Proactively “From the Sea”; an agent of change leveraging the littoral best practices for a paradigm breaking six-sigma best business case to synergize a consistent design in the global commons, rightsizing the core values supporting our mission statement via the 5-vector model through cultural diversity.
This Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern for the full hour our guest will be author Claude Berube to discuss his second Connor Stark novel, Syren's Song. From the Amazon page;
"Syren's Song is the second novel featuring Connor Stark, and it promises to be just as engaging asThe Aden Effect. This geopolitical thriller begins when the Sri Lankan navy is unexpectedly attacked by a resurgent and separatist Tamil Tiger organization. The government issues a letter of marque to former U.S. Navy officer Connor Stark, now the head of the private security company Highland Maritime Defense. Stark and his eclectic compatriots accept the challenge only to learn that the Sea Tigers who crippled the Sri Lankan navy are no ordinary terrorists."
We will also discuss the craft of writing, how emerging real world events can influence the writing of fiction, and as we usually do with Claude, perhaps some other interestiing topics that crop up in the course of our conversation.
Join us live if you can with the usual suspects in the chat room and offer up your questions for our guest, but if you miss the show you can always listen to the archive at blogtalkradio. If you use iTunes, you can add Midrats to your podcast list simply by clicking the iTunes button at the main showpage - or you can just click here.
I'm still pondering the attacks in Paris. I've done a little on twitter, and less of FB. I think I want to bring something here from FB, as I used to do a music bit most Saturdays. As if we need any more reason to hate terrorists, maybe this will help some understand the mindest of evil. Most people have heard that the largest death toll in Paris was in a concert hall where and American band was playing. It was the band, "Eagles of Death Metal." The people who were slaughtered were the types who would go see a band like this. My people. The civilian types who just want to live their lives and listen to their eclectic bands. You know, they type we wear/wore the uniform to defend. In a way, when the enemy kills them, we have failed in our job. It won't let me embedd it, but if you click here, you can see them from 2011 live with Leno. The next video is of some of their more recent work. Slaughtered by religious fanatics just because you wanted to see a quirky American band.
Groberg's mission on Aug. 8, 2012, seemed clear cut: escort then-Col. James Mingus, who is now a brigadier general, as well as some high ranking Afghanistan leaders to attend a Kunar province security meeting with an Afghan provincial governor.
He'd done these kinds of escort missions before, usually without a hitch.
But that day was different. Things felt "eerie" and "odd".
He and Sgt. 1st Class Brian Brink, who was also part of the escort mission, shared that sense of foreboding.
Their hunch proved right when several motorcycles whipped around a corner. The riders approached in the direction of the unit then got off the bikes and seemed to leave.
Then Groberg saw a man on his left walking backwards toward them. When the man turned around, Groberg noticed he was wearing a vest.
Groberg quickly assessed the situation and realized "he's the threat." He couldn't shoot the man because he didn't know the full scope of the situation, plus the man was armed.
"So I hit him," Groberg said adding that he pushed the man further away and grabbed the man by the vest. He and Sgt. Andrew Mahoney tackled him as well in an attempt to get him away from the rest of the detail.
Sometime during this skirmish, the man's vest detonated. Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray and Ragaei Abdelfattah, a U.S. Agency for International Development foreign service officer, were all killed in the blast.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you have been watching this week nothing that should be a surprise to those who regularily suffer through Thursdays with me each week. The Diversity Industry, Social Justice Warriors and their ilk live to feed their own insecutities and hate by. They have jobs and PhD dissertations to justify. They have power to grab - but more than anything else, they want to take out their own self-loathing on others ... and keep a paycheck. On campuses, a captive an easily manipulated student body are the perfect cannon fodder for their campaign of self-promotion.
