Over twenty years ago I served on a committee appointed by the Catholic Bishop of Idaho and Chaired by Sister Patricia Mulvaney whose purpose was to “decentralize the corporate soul” of the Bishop of Idaho, replacing the property rights—and legal liability from the Bishop to the local Parishes and in one case Bishop Kelly High […]
In any organization, but I believe especially in government, there is always a tension between “good intentions” and competence. We all want to live in a utopian world. We want to live a humanistic existence where there are no consequences to bad decisions. Responsibility and accountability are hidden behind political philosophical agendas that have almost […]
I was a scout team player on the 1969 Wittenberg Tiger football team. That team won the first NCAA National Championship Football game ever played. Though it was a division 3 team we had some very Big Time Players that could have played anywhere in the country. One of them was Wes Bates the founder […]
I have been enlightened and energized over the past 6 months as our Preserve Plantation Neighborhood organization has become engaged in the effort to stop 750 single family homes (the vast majority high-density apartment units reaching heights of 65-feet in 4 plus story buildings) from being built on 22.5 acres of our legacy golf course. If approved […]
The most informative page— (A-5), in the Weekend Wall Street Journal today is an advertisement. It starts off with a well-known quote from Alexander Fraser a Scottish Professor at Edinburgh in 1887: “A democracy is always temporary in nature. It simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government (we are a Republic—jl). Democracies will […]
My wife and I have been members of The River Club, formerly The Plantation Country Club, for 32 years. Twelve years ago, our dream of owning a home in The Plantation subdivision came true. We moved into our home on the 12th fairway of the golf course at the end of the Fair Oaks cul-de-sac, […]
An incredible story came out of my hometown of Columbus Ohio this morning. One of the great “non-major” golf tournaments played on one of the greatest golf courses in the world—Muirfield Village was the scene where Victor Hovland won the tournament on the 73rd hole (overtime). His paycheck was $3.6 million. I have had the […]
One of the things I learned early in the military was that decision makers—Generals and Admirals, are only as good as the information they use as a predicate for their actions and decisions. The good ones understand the “power of information”, but most importantly the power of information in controlling a narrative. The bad ones—and […]
I want to write something a little different this week and I hope it is uplifting and maybe even inspirational. When we listen and watch the news or even look at what is happening in our own neighborhoods, particularly in the realm of government, it is easy to get discouraged. We are fighting an out-of-state […]
When reason, morality, ethics, and the law are replaced with feelings and emotions; humanistic diaphanous solutions that never can stand the test of time replace sound policy and fill the void. Those willing to “sell their souls to the devil” will many times win in the short run—but not in the long run. When a […]
Two young men on an “Outward Bound” college vacation were dropped off in the middle of Montana at the edge of Yellowstone. One was a political science major who had applied to several Ivy League law schools and as a backup plan scheduled himself to go to sociology grad school. Work was not on the […]
I finally got around to reading the John Durham CROSSFIRE HURRICANE conclusions after reading through 350 pages that would make anyone’s skin crawl. Idaho’s Frank Church is rolling over in his grave and if you can listen closely in a peaceful and quiet place you can hear his voice softly saying, “I told you so.” […]