Execupundit.com

Civilization

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:30:58 +0000

As Father's Day Approaches

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:30:00 +0000

In a just world, Father's Day would join Mother's Day by being scheduled at some point during the school year so fathers could get the traditional loot produced by grade school students when they are learning how to draw on plates or coffee mugs.

It is, of course, held at a much more obscure time, but the general culture offers hope of recognition.

Consider these role models from the movies:

1. Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)

2. Vito Corleone (The Godfather)

3. Pa Kettle (The Egg and I)

4. Bryan Mills (Taken)

5. Marlin (Finding Nemo)

6. George Banks (Father of the Bride)

7. Chris Gardner (The Pursuit of Happyness)

8. Darth Vader (Star Wars)

Well, all lists have a few exceptions.

[Photo by atelierbyvineeth... at Unsplash]

The CIA's Insane Gold Bars Scandal

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Then, starting in November 2025, Rush allegedly did something astonishing, more striking than anything he had done before. According to the affidavit, “Rush made several requests to the U.S. Government to obtain a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses.”

Read the rest of Byron York's report in the Washington Examiner.

Crank It Up

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Created Equal: The Documentary

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Don't miss Created Equal, the book of the same name by Michael Pack and Mark Paoletta. It is composed of the documentary's transcripts.

An excerpt: My grandfather understood that education was the key because he didn't have it, and that's what had held him back. He wasn't going to let that happen to his boys. And he said that he went to third grade, but school was three months out of the year because you had to work. Education wasn't some social experiment. It wasn't a lot of this drivel you hear today. It was the key. It was something that had to be done. Reading, writing, arithmetic, and, by golly, you are going to learn it. You were never going to miss a day of school. And he made that very clear. Remember now, I am seven years old, my brother is six, and he says to us, "You are going to go to school every day. And if you are sick, you are still going, and if you die, you will go. I will take your body for three days and make sure you're not faking." And he meant it. The thing about it is, it's one thing if somebody says that and you think they're exaggerating. He wasn't that kind of guy. In your mind you knew he had laid down a marker. You were going to go dead or alive. Well or sick. And that's the way we went.

On My List

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Find Something Beautiful Today

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

[Photo by Carol Highsmith's America at Unsplash]

Brothers in Arms

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 03:00:45 +0000

Serious Books on D-Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 22:00:53 +0000

The Longest Day: D-Day June 6, 1944 by Cornelius Ryan
D-Day: The Battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor
Neptune I: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings by Craig L. Symonds
Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy by Max Hastings

[Photo by Barnaby at Unsplash]

Hmm

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 21:56:16 +0000

Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0000

From English History, 1914-1945 by A. J. P. Taylor

Never Forget

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 21:30:56 +0000

An Unnecessary Wall

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:30:00 +0000

I completely share Nicholas Bate's cogent concerns about PowerPoint.

It is a debilitating device that creates a rigid barrier between the presenter and the audience.

Long-time readers of this blog will know my preference for flip charts and overhead projectors. [I love those old projectors with the acetate roll that you can crank whenever a new page is needed.]

Both of those facilitate spontaneity and conversation.

With PowerPoint, the fancier it gets, the worse it is.

Nicholas is Old School with all of the virtues that implies and it's great to hear that we can expect another book from him in September.

Get My Tickets!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

"I can see a unicorn, the Loch Ness Monster, and an Iranian moderate."

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 02:16:57 +0000

[Photo by Jennifer Farnan at Unsplash]

Great Film Music

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:19:49 +0000

Threats Do Not Always Knock

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:47:35 +0000

I recall an ethics instructor who decried our tendency to assume that ethical violations would be easy to spot, as if we resembled those roast turkeys with an inserted thermometer that would pop out at the right moment.

The difficulty of gaining timely notice is also present in defense strategy debates when people declare that no military action should be taken unless there is an imminent threat.

Just what constitutes an imminent threat is where things become vague. Some threats are difficult to discern until it's too late to do much about them.

At which point did the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor become an imminent threat? Would there have been time for an effective defense once the threat was undeniable?

I've seen similar situations with organizations. Given our ability to deny dangers - to stare at a lion and declare "That is not a lion" - the only moment when many matters are crystal clear are when they are being analyzed from inside of the lion's stomach.

Rather than looking for major stages, we should consider the flow of events. That requires both information and attentiveness.

It may also require what many may regard as premature confrontation.

[Photo by Birger Strahl at Unsplash]

Time to Save History

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:33:03 +0000

History-lovers unite!

My Substack essay on the importance of history is up!

History, Italian Style

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:41:38 +0000

Keep in Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:39:40 +0000

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.

- Will Durant

Some Thoughts on Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Interested in writing?

Take some time to read the thoughts of economist and prolific author Thomas Sowell.

This Looks Fascinating

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0000

The Only Option

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:06:42 +0000

Banks Bots

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:47:42 +0000

I spent part of this morning listening as a once-loyal bank customer told me how much she "hated" the bank's latest chatbot technology.

This not a financially unsavvy person. Nor is she a Luddite.

For the near future, she'll be visiting the bank more often.

But beyond the near future?

[I can imagine the bank's response: She'll have no choice. But I'm not sure if that is true.]

Remedial Studies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:57:10 +0000

“We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, and still they continue to lie.”

— Alexander Solzhenitsyn

All college students, regardless of their fields of study, should read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; The First Circle; and The Gulag Archipelago.

Their teachers should do so as well.

[Photo by Kacper G at Unsplash]