Important Note:
Opinions are fun. My friends tell me I am someone with lots of opinions and that's fine since I don't get mad at others when they disagree with me. In this same spirit I am interested in hearing yours views as long as you are able to share your views without boiling over. I look forward to hearing from you. I tend to write in the form of short essays most of the time, but contributions do not need to be in this same format or size. Some of the content here will date itself pretty quickly, other content may be virtually timeless, this is for the reader to judge.
Displaying 11 - 20 of 27 <Prev 1 2 3 Next>
What about North Korea?
Posted at: Apr/30/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Historical Insights, World Watching,
History has a strange but consistent way of repeating itself. Anyone who tells you they know what Kim Jong Un and North Korea will do next is really just guessing. Nevertheless, historical events give us a lot of insight into patterns of cause and effect. Understanding the players, local status quo and regional history are useful. It is also important to understand that just because something s.....read more…
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Why baseball lives on
Posted at: Apr/24/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Historical Insights, Perspectives, Sports, Watching America,
It’s April and the start of another baseball season. As with any new baseball season we are inundated with the predictions by experts; who’ll win the divisions, the pennants and ultimately the World Series? I am a big fan of history and through history I have learned these predictions by experts will not go away, and that they are invariably wrong….How do these guys get away with being perceived .....read more…
Finding humanity in the midst war
Posted at: Mar/14/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Behavior, Historical Insights, People,
As a member of the baby-boomer generation, many of the parents of my childhood friends were either WWII or Korean War veterans. I remember seeing in many homes the framed pictures of young men standing in front of their aircraft, or knelling in the mud with the rifles at hand. As a kid, seeing these pictures or the framed medals always prompted questions and awe. My questions were most often an.....read more…
When TV and computers collide
Posted at: Feb/14/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Historical Insights, Science,
Back in the early 1990’s some smart people started noticing that televisions and computers were on a collision course. The majority of these prognosticators used the term “convergence” and viewed television and their related industry as the ultimate winner. People may still watch thing they call “TV shows,” but they are watching them in a lot of places besides on their television. Woops, that di.....read more…
What makes a ‘great president’?
Posted at: Nov/06/2012 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Historical Insights, Politics & Gov, Watching America,
As today is Election Day 2012, it seems only fitting to ask this question. We have all grown up being taught that “anybody can grow up to be President.” Despite these motivational words to our children, I’m not entirely sure it is true. It clearly takes a person who is smart, tough and driven just to campaign for the office. Once in the Oval Office, the pressures of the job take over. We have.....read more…
For Many Americans, 9/11 is More History than Memory
Posted at: Sep/11/2012 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Historical Insights,
Today is September 11th, 2012, this is a meaningful date for me. I work with kids a great deal and it is clear to me this date has less significance for them. Even for my own sons the significance is not there despite my attempts at teaching. One of my sons at breakfast this morning merely made the passing comment “oh yea…this is September 11,” then the conversation returned to last night’s foot.....read more…
Is Man Done Exploring?
Posted at: Sep/06/2012 : Posted by: mel
A few days ago, Aug 25th of 2012 to be exact Neil Armstrong passed away at the age of 82. He is most remembered as the first man on the moon in 1969 with his famous words, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” It has been over 30 years since mankind left any new footprints on moon. I don’t really want to eulogize Armstrong, though I will recount some of his exploits. .....read more…
What makes America Great?
Posted at: May/17/2012 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Historical Insights, Perspectives, Watching America,
I know, this question has been asked and answered by thousands before me. Nevertheless, I have felt compelled and challenged to write this since I started writing two years ago. This has been confusing for me because every time I felt I knew the answer, I quickly followed that thought with doubt after being dragged in a new direction I did not anticipate. I have a different tact I am going to t.....read more…
Is Pearl Harbor a fading lesson?
Posted at: Dec/05/2011 : Posted by: mel
Little things often spark a larger meaning or deeper thought with me. The other day I noted in a small news article that rapidly faded to obscurity that for the first time in 70 years the Pearl Harbor Survivors would not be meeting Hawaii. I suppose the reason are kind of obvious, if they were old enough to be sailors and soldiers 70 years ago, the few remaining would likely be in declining heal.....read more…
Slavery and the Civil War
Posted at: May/04/2011 : Posted by: mel
One of those common and sometimes almost mystical traits of humanity is our selective memory. This takes a lot of interesting form. Woman often scream in agony during child birth, yet moments after the arrival of their child start talking about doing it again. Thank goodness for selective memory, else as a species we would certainly cease to exist after just a few generations. Another example .....read more…
