SO ENDETH THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE (written 06/2014, published Marietta Times) An era in Marietta, Ohio is coming to a close as The Barking Dog bookstore closes its doors this summer.  While there are any number of sources of literature on the internet, there is no literary experience as broadening as browsing in a… [Read More]

The sequential rearrangement corollary to the time dilation postulate of general relativity as regards the occurrence of untoward events. (originally written 05/2014) We all know that while time and the duration of events is relative to the observer, time, the duration of events and the sequence of events is really relative to the observer.  Especially… [Read More]

Vladimir Putin’s recent invasion of the Crimean peninsula and the March 8 move into Kherson Oblast to establish control of land access into Crimea bring back unpleasant memories.  The obvious threat of extension of this latest Russian military incursion from Crimea into Eastern Ukraine is undeniable.  Having served the entirety of my Marine Corps career… [Read More]

The great Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz once famously remarked that “War is the continuation of Politik by other means.”  We now stand at a point in our history when it might be better to consider that war is, in reality, the course of action that is pursued when diplomacy fails.  War, in my… [Read More]

It is with deep regret that I am currently witnessing the ongoing policy debate with regard to Syria and the use of force by the United States as an answer to a recent chemical weapons attack on the Syrian people.  There are a number of points that have not been elucidated by the president, congressional… [Read More]