I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over. | |
— Warren Buffett | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | Try Walking |
2021 | Probably Why It Hurts So Bad |
5-0 | |
2020 | Unlike Faux News Viewers |
2019 | I Don’t Know Truth, Either |
2018 | An Approaching Disgrace |
2017 | Liberty, Collusion, History And The Republican Majority |
2016 | But I Have Too Many Questions |
2015 | A New Friend |
2014 | Do I Have To Fall In Love? |
2013 | More Democracy, Please |
2012 | Speaking Of Love |
2011 | Limits |
Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category
1-Footers
Posted in Investing, Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Investing Advice, Philosophy, Quotes, Warren Buffett on May 23, 2023| 3 Comments »
Sub-Contracting Only Seems Efficient
Posted in Economics, Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Bussiness Leadership, Efficiency, Management, Peter F. Drucker, Philosophy, Production, Quotes on May 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The most efficient way to produce anything is to bring together under one management as many as possible of the activities needed to turn out the product. | |
— Peter Drucker | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | One Working Future |
2021 | Still A Work In Progress |
An Innocent Man | |
2020 | Three Stooges |
2019 | #Impeach45: Halt The Slide Into Tryanny |
2018 | Expecting Profit |
2017 | In Spite Of The President |
2016 | And Sets |
And My God For His Graces | |
2015 | About Character |
2014 | Your Gain |
2013 | Look Up |
2012 | Count Me In |
2011 | Pirates Four, Three Songs |
Sir Charles | |
Look First, Not Last | |
2010 | Par-a-diddle |
When Scratching Can Be Too Late
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Asking, Bad News, Business Leadership, Mosquitoes, Philosophy, Quotes, Scratching, Thomas J. Watson on December 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
You don’t hear things that are bad about your company unless you ask. It is easy to hear good tidings, but you have to scratch to get the bad news. | |
— Thomas J. Watson | |
[When I was young I was taught: “You don’t feel the mosquito biting until after its finished sucking.” — kmab ] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Is Too |
Food For Thought | |
2020 | Says Every Generation Since Schools Were Invented |
Chokin’ My Thoughts Away | |
2019 | Dance The Night Away |
2018 | #45: The Poorest President In History |
2017 | Bull’s Eye |
2016 | Gifts |
Jacked 3 | |
2015 | I’d Settle For Interesting |
2014 | Old Math |
2013 | Adequate Explanation |
2012 | Superior Discovery |
2011 | Welcome Home And Thank You!! |
Two Heritages | |
A Series Of Observations
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Reviews, Series (TV or Streaming) Review, TV Series, tagged Agent Teresa Lisbon, Amanda Righetti, California Bureau Of Investigation, CBI, Dr. Moriarty, Dr. Watson, FBI, Federal Bureau Of Investigation, Grace Van Pelt, I Love Lucy, Kimball Cho, Law & Order, Leadership, Moderate to Strong TV Series Recommendation, Moral Choices, NCIS, Owain Yeoman, Patrick Jane, Philosophy, Red John, Robin Tunney, Sherlock Holmes, Simon Baker, StarTrek, The Greater Good, The Mentalist, The Simpsons, Tim Kang, TV Series Review, War & Peace, Wayne Rigsby on October 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Today’s TV series review is for the seven season / 151 episodes / 115 hours total viewing time, drama / crime-police / mystery series: “The Mentalist“. The show stars Simon Baker as Patrick Jane (the Mentalist) and Robin Tunney as Agent Teresa Lisbon (his long suffering boss / side-kick”Watson”). There are three other “main” supporting characters: Kimball Cho (played by Tim Kang), Wayne Rigsby (played by Owain Yeoman) and Grace Van Pelt (played by Amanda Righetti). The series originally aired between 2008 and 2015. I viewed / “streamed” the series over several weeks in 3-to-4 episode chunks. Some spoilers follow, so if you are intending to watch this series, do so before continuing this review… | |
The basic premise is that a “reformed” con-man / fake psychic (Jane) assists law enforcement (the California Bureau of Investigation [CBI]) with solving crimes (mostly murders). Because the CBI is a state law enforcement unit, the crime is generally on California state property or CBI involvement is “requested” by someone with sufficient political influence to warrant the notice of the CA State Attorney General. Sometimes this aspect is a REAL stretch… and then has to be narratively explained away by dialogue. | |
The main character – Jane – has highly developed observational skill, exceptional memory skill and high intelligence which combined with his years as a con-man / magician / fake psychic allow him to “solve” each case in intuitive (sometimes illegal) ways – much to the discomfort of the supporting cast (professional law enforcement officers). Jane becomes involved with CBI after recovering from a nervous breakdown following the brutal murder of his wife and daughter by a serial killer (“Red John”). Red John’s modus operandi is “generally” a rape, disembowelment and then throat slitting of his (mostly female) victims. Red John is a cult leader type criminal, generally following the “Dr. Moriarty” character type from the Sherlock Holmes genre. Lisbon is Watson to Jane’s Sherlock. | |
