More Hawkeyes in the NFL

QUOTE from Amy Tan: 'If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.'


Yesterday I started listing the Iowa Hawkeyes currently playing in the NFL. They have all been coached by Kirk Ferentz and his assistants. Here are 18 more.

7. Dallas Clark, Colts - 6-3, 252. Ninth-year tight end.
8. Adrian Clayborn, Bucs - 6-3, 287. Rookie defensive end.
9. Sean Considine, Panthers - 6-0, 212. Sixth-year defensive back.
10. Ryan Donohue, Lions - 6-3, 190. Rookie punter.
11. Bradley Fletcher - 6-0, 198. Third-year defensive back.
12. Robert Gallery, Seahawks - 6-7, 325. Eighth-year offensive guard.
13. Charles Godfrey, Panthers - 5-11, 205. Fourth-year cornerback.
14. Shonn Greene, Jets - 5-11, 226. Third-year running back.
15. Chad Greenway, Vikings - 6-2, 242. Sixth-year linebacker.
16. Jeremmiha Hunter, Saints - 6-0, 239. Rookie linebacker.
17. Nate Kaeding, Chargers - 6-0, 187. Eighth-year kicker.
18. Aaron Kampman, Jaguars - 6-4, 260. 10th-year defensive end.
19. Mitch King, Saints - 6-2, 282. Second-year defensive tackle.
20. Karl Klug, Titans - 6-3, 275. Rookie defensive tackle.
21. Matt Kroul, Jets - 6-3, 300. Third-year offensice/defensive tackle.
22. Bryan Mattison, Ravens - 6-3, 310. Third-year offensive lineman.
23. Tony Moeaki, Chiefs - 6-3, 252. Second-year tight end.
24. Brandon Myers, Raiders - 6-4, 250. Third-year tight end.

Tomorrow I will list the last 12. It's GREAT to be a HAWKEYE.


HUMOR for today:
One great thing I noticed about living by myself: All of my annoying habits seemed to have disappeared

Hawkeyes in the NFL - lots of them.

QUOTE from Tom Stoppard, writer: 'Look on every exit as being an entrance somewwhere else.'


Yesterday I wrote about Gopher and Viking football in Minnesota. Today I'm going to write about Hawkeye football. Head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes is Kirk Ferentz. Ferentzs' resume looks like this: former offensive line coach at Iowa in the 1980s under Hayden Fry; head coach at the University of Maine from 1989 to 1992; offensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens from 1992 to 1999; and head coach of the Hawkeyes from 1999 to the present.

With seven years of experience in the NFL Ferentz knows what it takes to play in the NFL. At the present time Ferentz has 33 players on NFL teams. He has had numerous others but they are no longer playing due to retirement or injury. In fact many NFL coaches call Ferentz to see what he recommends from his current crop of Hawkeye players. In some instances he calls them like he did with Marshall Yanda and the Ravens.

Today I'm going to start listing the 1911 Hawkeyes on NFL rosters.
1. Pat Angerer, Colts - 6-foot, 235-pound second-year linebacker.
2. Jonathon Babineaux, Falcons - 6-2, 296. Seventh-year defensive tackle.
3. Jason Baker, Panthers - 6-2, 205, 11th year punter.
4. Christian Ballard, Vikings - 6-4, 283, Rookie defensive tackle.
5. Bryan Bulaga - 6-5, 314. Second-year offensive lineman.
6. Scott Chandler Bills - 6-7, 268. Fourth-year tight end.

There will be more tomorrow.

HUMOR for today:

I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.

Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.



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Some thoughts on the Gopher and Viking fans from last weekend.

QUOTE: 'It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.'


As a former Minnesotan and a former Gopher fan and still a Viking fan I could feel the anguish Minnesotans went through laat weekend. I watched the Gopher-North Dakota football game Saturday night and could see right away the Gophers were going to be in a tough game. As it turned out the Gophers got beat 37 to 24.

Then on Sunday the Vikings were ahead of the Detroit Lions by a score of
20-0 at halftime. I knew the Vikings had blown a 17-7 lead in their first game and had blown a 17-0 lead in their second game. I was cheering for the Vikings but I knew what had happened in the first two games. In the back of my mind was 'Is this going to happen again?' Well, it happened again and the Vikings lost by a score of 34-31 in overtime.

I'm writing this because I remember how I felt growing up when the Gophers would lose. At that time I was a died-in-the-wool Gopher fan. I would feel terrible for several days when they lost. And then when the Vikings lost their third game in a row on Sunday I had flashbacks to my childhood. I was also thinking of brothers Chuck (Marlys), brother Don, brother Jim (Verleen), nephews Tim and Brett, and numerous other nieces, nephews, in-laws and high school friends. I could feel the anguish they were going through.

