I've been experimenting with expanding my writing by creating videos as well as reviews. I hope you can take a moment and check out one I recently made. I hope you enjoy.
Author: Ramblings of a Distracted Mind
Over the Water and Out of the Woods; a review of Guerrilla Warfare Tactics In Urban Environments
Guerilla Warfare Tactics in Urban Environments questions one of the upcoming fundamental questions most practitioners of modern warfare want to discuss. The relationship between modern military tactics and an increasingly urban and littoral battlespace.
Tarnished Dragon: a review of Secret War in Shanghai
When tales are told of heroic actions behind enemy lines, stories of men and women risking their lives against a despicable foe bent on eradicating a people and subjecting a world, legends of individuals wagering not only their own lives and treasure but those of countless others for information which could save all of them are told of World War 2, the scope and breadth of those narratives tend to be narrow. We think of the daring exploits of Britain's Special Operations Executive or SOE instructed by Churchill to “set Europe ablaze." Seldom, if ever, does the tales of exploits in the Pacific theater get their own tale. Writers create very few books - or forbid a movie - that tell those tales
Eat Me, Drink Me; Cambridge’s Dinky Doors
Check out my latest Opinion with Eat Me, Drink Me; Cambridge's Dinky Doors! Be sure to Like, Follow, Comment, Subscribe, Rate, and Share!
…life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.
Today is my 50th birthday.
Or at least by the time I upload this it will be.
Life is what happens… Filling the Gap
It has been 3 months since I have posted anything. Slightly longer than that since I wrote anything substantive for the site. When I realized I had been this remiss and first started contemplating the structure for yet another blog where I talked about restarting, reviving, or reworking the blog I felt saddened, forlorn and a bit disappointed. I think most people hit moments like this in their lives. Moments where they felt adrift and unproductive. So, at the end of this month, this year, and this decade I find that this blog, like my life, is not in need of a revamp. It just is.
Old MacDonald Was a Savage Oppressor of the Bourgeoisie: a Review of Animal Farm
Since the 2016 United States Presidential election, the concepts of Nationalism and Populism have received a lot more attention and consideration. One of the defining characteristics of both Nationalism and Populism is not just the ideology they identify with but almost more importantly the relationship to the ideology to which they are opposed. By emphasizing the Orwellian nature of Socialist, Democratic Socialist, or any flavor of Socialist or Communist thought, Nationalists and Populists attempt to draw crudely the dissimilarities between the ideologies. The best and easiest way to invoke this Orwellian narrative is by returning to the source material. Nationalists/Populists refer back to the works of George Orwell, most specifically the novels 1984 and Animal Farm.
Doomed to Repeat It: A Review of Descent into Chaos
News outlets have been trickling out the story of a possible agreement reached between the United States government and representatives of the Taliban in Afghanistan finally to broker a peace deal in the longest war in United States history. Therefore, it is rather appropriate that I have recently finished reading Ahmed Rashid’s Descent into Chaos: How the war against Islamic extremism is being lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. We need to review some basic questions and assumptions. How this conflict and the occupation of Afghanistan rate in length and expense to other conflicts with which the United States has been involved. Has the blood and treasure expended by the United States and its coalition allies in this conflict truly been wasted? Is it possible that the United States and NATO forces' use of different tactics or strategic goals would have changed the situation on the ground in Afghanistan in 2019?
Don’t I Know You: a review of Ghosts of Manhattan
It was a time of great uncertainty and upheaval in America. A time of grand, expansive plans as a small part of the population enjoyed untold prosperity. It was also when the ability to survive yet another day was a small plodding measure of success. One man pierced the veil of darkness attempting to bring a modicum of hope and light to the beleaguered inhabitants of his city. He is vengeance. He is the night. He knows where to find you and what you fear. He is... the Ghost of Manhattan. Hold on for just a minute. Is it just me, or does that not sound amazingly familiar to anyone that has read a comic book in the last seventy-five years or seen a movie this millennium?
The Yen Starts Where?: a review of Developmental States
I spent a good portion of the beginning of my professional career doing business management, accounting, and finance. And yes, I can hear some of you already saying, “Well that explains a lot about why his writing style is so boring.” Ha, ha. I mention all this, not to imply I’m some sort of financial genius. Far from it. Rather, it’s to demonstrate that I have more than a passing interest in the financial system and might have a slightly better understanding of economics than the average consumer may. Which, I hope, will give you some insight when I review this book and I tell you, it’s a very difficult read.
Ramblings of a distracted mind. 