Recommended Reading
Top Billing! Robert Mackey –When Cowards Speak
Dr. Mackey is a professor of military history and is a retired US. Army Lieutenant Colonel, and he unloads here on a couple of lunatic wingnuts:
….The Medal of Honor is, other than its value in precious metals, not actually worth that much, at least from a physical view. It is a piece of starry ribbon, a piece of gold, some words. No, its real worth is that it is recognition of bravery and courage under fire, from the fellow citizens of a grateful nation. The history of the Medal is filled with men who did things that few others can imagine, from young black men seizing a Confederate flag from an enemy’s hands in the Civil War, to leading soldiers up San Juan Hill (and to the White House), across No-Man’s Land in the Great War, to World War II submarine captains, bomber pilots and a little known Texan who was rejected by every service except the Army and would become the most decorated soldier in U.S. history, to young Marines in the frozen retreat in the winter of 1950 in Korea, to medics saving their dying comrades in the jungles and paddies of Vietnam, through Somalia, to today. The history of the Medal is the history of our Republic, and its winners are the best of our nation–courageous, honorable, common men, who, almost as a man, would repeat what Audie Murphy said, “I never like being called the ‘most decorated’ soldier. There were so many guys who should have gotten medals and never did – guys who were killed.”
Then you have men–and I use that word in this case to only describe the male of the human species–who have never served a day in uniform, much less a moment in combat. Who have never sacrificed for their fellow countrymen, who have never given a moment’s thought to anything but their own self-centered and selfish pursuits, men to whom the idea of running forward when others run away is anathema.
Eide Neurolearning Blog – Our Metaphorical Minds
The Drs. Eide kindly respond to the discussion of metaphorical thinking that Charles and I and our commenters have had recently:
….In other research, scientists found that metaphoric ‘priming’ could change social and political attitudes. Little creepy, huh? Subliminal effects. If one looks at Marcel Just’s work involving literal and metaphorical meanings though, it’s not surprising that cross-talk occurs. What is so surprising is how common it is and how significant the effect. It’s an interesting thought that we are journeying through life constantly triggering metaphorical and literal meanings of which we are dimly aware.
John Arquilla –U.S. not prepared for Mumbai-like terror attacks
Dr. Arquilla points out that the national security-homeland security establishment remain tribally wedded to the hierarchical model of counterterror response that amounts to an iron rice bowl for bureaucracies and deeply hostile to local or private citizen response to an attack.
Our military’s Northern Command, responsible for dealing swiftly with major terrorist attacks on American cities, remains largely wedded to the notion of responding by being able to move a brigade-size force – about 3,000 troops – where it’s needed in a day or so. This is too much, too late when it comes to trying to counter small teams attacking a city at several points simultaneously.
Instead of this big, bulky approach, planners should aim at being able to deploy many small teams within minutes. This means giving a lot of attention, training and resources to local law enforcement and other first responders. It means doing simple things like providing more small-arms practice for all police. They don’t have to become SWAT-like master snipers to take down terrorists – incremental improvements in a patrolman’s already strong weapons-handling skills will pay huge dividends.
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