“You Can’t Always Get What You Want…”
on Jan 5, 2009 in Navy Leadership Captain J “You Can’t Always Get What You Want…”Call it luck, serendipity, or destiny but the Navy’s detailing process got me the ship I needed. The detailing process—at least back in the late 90’s, early 2000—was far from scientific, proper, o...

Leadership Experience
on Jan 2, 2009 in Leadership Captain J Prisoners abused at Abu Ghraib. Wounded soldiers neglected at Walter Reed. Intelligence ignored, debate muted, non-conformist viewpoints denied prior to the Iraq War. Greed guides Wall Street and corporate America into economic crash. A common ca...

My Christmas List
on Dec 24, 2008 in Family Captain J Top 10 Holidays My Christmas ListThe all-knowing, all-powerful Oprah decrees that in these trying economic times, we should list as a spiritual gift to ourselves and our loved ones what we are most thankful for. So in deference to The Mighty Oprah and for my family...

That Christmas Feeling
on Dec 23, 2008 in People Society Captain J Religion Holidays Enough historical analysis has confirmed that the magic of Christmas, if represented by the birth of Christ, should seasonably overwhelm us in spring or summer, not winter. Rather than religion, that Christmas feeling, the magic, the wonder, the joy...

A Repaired Yet Weakened Chain
on Dec 22, 2008 in Laws Captain J Homeland Security Terrorism The National Park Service’s Statue of Liberty website claims that a broken chain at the Statue’s feet symbolizes “her free forward movement, enlightening the world with her torch free from oppression and servitude.” Symbolically post-9/11, t...

Reality TV
on Dec 13, 2008 in Society Captain J Censorship TV The seemingly unrelated announcements this week of Jay Leno moving to a nightly prime time television slot and the Golden Globes nominations share more of a connection than the major television networks may care to admit. Like American cars, major ne...

Save the Dinosaurs?
on Dec 12, 2008 in Captain J Economy Politics In a hasty effort to defy economic Darwinism, Congress has been scrambling overtime to bail out the Big Dumb Three Detroit car makers. For decades, while Japanese, Korean, and other international auto manufacturers produced sleeker, smarter, more ef...