The more our society in general becomes a more inclusive place, the harder they drive to split people apart, to keep hate alive. They lie, they create their alternative universe of perception and promote their Potemkin villages. They must be continually exposed. They need to be opposed. You can not placate them. They will continue to expand and dominate institutions. They will not be sated. When you give them space, they only want more. One thing they cannot survive however, is light and fresh air. They have wrapped themselves in the words and titles of once honorable struggles, but they have morphed them in to totalitarian movements focused on power. They will do all they can do destroy that which gets in their way. As we have documented through the years, our Navy budget feeds this industry of sectarianism and division. If you think people like Melissa Click and her toxic world view are only peddling their socio-political worldview at civilian institutions - you could not be more wrong.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Karyn Sproles
Date: Tue, Nov 10, 2015 at [redacted]
Subject: Safe Spaces Workshop Dec 11
To: [redacted]@lists.usna.edu
The Center for Teaching & Learning will hold the next Safe Spaces Workshop on Dec 11, 2015 from 0900 to 1200 in Nimitz 122
The Safe Spaces Program is a visual network of support for the GLB community. Its primary mission is to create a safe, more inclusive environment on campus and encourage networking among faculty, staff, and students. The workshop provides an opportunity to examine assumptions about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and allied people and explore the impact of heterosexism and homophobia. All interested faculty, staff and midshipmen are invited to attend.
Places are limited and reservations are required. Reserve your space at:
http://goo.gl/forms/OXGSrBTQOY
Karyn Z. Sproles, PhD
Director, Center for Teaching and Learning
[redacted]
US Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD 21402
410-293-[redacted]
What great academic background does Karyn bring to USNA? Well, she has a book out, Desiring Women: The Partnership of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, you can google the rest. So, we are going to create a Gay, Lesbian, and bisexual networking group for faculty, staff, and students. As social structure based around sexual desire that includes faculty, staff, and students? By all means, let's further encourage division and cliques. What could go wrong? Those poor Midshipmen. They are having to deal with this after a visit by, well ... bask in it;
Biden visited the U.S. Naval Academy Monday as his first stop on a tour to promote the "It's on us" public awareness campaign, a White House task force initiative urging students to get more involved in sexual assault prevention. This week, he will also visit Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, and Morehouse College in Atlanta.
"'No' means 'No,' whether in the street or in your bed," Biden said to midshipmen before leading a roundtable discussion with a few select students, faculty and staff. "Proceed from there. It is a crime, it is rape or assault, period."
The Naval Academy had 23 reports of sexual assault during the 2013-2014 school year, the most since the Department of Defense began reporting on sexual misconduct at military academies nearly a decade ago. Meanwhile, an anonymous survey found fewer midshipmen on the Yard experienced unwanted sexual contact and harassment. Academy officials have interpreted the increase in reports, coupled with the survey findings, as a positive shift: Students may be feeling more comfortable speaking out about sexual misconduct when it occurs.
...
saying it was a "matter of honor" not to tolerate sexual harassment and assaults within the military.
In his remarks Monday, the vice president elaborated on that point, pressing midshipmen to stand up for others and choose to intervene rather than be a bystander. Biden reminded the students that without consent, sexual contact is a crime.
Often the abuse, he said, is not about sex but power. Midshipmen who will one day serve as military officers must recognize they have a responsibility to protect the men and women with whom they serve, Biden said, including against sex crimes that may occur within the ranks.
...
"Sexual violence is the only equal opportunity employer," Biden said. "It occurs in the wealthiest communities and the poorest communities. It occurs on campuses with the highest SAT scores as well as the lowest SAT scores. It occurs in campuses where you do not wear a uniform and where a uniform is worn."
Hmmmm. Something in this article gave me pause.
"Midshipman 2nd Class Shaquil Keels sits on a national student board for the "It's on us" campaign. Keels said he decided to engage in the issue for personal reasons. During his junior year in high school, he said, a close friend told him a teacher had sexually assaulted her."
Wait ... that that was what, no more than five years ago? No, less than that. Based on this article, it would have been three years ago in 2012. There is a story of action that needs to be told as a benchmark in how to hold abusers accountable. When did he go to the police? I would love to hear the details about how the school system responded to such an assault and that lessons can be brough in from that. If not, ummm, is this teacher still at Randolph Techical High School? Was this ever reported to the school? Would the Philly police like to know about a pedophile in the teaching profession? I don't think the statute of limitations is up. Oh for the love of Pete. The Salamander underground is in a tizzy. Some day I am going to have to introduce all ya'll to each other. As I am typing this out, this gets slipped under the door. Well, Biden was at USNA on Monday, eh? That was the 9th. Well, lookie what the USNA PAO put out on the 6th.
As for the timing - we all know how long it takes to put something like this together. Just ponder that.
