As most regular readers know, this blog was established nine years ago as largely an extension of the Personal Daily Journal of Yours Truly. It has become a tradition during this, the last few hours of the calendar year to reflect on the twelve months gone by and recall fondly or not-so-much as the case…
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Retribution coming home to roost
Eight years ago this week a piece was published on this blog containing a detailed analysis of the candidate who had emerged as the GOP frontrunner for the 2016 Presidential Election. Regular readers may remember the August 2015 posting entitled The appeal of a narcissist. Probably the most pertinent and prophetic statement contained therein was…
Continue ReadingHalf a century of all-volunteer service
In the prelude to America’s entry into World War II, President Roosevelt signed off on the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 on September 16th of that year. That act of Congress with multiple amendments resulted in the compulsory military enlistment of over ten million American men ages 18 to 44 between October 1940…
Continue ReadingBuilding the case for a new document
Most of us can remember those halcyon days of our carefree early childhood when we attended kindergarten then first and second grade. We had taken a big step outside our familiar surroundings, ventured into an unknown place and were learning the rules of how to behave and interact with the grownups in charge as well…
Continue ReadingThe Vietnam War + 50
Fifty years ago today, March 29th, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left the Republic of Vietnam. Along with the troops who made their grand exit after turning over their duties to ARVN forces came the last group of Prisoners of War. This marked the official end of U.S. involvement in the armed conflict that…
Continue ReadingOperation Homecoming + 50
One of the most enduring memories of the early adolescent years of my youth is the end of direct U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia. This was heralded by the return of the first group of 591 American Prisoners of War held by North Vietnam which happened fifty years ago today. The longest held among…
Continue ReadingRecalling the emergence of the inner humanitarian
Most would agree that some personal anniversary dates carry a great deal more weight than others. Such is the case with this one. Forty-two years hence, the evening of 12 December 1980 stands out as the night I became aware that I was no longer a youth. That was when the U.S. Navy warship I…
Continue ReadingOn our way to another Oklahoma City
Oklahoma, the home state of Yours Truly, is endowed with an embarrassment of riches like none other in the Union. It is a place of natural beauty and mineral resources inhabited by people with a can-do industrious spirit who represent a very colorful tapestry of multiple cultures, lifestyles and faiths. As a hub of trade,…
Continue ReadingDemanding our right to not get shot
Few things set the United States apart from other nations like the Second Amendment. We may search high and low among other industrialized nations and not find anything in any other constitution that has had as many judicial interpretations guaranteeing any citizen the inalienable right to arm themselves with weapons intended for use only in…
Continue ReadingCold War reheat & rehash
For literally the first half of my living and breathing existence, the specter of war between the United States and the nation once known as the Soviet Union was never far down my list of worst fears in this life. What made that particular nightmare so petrifyingly frightening was the potential likelihood of a nuclear…
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