of them this morning I vividly recalled what happened forty years ago today on the other side of the globe. After years of undemocratic despot governance by the autocratic Shah of Iran, low popularity and critical illness necessitated…
Continue ReadingSelflessness above and beyond the call
What exactly defines heroism and what exactly is a hero? I have invested a lot of time over the years pondering these definitions. Lately though I have devoted a lot of thought to one of the oft used sayings in the current patriotic parlance, “All gave some. Some gave all.” After being made aware of…
Continue ReadingGetting ourselves back to the garden
This has been not only a hot and humid summer of commemoration but also one of reflection, introspection and inventory of character and values, if not of the collective then certainly of the self. Once more I find myself seeking refuge from the oppressive heat while trying to retrieve as many of certain fleeting memories…
Continue ReadingTranquility Base + 50: The America of my youth.
The most unifying moment of the 20th Century was broadcast around the World live fifty years ago tonight. For a few days in July 1969, all members of the human species stood in awe of the most colossal undertaking in their collective history. That Sunday night, when Neil Armstrong climbed down onto the Lunar surface…
Continue ReadingA milestone reflection
On this day forty years ago my sea service officially started, my tour aboard a Ship of the Line which legitimizes my claim to the title U.S. Navy Veteran. Seeking to serve a cause greater than one’s self is often accompanied with adventure of the sort one would have otherwise never have imagined. Such was…
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