The series has two over-arching series themes: the developing romantic relationship between Jane and Lisbon and the developing friendship(s) between Jane and the rest of the law enforcement supporting characters. Within this there are also three main seasonal story arcs: seasons one through three are single episode murder mysteries developing the two main arcs. Seasons four, five and half of season six are devoted to both episodic crimes and the hunt for Red John. Red John is revealed (and killed) and then the last half a season six and all of season seven is Jane assisting in various FBI cases. Season seven is an abbreviated season of only twelve episodes. All of the other seasons are twenty-one plus episodes. Most of the series is based in Sacramento. Post-Red John, the series moves from CBI to FBI and is then based from Austin, Texas. | |
So, is this series any good? Has it stood the test of time? How is the acting? Is the show realistic for leadership, psychology or law enforcement? And, finally, is it worth investing 115 hours of your life? In order: yes, mostly, poor to excellent, more often than not, so-so, “I sure hope not”, and yes. | |
More specifically, overall, this is a VERY good series. It is as predictable as any police procedural: crime, investigation, resolution. It is mostly predictable for character development – but at a surprisingly / interesting slow pace and then – bang – your in rapids, and then – back to slow pace. The series ends “happily” from a romantic perspective it is well rapped up – the two main couples wed. So, bottom line, the good-guys win and live happily-ever-after. | |
Test of time / acting / theme portrayals: As a police procedural – I hope not. As a romantic drama, yes. As a “Sherlock Holmes” genre, so-so. In practically every episode, some person’s rights are either ignored or aggressively violated. This is morally acceptable because the team is putting very bad people (mostly men) behind bars (or killing them). No matter how honorable the character starts in their role, they are always corrupted by Jane and the concept of acting for “the greater good”. On the romantic side, a big part of every drama is how long can you maintain the sexual tension between the main characters. Although obvious from the first episode, both main relationship arcs are well developed. As a super-sleuth / Holmes procedure series, the show has problems, but it (the show) still works because of the believability of the actors in their slowly developed / multi-layered character portrayals. The portrayals of most of the bad-guys are mostly flat and one dimensional, but there are notable exceptions. As the series progresses most of the other (non-super-genius) characters say: “This is what Jane would (would not) have us do…” For me personally, I found the various depictions of leadership styles / personalities to be one of the most interesting aspects of the series. The whole gamut of leadership from criminal to sainted is represented and the strengths and weaknesses of the various styles is examined, critiqued and accepted or rejected. | |
Investment: I feel there has been an on-going transformation in home entertainment happening over the course of my lifetime. The progress is roughly equivalent to that of written literature. In writing we have daily comics, short stories and comic books, short-moderate-long books (texts and novels), books series and encyclopedias. In TV, the corresponding genre would be animated / cartoon shorts (multiple stories in a half-hour show), episodic stories (half-hour to hour long shows), movie length (90 minutes to mini-series [sub-30 hours of total viewing time]), and seasonal arcs (episodic, but with 3-5 minutes devoted to long-term character / story development), and then generational shows / series. I consider “generational” series to be any series over 15 years / seasons – so, most day-time soap operas and multi-series franchises (“I Love Lucy“, “The Simpsons“, “StarTrek“, “Law & Order“, “NCIS“, etc). I (personally) do NOT consider game shows to be “generational” series, even though many have gone well beyond 20 seasons, because they are normally not re-watched after the initial viewing. Although, there is now some give on this characteristic, too, as you can “watch” some of the prior episodes (on TV-history channels). The point of the “re-run” (though) is to view the contestants (famous personalities from yesteryear) and not viewing the contests, themselves. At any rate, I would put a seven seasons series in the “War & Peace” – lengthy story grouping, but not in the generational level group. | |