So I just want to offer some historical perspective on the situation and say there is hope. When Hayden Fry came to Iowa in 1979 he won five games. In 1980 he won three games. The third year, 1981, we tied for the Big Ten Championship and went to the Rose Bowl. When Kirk Ferentz replaced Fry in 1999 he won one game the first year, three games in 2000, seven games in 2001, (including a trip to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio), and in 2002 we were undefeated (8-0 record)and Big Ten Champs and played in the Orange Bowl. So my message for the Minnesota Gopher fans is have faith and hope - you now have a good coach in Jerry Kill and he has been successful wherever he's been. I predict that in 2-4 years he will have the Gophers turned around and playing in some good bowl games.

As far as the Vikings there are 13 games NFL games left in this season. But they better get their second half collapses figured out. I don't think they will be division champs but they will win over half their games.

The reason I like to study history is that I can always find something to offer persoective on the situation and make me feel better. So I offer the above words to my Gopher and Viking relatives and friends - things will get better.


HUMOR for today:

My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.

Some things I LEARNED from the latest Reader's Digest.

QUOTE - an American proverb: 'After a rich man gets rich, his next ambition is to get richer.'


I've been reading the October, 2011, issue of The Reader's Digest and found some interesting bits of information.

1. First I LEARNED that in 2010 the median pay of U.S. CEO's rose 23%. The median pay is now $10.8 million annually (266 times the average U.S. income). (It didn't used to be this way. CEO pay has gone wild since the 1980s.)

2. This phrase of the month really made me think about what is happening in the U.S. It was written by a man named David Leonhardt of the New York Times. Mr. Leonhardt said: The expectation that the United States can support the world's highest medical costs, its largesy military, and an aging population with taxes that are among the world's lowest is what economists call 'a free lunch.'

3. And then Dave Barry had this to say: 'If you had to identify, in one word, the reason the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be MEETINGS.'
(I agree, I would like to have kept track of how many meetings I went to in my career as a teacher and at church, and in politics and.... When I retired from teaching in 1999 I vowed to never go to another meeting the rest of my life. I've pretty much fulfilled that vow.)

HUMOR for today from the Digest:

I have an 18-year-old; her name is Alexis. I chose that name because if I hadn't had her, I'd be driving one.

I was diagnosed with antisocial behavior, so I joined a support group. We never meet.

Why does Major League Baseball have the Cy Young award?

QUOTE from Leo Durocher: "Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand."

When reading the TODAY IN HISTORY section of the morning newspaper I noticed that on this day, September 22, 1911, Cy Young won his 511th and final career victory as he hurled a 1-0 shutout for the Boston Rustlers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at old Forbes Field. Today, every year the Cy Young Award goes to the top pitcher in each league. I wanted to LEARN today how and/or why Cy Young come to be honored this way?

Denton True "Cy" Young was born in Gilmore, Ohio, on March 29, 1867. He died on November 4, 1955. Young won 511 games in his 22 year career (1890 to 1911). That was more wins than any other pitcher in major league history. He also lost more games (313) than any other pitcher.

He set numerous records: most complete games (750), most innings pitched (7,356), and most consecutive hitless innings pitched (23). Young accumulated his incredible victory record in the era before relief pitching reached its present-day inportance; his record is therefore considered unattainable for modern pitchers. In recognition of his achievment, the award annually given to the best pitcher in each league is named for him. Young was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.

His 511 wins averages out to 23 wins a season and his 313 losses averages out to 14 losses a season. His 7,356 innings pitched averages out to 334 innings pitched per season. His 750 complete games averages out to 34 complete games a season. Can you imagine a modern day pitcher even completing 1 to 5 games a season? And I don't think managers or the pitchers were concerned about pitch count in those days.

So now I know a little more about Cy Young, the Cy Young Award, and major league baseball - one of my two favorite spectator sports.

HUMOR for today: CHILDREN ARE QUICK.

Teacher: Whay are you late?
Peter: Class started before I got here.

Teacher: Peter, go to the map and find North America>
Peter: Here it is.
Teacher: Correct, now class, who doscovered America?
Class: Peter.

Teacher: Peter, why are you doing your math multiplicatio on the floor?
Peter: You told me to do without using tables.

Teacher: Peter, give me a sentence starting with 'I'.
Peter: I is...
Teacher: No, Peter.... Always say, 'I am.'
Peter: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'

Teacher: Peter, your composition on my 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's.. Did you copy his?
Peter: No. It's the same dog.

The U.S. health care system is based on income. not need.

QUOTE from Mother Teresa: "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."