Keep it up. Keep letting this socio-political cadre grow. Let them continue to justify their paychecks by smearing the reputation of your MIDN and encouraging those prone to persecution complexes. We know where that leads. The farce at Mizzou and Yale? It will come to Annapolis. Annapolis is better than that, and our Midshipmen and their Navy deserve better.
For senior leaders, what responsibility do they have for the truth? Where is the line between supporting your senior civilian leaders, avoiding political entanglements, and also being able to maintain your credibility by telling the truth? Two recent examples, one that was required and runs right up to the line, and the other somewhere in the middle. First, over to the UK;
Jeremy Corbyn has accused the chief of the defence staff of political bias after he criticised the Labour leader's anti-nuclear stance.
Gen Sir Nicholas Houghton told the BBC's Andrew Marr that refusing to launch nuclear weapons would "seriously undermine" Britain's "deterrent".
And he said he would be worried if such a view "translated into power".
Mr Corbyn called on the defence secretary to "take action" against Sir Nicholas over his comments.
Watch the full video, and judge for yourself.
General Houghton only spoke truth. He was clear and direct, and knew he was close to the line - but when it comes to the truth in such serious areas, that is a hill worth dying on. You can also see an example, this time of an American Admiral who, with easier questions and a bit more hedging, does what a senior leader in the military of a representative republic does - answers a question in a relatively honest way that passes the smell test. I think he went a bit to far and a bit outside his lane by affirming the nuclear deal, (he could have left that out) but I'll give him a pass as the line is fuzzy, and he made the call as he saw fit;
"We're still concerned about Iran's behavior overall. Positive about the nuclear agreement, but concerned ... about some of their malign behavior related to other things unrelated to the nuclear issue," he said.
Aside from the nuclear negotiations, "I don't know that we've seen a change in behavior," he added, speaking aboard a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane on display at the biennial show.
...
"The behavior we've seen is about what we've come to expect," he said. "They'll like to intercept our ships, especially the combatants, as they're going through the straits or in other places in the Gulf. They like to show that they can shoot weapons when they're in proximity."
In the heavily trafficked Strait of Hormuz, Iranian vessels have occasionally approached commercial ships passing through and told them they must fly an Iranian flag to ensure their safe passage, Donegan added.
About the same as the last Strait passage I did in '99. Routine. Anyone who expected Iran to act differently post-agreement, is a fool. We need General and Flag officers who are willing to engage on the topics that involve our national defense, even if it does upset one political party or another. General Shinseki, USA (Ret) set another honorable example prior to the invasion of Iraq. Responsibility of power is not just for the civilian leaders who lead our nations. It also applies to people with 3 or 4-stars who might find themselves in a place where they can sell their soul a bit, or just put out the truth in a respectful way and let history judge.
As James Webb put it well, the Scots-Irish were "Born Fighting." In the American context, if ultimately Ulsterman or not, if you have a "Mc" - culturally you are probably part of the gaggle even if you don't want to be. If you have a problem with that, we can take it outside once I finish my drink. If you really wanted to do something interesting in the study of race and ethnicity beyond the anti-intellectual exercise of 1970s theory as practiced by the DOD diversity industry, you would pull the thread on an ethnic group just as distinct as Nixon's "hispanics" (Webb has mostly done it, but more can be done) - just doesn't have its own paternalistic recognition month. That OK, they are used to being looked at as peasants anyway, and generally thinking, they wouldn't take kindly of being treated as a special snowflake anyway. That is an weak-livered English concept. There is a reason that the Commander of ISAF/US Forces in AFG was McNeil, then McKiernan, then McChyrstal ... but let's get back to the topic at hand. I was reminded of this when reading Mark Perry's bit over at Politico, Inside the Pentagon’s fight over Russia. It is full of Scots-Irish posturing at each other, throwing barbs, and generally looking for a fight. In this case; Macgregor, McMaster, and McCain. It has to do with what army that we need, not particularly what we may want - and the ideas and views that are shaping the argument;
For those villagers eagerly snapping pictures on the side of a road in the Czech Republic in late September, the appearance of the line of U.S. “Stryker” armored fighting vehicles must have seemed more like a parade than a large-scale military operation. The movement of some 500-plus soldiers of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment from Vilsack in Bavaria to a Hungarian military base was intended to strengthen U.S. ties with the Czech, Slovak and Hungarian militaries and put Russia’s Vladimir Putin on notice.
