A Jeffersonian Review: The Pragmatic Prophet

Many will have seen this already, but it is so worthy of sharing I felt compelled to put it out there again. Be sure to read the quotes at the bottom from Jefferson himslef, and take a moment to reflect upon how the state of our nation today makes a brilliant case for the clarity of Thomas Jefferson's vision.

Jefferson the Scholar:

Jefferson was a remarkable man who began his learning very early in life and never stopped. 

• At 5, he began studying under his cousins' tutor.
• At 9, he studied Latin, Greek and French.
• At 14, he studied classical literature and additional languages.
• At 16, he entered the  College of William  and Mary.
• At 19, he studied Law for 5 years, starting under George Wythe.
• At 23, he started his own law practice.
• At 25, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
• At 31, he wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America " and retired from his law practice.
• At 32, he was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
• At 33,he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
• At 33, he took three years to revise Virginia 's legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom
• At 36, he was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
• At 40, he served in Congress for two years.
• At 41, he was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.
• At 46, he served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
• At 53, he served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
• At 55,he drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
• At 57, he was elected the third president of the United States .
• At 60, he obtained the Louisiana Purchase , doubling the nation's size.
• At 61, he was elected to a second term as President.
• At 65, he retired to Monticello .
• At 80, he helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
• At 81, he almost singlehandedly created the University of
• Virginia and served as its first president.
• At 83, he died, on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams

  

JFK on Jefferson:

John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement:

"This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

Jefferson the Visionary:

Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself had studied the previously failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, God's laws, and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today. His is a voice from the past to lead us into the future.

"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe , we shall become as corrupt as Europe."

   

 "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes, a principle which if acted on, would save one-half the wars of the world."

  

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

    

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."
   
"No free man shall ever be deprived the use of arms."
   
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
   
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
   
"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."  
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Taliban & Al Qaeda Memo:

Subject: Urgent Strategy Update

Audience: All Middle Eastern Terror Operatives

Effective immediately, all employees and support staffers are asked to take their remaining PTO (Personal Time Off) between now and the end of the infidel's calendar year. Leadership also demands you to finish chores related local poppy crops in order to ensure that element of the organizational funding model is ready for the updated plans now being shaped for 2012 (infidel's calendar).

If you are currently working in our Afghanistan or Pakistan regional offices, please also stop by your local relocation hut and start looking for new accommodations in the soon to be revitalized Iraqi business unit.

Go now and spend your down time wisely, so that we may reconvene in 150 days with the business of forcing our screwed up vision of the world on others through violent and deplorable actions. Also, please keep close watch over your thumb drives, and an eye on your  inboxes for the new annual report and announcements relating to plans for whipping more women who try to learn, vote or drive.

Sincerely,

Ali Isanazho

Regional VP

Life Explained

Life Explained

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village. A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took them to catch them.

"Not very long." they answered in unison.

"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children,and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. We have a full life."

The tourist interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?"

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."
"How long would that take?"

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friends, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

And the moral of this story is:

........ Know where you're going in life. You may already be there!!

Subject Mastery in Vietnam: Can Corporate Trainers Learn From This?

My cousin Kenny was a Blackhawk test pilot, and he recently sent me this very short story about a door gunner being quizzed by a General inspecting his unit about his weapon. As I read it I saw yet another example of how well the military trains to "mastery".

Here's the connection with this story: ADD/ADHD learners often have difficulty achieving subject mastery. We have a tendency to tackle (or not tackle) varied learning and development opportunities to Bloom's level 3, perhaps 4 (3. Application, 4. Analysis), but often move on to the next task, subject, distraction before ever mastering anything. At least that's what my own "data set" indicates. The following story raises questions about how we train in the corporate space:

1. Given that today's military, and specifically the Army in this example, is still very good at driving learners through the entire learning process to "mastery", what's the Army doing that can be applied to corporate training practices?
2. Is putting "teeth" into training and mandating compliance like the Army does part of becoming a "learning centric organization"?
3. Do your people know the tools and solutions they use in their jobs like Spc. Coomb's did?