Final recommendation: This is a moderate to strong recommendation for an initial viewing (see caution later), a low to moderate for re-viewing in its entirety and a strong to highly for individual episodes (if you develop a favorite character or mini-story arc during your initial viewing). For me, 100-plus hours is almost certainly too long to spend re-watching the entire series. I purchased my “series-bundle copy” on steep discount ($30 as I recall), at which price this a bargain for entertainment value – even if only viewed once – $.25 per hour or $.20 per episode. One note of caution: there is the occasional swear word used at least once per season and there are repeated scenes of victims injuries (almost one per episode), so this is not appropriate for viewers under 12 years of age. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Press On |
Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This | |
2020 | AMA |
Still Shiny | |
2019 | Things That Go Bump In The Night |
Hoping I’m Careful | |
2018 | I Must Be Truly Wise |
2017 | My Sensei |
2016 | The Worst Sin |
2015 | Rules Of Thumb |
2014 | A Prayer |
Orange October (IX) – Giants Lose Game 2 In Bullpen Collapse | |
2013 | Complacent Reality |
2012 | Two-minute Sex |
Just Staring, Why? | |
2011 | A World Of Difference |
…A Decent Human Being Or A Successful President
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged #TrumpTheTraitor, Artist, Hubris, Larry Wall, Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes on October 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Hubris itself will not let you be an artist. | |
— Larry Wall | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Better To Lie, Get Rich And Destroy Your Country |
Love Is All There Is | |
2020 | You Remind Me Of Someone |
When I Grow Up I Want To… | |
2019 | Running History, But I Don’t Expect Many To Match It… |
It’s Probably Easier When You Live Alone | |
2018 | 25 Days Until The November Election |
Old And Young | |
2017 | Universal Soul Sounds |
2016 | Not Rivals |
2015 | Dead Sure |
2014 | Are You Educated? |
2013 | For Myself |
2012 | And When I’m Gone… |
2011 | Complete Conviction |
My Conservative View
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Control, Helping, Ken Blanchard, Leadership, Phil Hodges, Philosophy, Power, Quotes, Vision on June 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Leadership is not about power. It’s not about control; it’s about helping people live according to the vision. | |
— Ken Blanchard & Phil Hodges | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | My Conservative View |
2021 | Are We Getting Close To Uncertainty? |
How It Could Be | |
2020 | Two Loves |
A Short Count | |
2019 | Don’t Forget: Fire Burns |
2018 | Especially In The Middle East |
2017 | A Good Local |
2016 | Life Unlimited |
2015 | Still Trying |
2014 | Destiny, n. |
2013 | No Apologies |
2012 | Utterly Convinced |
2011 | A Key To Effectiveness |
Widening The Moat
Posted in Economics, Investing, Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Benjamin Franklin, Business Advice, Business Leadership, Charlie Munger, Philosophy, Quotes, Warren Buffett on April 16, 2022| 2 Comments »
Every day, in countless ways, the competitive position of each of our businesses grows either weaker or stronger. If we are delighting customers, eliminating unnecessary costs and improving our products and services, we gain strength. But if we treat customers with indifference or tolerate bloat, our businesses will wither. On a daily basis, the effects of our actions are imperceptible; cumulatively, though, their consequences are enormous. | |
When our long-term competitive position improves as a result of these almost unnoticeable actions, we describe the phenomenon as “widening the moat.” And doing that is essential if we are to have the kind of business we want a decade or two from now. We always, of course, hope to earn more money in the short-term. But when short-term and long-term conflict, widening the moat must take precedence. If a management makes bad decisions in order to hit short-term earnings targets, and consequently gets behind the eight-ball in terms of costs, customer satisfaction or brand strength, no amount of subsequent brilliance will overcome the damage that has been inflicted. Take a look at the dilemmas of managers in the auto and airline industries today as they struggle with the huge problems handed them by their predecessors. Charlie [Munger] is fond of quoting Ben Franklin’s “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” But sometimes no amount of cure will overcome the mistakes of the past. | |
— Warren Buffett | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | Widening The Moat |
2021 | Core Strength |
Thinking Of You | |
2020 | Rising Danger |
210 Day Health / Weight Update (Apr 2020) | |
2019 | Never Let ‘Em See You Sweat |
2018 | Just Two? |
2017 | Living Without Love |
Good News! | |
2016 | At This Moment |
2015 | Still Dreaming |
2014 | Good Wins |
2013 | Before |
2012 | Look To This Day |
2011 | One View Of Man |
Putin’s Objective In Ukraine?