...
But not everyone is convinced. “This Stryker parade won’t fool anyone in Moscow,” says retired Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor. “The Russians don’t do many things well, but they have been subverting, destabilizing, invading and conquering their neighbors since Peter the Great. And what’s our response: a small unit of light armored trucks.”
...
... an intense debate inside the Pentagon over the appropriate response to the Kremlin’s new, not-so-friendly global profile — and over the future of the U.S. Army. And now the debate has spread to Capitol Hill: later this week the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing addressing the same issue.
Ironically, this Washington war of ideas has pitted against each other two brainy career Army officers who fought together in one of the most famous battles of modern times.
On one side is Macgregor, an outspoken and controversial advocate for reform of the Army — whose weapons he describes as “obsolescent,” its senior leaders as “self-interested,” and its spending as “wasteful.” Viewed by many of his colleagues as one of the most innovative Army officers of his generation, Macgregor, a West Point graduate with a Ph.D. in international relations (“he can be pretty gruff,” a fellow West Point graduate says, “but he’s brilliant”), led the 2nd Cav’s “Cougar Squadron” in the best-known battle of Operation Desert Storm in February 1991. In 23 minutes, Macgregor’s force destroyed an entire Iraqi Armored Brigade (including nearly 70 Iraqi armored vehicles), while suffering a single American casualty.
...
In the wake of the battle, however, Macgregor calculated that if his unit had fought a highly trained and better armed enemy, like the Russians, the outcome would have been different. So, four years later, he published a book called Breaking The Phalanx, recommending that his service “restructure itself into modularly organized, highly mobile, self-contained combined arms teams.” The advice received the endorsement of then-Army Chief of Staff Dennis Reimer, who ordered that copies of Macgregor’s book be provided to every Army general.
...
... the crux of Macgregor’s argument: Today the U.S. Army is comprised of BCTs rather than Reconnaissance Strike Groups, or RSGs, which is Macgregor’s innovation. Macgregor’s RSG shears away what he describes as “the top-heavy Army command structure” that would come with any deployment in favor of units that generate more combat power. “Every time we deploy a division we deploy a division headquarters of 1,000 soldiers and officers,” Macgregor explains. “What a waste; those guys will be dead within 72 hours.” Macgregor’s RSG, what he calls “an alternative force design,” does away with this Army command echelon, reporting to a joint force commander — who might or might not be an Army officer. An RSG, Macgregor says, does not need the long supply tail that is required of Brigade Combat Teams — it can be sustained with what it carries from ten days to two weeks without having to be resupplied.
Macgregor’s views line him up against Lt. General H.R. McMaster, an officer widely thought of as one of the Army’s best thinkers. McMaster fought under Macgregor at “73 Easting,” where he commanded Eagle Troop in Macgregor’s Cougar Squadron. McMaster, however, had more success in the Army than Macgregor, is a celebrated author (of Dereliction of Duty, a classic in military history), and is credited with seeding the Anbar Awakening during the Iraq War.
...
The military is taking Macgregor’s challenge seriously, in part because the retired colonel has spurred interest in his reform ideas from one of the most important players in the defense community, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain. McCain was said to be impressed after Macgregor and Admiral Mark Fitzgerald briefed him on the new force design last January 17, telling his staff to set up briefings for Macgregor with other senators. Then, in September, after Macgregor’s simulations were completed, he briefed senior Senate Armed Services staffers, arguing that replacing BCTs with RSGs would make Army formations more lethal and eliminate the budget redundancies in the current system, with potential savings of tens of billions of dollars.
That is just a taste. Read it all. It does have me wondering about who in our Navy is engaging in these deep, structural discussions about needs, wants, and the requirements the world presents us. The closest we have in the open, for now, is the Hendrix-McGrath ongoing creative friction on the role of the big-deck carrier. Hey, McGrath ... a good Scot-Irish name, or just Irish. Matters not. This Hendrix guy? Hmmm ... sound like a gene pool with a prediction for wooden shoes, bad food, good cheese, and legal vices ... almost English ... but we'll take him. If you are so interested, we interviewed Douglas Macgregor on Midrats back in 2010. He has been at this awhile.
, you can google the rest.
