Achieving a richer, more meaningful life is possible through personal and intellectual growth. The advanced life-long learner and seeker who applies critical thinking rigorously and at times unflinchingly in the face of dangers and pitfalls, will earn the ultimate boon, advanced competence in finding and embracing Truth, understanding our world as it really is. “Roaring” … Continue reading Meaningful Lives from Learning
Recently, a classmate sadly compared the era during which we were raised and the coarseness of today’s national rhetoric. He contrasted the civility at home, school, and public life discourse at that time, with the torrent of coarse, defamatory, and divisive discourse we endure today. I certainly agreed with basics of his comparison. Today’s national … Continue reading The most uncivil outcome of all
Our Korean War Veterans saved a nation from a future of unimaginable bleakness, restored an Ally, and stopped Communist aggression. They did so not for glory or national grandeur. They defended Freedom, protected Freedom, and preserved Freedom in Korea because the United States of America, asked these “Greatest Generation” young men to do so. That … Continue reading An Opportunity to Bring Wayne and Ron Home
From the Main Gate at NAS Jacksonville to Moussorgsky’s “Gates of Kiev” Just before I graduated from Andrew Jackson High School in 1957, I had been offered an appointment to Annapolis by Congressman Charles E. Bennett, but a physical was required. When the Navy Corpsman told me that Annapolis required at least 20/100 correctable to … Continue reading Jacksonville University Vision: to provide the means and the mentors where we could fulfill our dreams
Looking ahead by looking back October 1973 was a busy month around the world. Israel, Jordan, Egypt were fighting the Yom Kippur War, Gerald Ford was nominated to replace the under indictment Spiro Agnew as Vice President, Maynard Jackson was elected as the first black mayor of Atlanta, OPEC raised the price of oil by … Continue reading Future Shock or Future Shape: Looking ahead by looking back
Captain Elliot Dean Ayer, USAF, was a decorated fighter pilot of WWII and the Korean War. A Pearl Harbor Veteran as a 17-year old gunner, he earned his AAF wings, personal decorations and a Captaincy by the end of the war. Rather than leave the rapidly demobilizing Air Force, he served as a Master Sergeant, … Continue reading Remembering a Korean War Hero: Captain Elliot Dean Ayer, USAF
The Navy has announced it is reestablishing the Second Fleet. A lot of us who served proudly in that Fleet, are thinking “told you so.” A more fundamental question is where are leaders like Burke, Rickover, and Metcalf (21st Century Navy) to speak up, call out, and decry strategic decisions that undermine or threaten our … Continue reading Navy Gives Second Fleet Second Chance
The national Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America recently announced that girls will be welcomed into all programs sponsored by that organization. Previously the Sea Scouts and Venturing programs allowed young women 14 years of age or older to participate. The new decision will allow girls to participate in all programs of … Continue reading Eagle Scout: End of a brand that took a century to build?
“Roaring” Through a Life of Learning A Vietnamese proverb about a mouse sticking his head in the mouth of a large carnivore may, at first consideration, seem a strange way to view our lives as life-long learners. “…the mouse does not know life until it has been into the mouth of the cat.” -Vietnamese proverb … Continue reading “Roaring” Through a Life of Learning
As it turned out, Charles Brockden Brown (our first novelist) was in my closet… Groan. How boring–digging through dusty boxes of who knows what reference and research materials that went back many years. Still, I knew it had to be done before I “threw the baggage out,” to channel Rex Harrison’s line from My Fair … Continue reading Return of the Thesis