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Leadership, Management By Objective, Peter Drucker, Philosophy, Quotes, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin on March 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Management by objective works – if you know the objectives. Ninety percent of the time you don’t. | |
— Peter Drucker | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | Putin’s Objective In Ukraine? |
2021 | It’s 12 O’clock Somewhere |
The Way It Is | |
2020 | And #IncompetentDonald Weakens It |
2019 | Morning Mirror |
2018 | Wondering About #45 |
2017 | A Prayer For London |
2016 | Don’t Default |
2015 | Her Pilgrim Soul |
2014 | Three Observations |
2013 | Robbed Again |
2012 | Good Hearts |
2011 | Interesting Reading |
What Are You Lookin’ At? | |
Against Considerable Odds
Posted in History, Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Afghanistan, Favorable Defense Ratio, General Sir John Hackett (Ret.), History, Military Conflict, Military Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, Russia, The Third World War: A Future History, Ukraine on March 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Colonels and generals are expected to fight moving, active battles, always seeking an advantage from the use of terrain, surprise and mobility. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Generals are expected to concentrate defending forces in front of the main thrusts of the enemy so that the fighting troops do not have to meet a greater ratio of strength against them than three or four to one. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The captains and their troops have learned that modern weapons in the defense can and should inflict losses on an attacker, in comparison to their own, of well over three to one. They have learned, in short, that a successful defense against considerable odds is possible. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
— General Sir John Hackett (Ret.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From his book: “The Third World War: A Future History“ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The book was “written” by General Hackett and “others” and purported to be a “future history” of a war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The “war” ends following a limited tactical nuclear exchange which leads to a revolution in Russia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[With the delays in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, much has been said about the failure to overwhelm the militarily over-matched defenders. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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What isn’t clear to me is how many of Russia’s forces are actually “in theater” and committed to the invasion. The numbers I’ve seen indicate approximately “200,000” Russians were gathered for the invasion. This is (again approximately) 25% of Russia’s forces. If we assume a similar ratio across the board for other assets, the numbers are far less indicative of an assured success for the invasion. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In military theory, it is almost a given that the attacker needs a six-to-one superiority in order to have a reasonable “guarantee” of success against a prepared defense. (This is why you concentrate forces at breakout / breakthrough points.) Three-to-one superiority is considered the bare minimum to have a reasonable “expectation” of success. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Based on the above numbers, the “only” Russian advantage is in attack aircraft (29 vs 185). This is an even greater advantage than just the numbers indicate as attack aircraft serve as force multipliers for both your tanks and your ground forces. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IMHO this invasion will succeed or fail based on three factors: logistics, will and geography. If the Russian forces can maintain their supply of fuel and ammunition, they will have the advantage in a war of attrition. If Ukraine can maintain their will to fight in the face of both heavy civilian losses and questionable munitions resupply from other countries, they will make the war / occupation unsustainable for Russia. Finally, we should recall Russia invaded and then dominated Afghanistan for almost twenty years before finally being driven out. Afghanistan is roughly the size of Texas. Texas is only about 10-15% larger than Ukraine. There is a vast amount of land to hide in and fight from IF you have the will to do so. So far, the Ukraine people have shown the will… | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Of course, all of this assumes Russia does not choose a tactical nuclear option… — kmab] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On This Day In: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022 | Against Considerable Odds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2021 | Only 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Just A Hopeless Case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | What We Know About Ourselves | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2019 | But It Feels Dirtier Lately | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018 | I Remember Some More Than Others | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2017 | Creating Reality | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2016 | Come, Read To Me Some Poem | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | Exceeding Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | Still Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hospitality | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 | Execution Not Intensity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 | Charles Carroll Of Carrollton (The Only Catholic Founder) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 | Life Works | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pay Like Hell | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prosperity Finds Its Way Up | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Do People Know What You Stand For?
