Many times we throw insults around without knowing what we're saying. For instance, I was surprised to read in a book, Public Education in America that many insulting words are actually intended to be scientific measurements of intelligence. In the book mentioned, I found the following chart: LEVEL.................IQ INTERVAL Idiot............................. 0-25 Imbecile........................25-50 Moron...........................50-70 Borderline.....................70-80 Low [...]

Why anyone would ever pick a fight with Marines is beyond me. I mean, who wants to go toe to toe with gun-toting martial artists with the most lethal technology on Earth? Any American that has spent any significant time on a Marine base knows that the country's defense is in good hands. I’ve had [...]

I was just made aware of another self-educated American that has piqued my interest. Madam C. J. Walker is credited with being the first woman to become a self-made millionaire. (link) Becoming a millionaire is an incredible accomplishment for anyone, but especially so for a black woman in the early 1900s. She must have been [...]

Seth Godin did a post this weekend on Squidoo's third anniversary comparing the progress of the site to an albatross (in a good way): Link In the post he writes: Albatross businesses are great to have but not easy to launch. Rather that the excitement of the big time launch and then the constant promotion [...]

Amazon is helping with the One Laptop Per Child program: Link I saw Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of one laptop per child, in an interview last night. He said that his ultimate goal with this program, which will take a good 20 years to realize, is world peace. I like his chances. I think it [...]

When I talk with people about my belief that there is latent potential all around us — that dropouts should not be written off because of the lost contributions to society — I’m met with stiff resistance to the idea. I contend that greatness can, and when given the chance, does spring from anywhere. As [...]

Today is the Marine Corps' 233rd birthday. If you know a Marine wish him or her a happy birthday. If you are a Marine, try to spend some time with other Marines. It's also a good time to get back in touch with those with whom you served. I've found a surprising number of Marines [...]

Sadly, we lost a great Marine this week. I never met Col Ripley personally, but I've spoken with Marines who have. Their admiration for him made quite an impression. Here is a previous post about Col Ripley with links for those who are not familiar with him: Link And in his own words:

The greatest words ever written in human history: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” -- Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence is the pivot point in [...]

“Success is a lousy teacher.” -- Bill Gates We often see those who are successful and ascribe their success to a modern day equivalent of divine right. From the outside it seems that somehow these people lead charmed lives far removed from the daily struggles the rest of us must slog through. Nothing could be [...]