Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones Interview (circa 1970)

This interview occurred after Dr. Lloyd-Jones' retirement from pastoring at Westminster Chapel, in London, for nearly 30 years. It is a remarkable interview, the like of which is seldom seen on live television these days. Ms Joan Bakewell, the interviewer, gave the doctor a pretty fair hearing ... and he took great advantage of it!

Post Doctrine 2015 ... Here's Hoping

"There are things that we have learned that make us a more effective force on the battlefield, and I think we want to go ahead with those lessons."  -- Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, on why the Army should increase focus on Strategic Landpower.

General Robert Cone

Well said. But you won't find much about those words in a Doctrine 2015 publication. Apparently, the guidance is that there isn't enough room to write about them, that we have to cut down on the contents in order to make the doctrine more "accessible." So, no side stories. No snippets from history. No illustrative case studies or vignettes. No quotations from effective leaders. No interviews.

Like other good ideas half-way thought out, Doctrine 2015 will pass. When it is finally realized that all these new-fangled publications--ADPs, ADRPs, ATPs, and FMs with only tactics (not) and procedures (sometimes)--really haven't made all that much of an improvement in terms of actual doctrine, there will be a new campaign with new buzz words. When it finally dawns on the brass that Soldiers are getting most of their doctrinal information from social media--because who wants to click through six, eight, or a dozen publications for something--that old standby, the field manual will make a comeback. 

And maybe, the powers that be will actually be anxious to capture those valuable lessons learned in doctrinal publications once again. It could happen!

Halfway There

After week-8 of a 16-week class -- MATH 125, Math for Liberal Arts Majors -- my grade stands at

92.9% (based upon completion of 39.5% of the material). This is an A-. In a math class!

It's possible that I can still make an A.

It's also still within the realm of possibilities that I bomb the whole thing.

What will happen?

Stay tuned.

---------------------------
June 12, 2014

Forgot to update this after I finished the class. Believe it or not, my final grade was an A-. After sixteen long weeks of frustration, I was very happy to escape with a grade like that.

Now, on to other things.

Think It'll Work?

See if you can find the cheap burglar alarm I installed.

Elections have consequences ... even in North Carolina

North Carolina On Cusp Of Passing Worst Voter Suppression Bill In The Nation

Liberals have a unique vocabulary. For example, they describe common sense voter legislation, such as are presently under serious consideration in the Old North State's capitol as "voter suppression" bills. There is much whining and snivelling going on at ThinkProgress.org and in certain state senators' offices.

North Carolina General Assembly
complex in Raleigh, NC

In the North Carolina General Assembly, lawmakers are about to enact legislation requiring voters to prove they are who they say they are. No more same day registration or voting outside of one's district, which plays havoc with the system to the advantage of Democrats. They probably won't even let dead people vote, or convicted felons, or non-citizens.

Man, those Rascally Republicans.

'Bout time!

Military History and Ted Williams

The thought occurred to me that I might want to take a break from military history and read something else. So, at the library, I selected a biography of a famous baseball player, Ted Williams, who played for the Boston Red Sox. Imagine my shock when I opened to the table of contents and found this ...

       Prologue

1     Boston

2     San Diego

3     Minnesota

4     Boston

5     .406

6     World War II

7     Boston 

8     Korea

9     Boston

10   Boston

11   Cooperstown

12   Washington

There it is. Two wars. In a book about the national pastime. I can't get away from it! I'll tell you more about it after I've read the book, but Hall of Famer, Ted Williams took time away from his baseball career twice to serve in the armed forces as a fighter pilot.

I don't think that's the right word

So, I'm at home and my wife is telling me a story about some guy that got caught stealing in a men's clothing store she worked in a long time ago. Not only was the guy taking money, he was giving suits to his buddies as huge unauthorized discounts. 

To this day my wife can't get over the guy's audacity. 

"Yeah," she said, with excitement, "the police came took him out in cuff links!"