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Ethics, Leadership, Mary H. Waldrip, Philosophy, Quotes, Standing Up on February 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »
It’s important that people should know what you stand for. It’s equally important that they know what you won’t stand for. | |
— Mary H. Waldrip | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | Do People Know What You Stand For? |
2021 | The Republican Party Can Survive Trumpism (If It Wants To) |
Don’t You Ever Ask Them Why | |
2020 | Art Work |
One Person (Republican) Can Make A Majority | |
2019 | Hopefully, Closer To Noon |
Can You See The Bottom? | |
2018 | Stock Market Sets Another Record Under #DumbDonald |
#LyingDonald: About That Special Prosecutor Testimony | |
2017 | We Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet |
2016 | But You Have To Learn It Feels Good |
2015 | Never Stop |
2014 | Caution |
2013 | Treat Her Like A Lady |
2012 | Build New Worlds |
2011 | I Grok Elegance |
Standing Relish | |
Biden Starts His Second Year
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Aristotle, Leadership, On Doing What's Right, Philosophy, Politics, Popularity, President Joseph Biden, Quotes on January 20, 2022| 2 Comments »
The high-minded man must care more for what is right than for what people think. | |
— Aristotle | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | Biden Starts His Second Year |
2021 | DIY: Outdoor Gym Modifications (2) |
Inauguration Day 2021 | |
(Hopefully) Good-Bye To The Trump Dark Ages | |
2020 | Posting As A Continual Exercise |
2019 | Border Security – Yes, Border Wall – No |
2018 | Supporting Survival Values |
2017 | Inauguration Day 2017 [Sometimes, I hate it when I’m right! — kmab] |
2016 | Or A Pot Of Gold After The Storm |
2015 | One, Two, Three… |
2014 | Lend Your Hand |
2013 | Amnesty, n. |
2012 | Best Resolv’d |
The Clock Is Running | |
2011 | Magic |
Yo-yo Management
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Business Management, Philosophy, Quotes, Warren Buffett, Yo-yo Management on January 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
We neither understand the adding of unneeded people or activities because profits are booming, nor the cutting of essential people or activities because profitability is shrinking. That kind of yo-yo approach is neither business-like nor humane. | |
— Warren Buffett | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | Yo-yo Management |
2021 | DIY: Outdoor Gym Modifications |
First Hammock Hang Of 2021 | |
Slow Moving Trains And Squirrels | |
Just Chillin’… Why? | |
2020 | Still Crazy After All These Years… |
2019 | 20 / 20 Foresight |
He Knew Damned Well… | |
2018 | Be Someone’s Kindling |
2017 | When The Moment Comes |
2016 | Changed Clothes Lately? |
2015 | Like Stone |
2014 | Resistance Is Futile |
2013 | Subtle Humor |
To Look Behind Green Eyes | |
2012 | The Path Is Endless |
2011 | Happy MLK, Jr Day!!! |
A Factor Of Ten | |
Better Late Than Never? | |
Whoops! | |
Acceptable Beginnings | |
Slow Progress | |
Useful Confrontation | |
When Phenomena Are Different | |
Creative Avoidance | |
Thinking | |
Fast And Flexible | |
Surrender Certainty | |
Techniques | |
Vive La Difference | |
Destiny | |
Completeness | |
Art | |
Memorial Day 2022
Posted in General Comments, History, Leadership, Pictures, tagged Arlington National Cemetery, General Comments, History, Leadership, Memorial Day -- 2022, National Holidays, Pictures, Sacrifice, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Thoughts And Prayers on May 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Arlington National Cemetery
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
enjoying the freedom you sacrificed your lives to provide for us,
a grateful nation
remembers
and prays for you and your families…
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