First, they came for the copper…

I remember the famous poem by Reverend Martin Niemöller about not standing up for something because at least they weren’t coming for you. It has been used many times over the past fifty years to point out that even though your own ox might not be in danger of goring at this particular moment, after […]

GO NAVY

Beat Army A decade of dominance… sorry to all my Army readers!

Are you “Value Added”?

In the “lean” world, a lot of time is spent in determining which of your processes are “Value Added”, “Non-Value Added but Necessary” or “Non-Value Added”. There are a lot of definitions for these phrases depending on which consultant is trying to sell a new book this week. I try to keep my definitions pretty […]

Here, child, have some nice Kool-Aid

On this day in 1978 (November 18th): In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones coerced the members of his Peoples Temple cult to a mass murder-suicide. This single event claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. The term “drinking the Kool-Aid” is born and forever lives in the lexicon […]

Caught in the Crossfire

Its 3:00 AM and everyone in the control room party has managed to find a comfortable enough position to hide the fact that they are half snoozing. The room is rigged for red and the boat is plugging along at 4 knots at 150 feet. Even the Auxiliaryman of the Watch has laid his clipboard […]

Freedom of Speech You Sorry Son of a Beach

I wish I had a dime for every person on every blog that jumps up and down shouting Freedom of Speech no matter how inappropriate the comment and screams how many people served and died for to preserve it (as they burn and defecate on my flag). While I do agree that many of my […]

2.6 million… Ready or Not

Some time ago, I posted a number of articles and references for people in the path of Hurricane Irene. As usual when I post about preparedness, I got a few folks feedback about “paranoia” and “let’s not get carried away Mac”. Fair enough. But as we sat in the living room last night having our […]

The Circle of Life

I will be away from the keyboard for a few more days while the family gathers to say goodbye to Debbie’s Mom. Melva lived a great life but had been limited in mobility and quality of life for the past few years. As sad as it is to say goodbye, it is a great joy […]

Oh say can you see?

Baltimore City is just a short drive from Central Pennsylvania. The Inner Harbor is both beautiful and inspiring as a testament to what man is capable of doing when there is a positive reason to do so. High rise hotels and gleaming offices with mirrored exteriors compete for space in the skyline. Large corporations have […]

Dereliction of Duty

One of the worst things I can imagine a service member doing is being guilty of dereliction of duty. We all take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. When we are derelict in our duties, there are military laws which judge us and rightly so. People depend on us to defend them […]