The Man in the Doorway

Thinking back on how VERY much credit they TRULY deserved and how little we pilots actually gave them, I'm reminded of one particular day on which, at least in the eyes of one Army General Grade officer, our "Men in the Doorway" got a well-deserved "Atta'Boy."

On that particular day, elements of the UTT/68th/197th Armed Helicopter Company's 1st Platoon [ Playboys ] had been held back from tactical missions and told to "Set up a 'static display' for a visiting General." on our ramp [ Hotel 2 ] at the North side of Saigon's Tan Son
Nhut Air Base.

[ Then ] Captain Richard S. Jarrett directed the assigned crew to set up an Armed B-Model [ UH-1B ] Huey -- with a "Complete Spread" of ordnance, including the aircraft's full compliment of: 2.75" FFARs [Folding Fin Aerial Rockets]; four Mounted & two Hand-Held M-60 Machine Guns; one M-14 Rifle, with several magazines of 7.62mm ammo.; one M-79 Grenade Launcher, with several bandoleers of 40mm Grenade rounds, and 'Half a Bazillion" rounds of linked 7.62mm ammo. laid out on the tarmac in neat columns and rows.

I don't recall who the other Crewmen were but, when the General arrived, Specialist Coombs was standing at Attention, next to his door, with his M-60 at Port Arms.

Capt. Jarrett saluted and reported to the General and proceeded with giving him a "Standard, Visiting Fireman's" Walk-Around Briefing. As they came abreast of Spc. Coombs' position and Capt. Jarrett began describing a Crew Chief's duties, the General interrupted the briefing, addressed Spc. Coombs directly, pointed at his M-60 and, in a clearly sarcastic tone, asked "Son, ya' know how to use that damned thing or do ya' just stand around holdin' it an' lookin' purty?"

Without missing a beat, Coombs boomed out, "SIR, this is my M-60, General Purpose, Seventeen point Five Pound, Air Cooled, Gas Operated, Belt Fed, Fully Automatic, Seven point Six Two millimeter Machine Gun. It has a Maximum Effective Range of Three Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Meters and a Cyclic Rate of Fire of Five Hundred and Fifty Rounds per Minute. It fires when I pull the trigger in the open-bolt position, at which time multiple things occur, both simultaneously and sequentially, including: with release and advancement of this bolt, a metal belt link is de-linked and ejected as the bolt simultaneously begins to chamber the de-linked round. This is immediately followed, sequentially, with operating rod and bolt advancement and initiation of the bolt's locking sequence. When the bolt is fully locked, the sear releases the firing pin which strikes the primer...as the projectile approaches the muzzle, a portion of the ignited powder's expanding gasses enter this gas port, actuating the Buffer and Operating Rod Group, compressing the Driving Spring and driving the Operating Rod to the rear, unlocking the bolt and..." all while, griping the M-60 by its Stock Group with his left hand, Coombs field strips the M-60 with his right hand [displaying each part for the General to view -- at the precise moment that he is making verbal reference to that part] and lays each part, in sequential order and "at Dress Right Dress" on his outstretched left forearm.

When the M-60 was fully disassembled, Coombs began reassembling it -- while continuing the staccato delivery of his spiel, deftly shifting its focus, ". ..As Crew Chief, my duty position is here in the left cargo compartment door. My Field of Fire extends from Three Five Niner Degrees to One Eight Zero Degrees, which is my Sector of Responsibility at all times. My instantaneously initiated, sustained and accurate application of Suppressive Fire is most critical at times when our aircraft is receiving hostile fire from my Sector of Responsibility and when my Aircraft Commander is making a "Right Break" from a Fire Mission, during which time my side of the aircraft is exposed to the Target Area..." and, as he snapped the Feed Tray Cover closed and returned to Port Arms, he wrapped-up his impromptu briefing with "...That concludes my formal presentation. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have, SIR!"

The General, mouth agape and slowly shaking his head and with a Deer in the Headlights" look of near-total disbelief at what he had just witnessed, looked to Capt. Jarrett and asked, "Damn Captain, are they ALL like that?"

In response to which, Capt. Jarrett leaned over and -- with his mouth near the General's ear, in a "Stage Whisper" that Coombs could evidently hear -- said, "Every F.....g one of them, General."