LEARNING about the American health care system. In last week's newspaper there was a Guest Column by a man named Tom Walsh. Tom has been a medical and science writer for nearly 40 years. He formally wrote for the Cedar Rapids Gazette but now lives in Maine. His column was a learning experience for me in regard to the American health care system. Here is what he had to say.

The sad but true reality is that health care in America is rationed not by medical needs, but by income.
Those with means have access to care at a minimal cost, because of their eligibility for or ability to afford health insurance, while those who subsist on minimum wages with no health insurance fend for themselves, often forsaking preventive care due to the substantial involved costs.
He told the story of the lady who cleans his house. She also works as a "stern man" on a lobster boat, removing lobsters from traps and re-baiting the traps for resetting. Betty has a live-in boyfriend. He is a carpenter and finds work sporadically. Both earn minimum wage, and neither has health insurance.
Betty discovered a few months ago she was pregnant in an unplanned sort of way. Without health insurance, having the the baby, given prenatal care and delivery costs, would cost at least $20,000. A premature baby might run $40,000. Betty's other option was an abortion that would cost $600. She decided she wouldn't give up the baby. She said, "I know I'll be paying the hospital $100 a month the rest of my life, but that's okay. I want this baby."
It's regrettable that America has such a dysfunctual health care delivery system that women without means are put in this position.
Ironically, if Betty lived a 100 miles up the road, in New Brunswick, Canada, the cost of having a baby, premature or not, would be $0.00. That would also be the cost of an abortion.
Clearly, she would be paying higher income taxes for that medical care entitlement, but she wouldn't find herself in debt for years.
Every health care delivery system rations care. In the U.S. it's rationed by income.
In Canada it's rationed by waiting times, although those with life-threatening needs go to the front of the medical care queue.
Meanwhile, even Americans of means are forced to endure a health care delivery system that reflects dismal results in terms of outcome, including infant mortality.
Compared with five other developed nations - Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom - the U.S. health care system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high-performance health system: QUALITY, ACCESS, EFFICIENCY, EQUITY, and HEALTHY LIVES.
The U.S. is the only country among these six nations without universal health insurance coverage.
It seems clear that the only way to survive the American health care system, both physically and financially, is to do everything you can to stay out of it.

(Mr. Walsh produced a 10-part series on the Canadian health care system that won national and state awards. If you want to make a comment to Tom Walsh go to his website: tom.walsh@jax.org)

This column was an eye-opener for me. What I do not understand about some people in this country is why thay are so opposed to universal health care but then when they turn 65 they gladly sign up for Medicare and feel it is wonderful. For some reason they think Medicare is not government run health care. How stupid can you be??????

HUMOR for today:

Teacher: Peter, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested.
Peter: A teacher.

Teacher: Peter, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
Peter: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L
Teacher: No, it's wrong
Peter: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

Mr. Rice, it's more fun to win than play a good game and lose.

QUOTE from Grantland Rice: "It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."

I'm going to have to disagree with the above quote by Grantland Rice. Two days ago the Iowa Hawkeyes played the University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh dominated the first 41 minutes and 49 seconds of the game. They were leading by a score of 24-3 when the Hawks finally scored a touchdown on a one yard run by quarterback James Vandenberg with 1:16 left in the third to make it 24-10. Then Pitt kicked a field goal with 12:09 left in the fourth quarter to make it 27-10. At this point the Hawkeyes went to a no-huddle offense and took off in the greatest comeback in Iowa football history.

At the 9:55 mark Vandenberg threw a 14 yard pass to Keenan Davis to make it 27-17. We held and got the ball. At the 6:19 mark Vandenderg threw a 25 yard to Martin-Manley to make it 27-24. We held and got the ball again. Then Vandenberg threw a 22 yard pass to Martin-Manley at the 2:51 mark and the Hawks were leading 31-27. AT THIS POINT THE 70,000 IOWA FANS IN KINNICK STADIUM ERUPTED IN UTTER JOY. THE CHEERING WAS EVEN LOUDER WHEN MYCAH HYDE INTERCEPTED A PITT PASS AT THE 1:41 MARK. At that point all we had to do was run out the clock.

HAWKS WIN 31-27. It was the greatest comeback in Hawkeye football history. Up to this point the greatest comeback was when the 1949 Hawkeyes fell behind Oregon 24-6 with 2:30 left in the third quarter and ended up winning 34-31.

Now getting back to the QUOTE. There is no doubt it is a lot more fun to win. I can assure you I did not feel very good last week when Iowa State beat us in triple overtime. Even if Iowa had played a better game I still wouldn't have been a happy camper.

HUMOR for today is a quote from Erma Bombeck: "If a man watches three football games in a row he should be declared leglly dead."

I should be dead. On Saturday I watched 3-4 games and on Sunday I watched three more.

A great memory of my Mother.

