Pentagon Reveals New Strategy to Defeat Islamic State

   The Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu once stated: "All war is deception." What it actually implies is "you should never tell your enemies what your plans are." His philosophy on war is used time again by students and military professionals alike in The Art of War. Why then have our senior warriors posted a pending, major offensive for all the world to see against the Islamic State held city of Mosul, in Iraq, months in advance of the planned operation? Doesn't that fly in the face of Sun Tzu's adage?
     Or does it tell you something else?
     Deception is a tool our military has used time and time again. In World War Two, General Eisenhower deceived the German High Command the long anticipated invasion of Europe was focused on Calais--the shortest distance between England and France, and the most obvious choice. The Germans blinked. Of course, the allies didn't exactly put this in writing for the Germans. It was the positioning of dummy forces directly opposite Calais that did the trick. The German High Command must have thought the allies were dumb. Actually, it was the other way around. The Germans studied Sun Tzu as well. The invasion came in at Normandy, as most everyone knows.
    If this is the case, then the Pentagon can be forgiven.  But the way things have been going lately, I kind of have my doubts. I hope I'm wrong. If indeed the attack is to force itself on the Islamic State held city of Mosul, the enemy will have months to prepare its defenses including the thousand or so Humvee and assorted armored vehicles pilfered from Iraqi army bases and depots this past week.
    Pray for those who are about to die re-taking Mosul.

What's Wrong With Education?

Actually, nothing. I mean it. Depends on the context. Our teachers are getting paid well---though not enough. It isn't their fault students don't take their books home; it looks so stupid, really. You can't get a date if hot chick three houses down from you thinks you're a nerd. Parents for the most part either don't care enough to help their kids study, or they'd rather not get into it with their kids. Teachers today are nothing more than messengers. They recite what is scripted for them by so-called educated elites who may be elites but not educated. So don't kill the messenger. We know what methodology is. If you got it, you can teach almost anything. The problem is, the educated elites don't trust them enough to, well---allow them to teach. That's why classrooms are so boring. Instead of giving the students a dose of reality, maybe perhaps a brief history about the real world, current events, decision making, exercises in critical thinking maybe. Educated elites don't like that last item. Heck no! They don't want you to figure out what is best for you. They want the government to teach you how to think. They do this better than they govern. The dumbing down of the American constituency has been going on for some time: fifty years at least. You can't cook a frog by throwing it into boiling water; you put it in cold water and cook it slowly. You get the idea, I hope.

     Let me give you a few examples of what "dumbing down" has done to earn the name:

     1.- If you held up an outline of the United States with the states left in blank, very few could write in the    names of each state, including their own.

      2.- A co-worker of mine once argued he was English based on his surname. When I asked to see his British passport, he stated he didn't need one because he was born here in the United States.

       3.- That the Amazon River is located in Africa. "Then where is the Nile, if I may ask?" "In South America, of course," was the response.

     This dumbing down of American society does not exclude our elected officials. Even our president erred when he said there were 52 states.