Pat Conroy’s eulogy to Lt. Col. Thomas “The Boo” Nugent Courvoisie & one question

DeM Banter: Reading through Pat Conroy's "My Losing Season," great book....but listening to Mr Conroy talk about "The Boo" made me re-read the eulogy from the Colonel's funeral...if you ever wonder..."did I live a life that mattered?" Col Courvoisie did...the world is indeed a slightly lesser place when I ponder the loss of Col Courvoisie …

Become a World-Changing Thought Leader by Leigh Buchanan

inc.com / view original / Leigh Buchanan DeM Banter:  Good scoop on thought leaders...always wondered, but afraid to ask? Read on... Inc. editor-at-large Leigh Buchanan interviews Clay Christensen's publicity advisor about how entrepreneurs can be thought leaders too. Clayton Christensen, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. All CEOs lead their companies: that's line No. …

THE PERMANENT MILITARIZATION OF AMERICA By Aaron B. O’Connell

DeM Banter:  Good historical rundown  with present day implication... but short on solutions.  What would a solution look like? Straight cuts? New choices? Thoughts?  New York Times November 5, 2012 Pg. 27 Annapolis, Md.--IN 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower left office warning of the growing power of the military-industrial complex in American life. Most people …

Make Or Break Arguing complexity is killing aerospace, Darpa seeks simpler and faster design process By Graham Warwick

DeM Banter: something will have to give... Aviation Week & Space Technology November 5, 2012 Pg. 76 By Graham Warwick No one could accuse the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of lacking imagination. But to rethink the entire design, development and manufacturing process used by aerospace for decades is ambitious, even for the agency …

Defense In 2013: By Kevin Baron, Gordon Lubold and John Reed

DeM Banter: don't have much to say...in days we will know...but the authors need to be careful, their unbiased bias (or is it bias unbiased) is showing...along with their epidermis... ForeignPolicy.com November 2, 2012 Who wins, depending on who wins. No matter which man wins the presidency, the Pentagon is going to keep taking that …

Inside The Geriatric Unit: US Air Force Struggles To Keep Aging Aircraft Flying By Associated Press

DeM Banter: a little ink for the USAF and issues we share with the USN. Many issues here, from a lack of strategy to a decrepit acquisitions system that must adapt and change soon, but as noted by retired Gen Wald in an earlier post...we can to it all cheaper and more efficiently, but there …

Should ‘The Generals’ Get Fired More Often? By NPR Staff

view original / npr.org DeM Banter:   Reading Thomas E Ricks' book now... it sure it getting a lot of ink...any one else picked it up yet? One issue that has received little attention in this year's presidential race is the war in Afghanistan. But according to Thomas E. Ricks, we should be paying attention — specifically …

Colin Powell on why he doesn’t regret a thing by Nigel Farndale

telegraph.co.uk / view original / Nigel Farndale DeM Banter:  an American Hero... Reagan and Bush trusted him. Bill Clinton feared him. Opponents of the war in Iraq blamed him. But why didn’t Colin Powell seize power when he had the chance? Having read that General Colin Powell insists on punctuality, I arrive an hour before my appointment at …

Unmanned aerial vehicles Death From Afar: The Economist

DeM Banter: more discussion and debate...wonder when this will all come to a head? And what event will cause it? The Economist November 3, 2012 America uses drones a lot, in secret and largely unencumbered by declared rules. Worries about that abound, not least in the administration Drones are hardly synonymous with harmony. But in …