QUOTE from The Talmud: "God could not be everywhere, so therefore he made mothers."


Today I went back and read the introduction to my BLOG, I wrote it on November 23, 2010. In my introduction I expained the reasons for starting my BLOG at age 70. After writing three books I decided to try something different and a BLOG appealed to me as "the something different." My niece Jane in Wisconsin is the one who planted the seed in my mind to give it a try. When I told Brad and Carron what I was thinking about they also encouraged me to go for it.

In the introduction I identified six topics I wanted to write about. My goal was to make it something POSITIVE. Those six topics were:
1. At age 70 I wanted to keep learning new things and tell what I LEARNED.
2. I wanted to show I still have a good sense of HUMOR by including a joke or something funny in each post.
3. I would include a QUOTE to make me think and reflect.
4. I wanted to include some of the people who and things that have enhanced and inspired me during my seventy years.
5. I wanted to write about some of the good memories I have.
6. And I would include some of the ways I have brightened someone else's day or vice-versa.

I know I've BLOGGED more about what I've LEARNED than any of the other five topics. So today I'll do something different and write about a great memory I have of my Mother.

Mother died at the Martin Luther Nursing Home in Bloomington, Minnesota, on November 20, 1991. It is easy for me to remember because that happens to be my birthday - I was 51 that day. (Eleven years later my mother-in-law died on November 17th, 2002 and was buried on November 20, my 62nd birthday). I don't think there are many people on this planet who can say that their Mother died on their birthday and their Mother-in-law was buried on their birthday. So the message is for those reading this, "Don't be around Pete Bungum on November 20th, you'll either die or be buried." However, this is not the memory I want to write about.

The good memory happened about five years before her death. I had driven from Anamosa to Bloomington to stay with sister Jan and husband Don. I was able to visit Mom several times and it also allowed Jan to get a little break from visiting Mom every day.

So the GOOD MEMORY is: While visiting Mom one day the converstion was getting a little slow so I tried a new approach. I asked Mom, "What did you and Dad do on your first date?"
Mom looked me straight in the eye and said, "Peter, it is none of your business."

I was laughing so hard I about lost it. Then she got this nasty grin on her face and I felt like I could read her mind. She was telling me, "I guess I showed you." I didn't pursue her first date any further as it was obviously top secret.

This is one of the absolute best memories I have of my Mother. I've told it to hundreds of people and I laugh every time I tell it.

HUMOR for today:
Teacher: Now, Peter, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?

Peter: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.

A call for America to change course since the 9/11 attacks.

QUOTE from LaVerne Schueller: "What I saw in those two days amid the carnage and destruction was courage, dedication, bravery, selflessness, sacrifice, unity, real love, honor, and a host of the best the human spirit has to offer."

The quote comes from a chaplain who, along with several other military chaplains, assisted with the wounded and ministered to all those volunteers who needed or wanted counseling at the Pentagon on 9/11 and 9/12. His name is LaVerne Schuller and he was a military chaplain for 26 years, retiring in 2003. He retired to Cedar Rapids and is now a community volunteer.

But what got my attention was what he went on to say about the course our country has taken. These are his words.

The course our country has taken since that day is the antithesis of what I experienced. Our civilian leaders sent our military into two different wars. America is not at war. Our military is at war.

Our leaders could have seized the moment of 9/11 and asked our citizens to sacrifice to fund the war effort. No such sacrifice has ever been asked. We expect sacrifice from our military, but the citizenry at large shuns it.

Instead, we get the "cheap grace" patriotism of attaching flags and bumper stickers and magnets to our cars. We are bombarded by blowhard talk-show hosts who have never donned a military uniform in service of their country, yet presume to define partiotism. We have corporations making billions in profits and paying no taxes to support the military from which they benefit.

My military career spanned 26 years. Never once in that span did I meet the son or daughter of a rich man or woman serving in the military. The sons and daughters of the poor and middle class fight and die for us. The VERY FEW carry the burden for the many.

Our country is hopelessly polarized. It is time to require a two-year national service from everyone. It doesn't necessarily have to be in the military. Such national service would provide a common ground to perhaps bridge the divide. It also would get everyone involved for the betterment of our country. We would then not have the inverted pyramid of the masses standing on the shoulders and backs of the very few.

And the 9/11 dead will not have died in vain.

I couldn't agree more - he hit it right on the head. I might add that we were also not expected to pay for the prescription drug plan passed in 2003 and implemented in 2006. The two wars and the prescription plan went on the credit card and America is seeing the results.


HUMOR for today comes from a forward on the internet.

Tescher: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
Donald: H I J K L M N O
Teacher" What are you talking about?
Donald: Yesterday you said it's H to O.

A former student was a victim of 9/11

QUOTE from Benjamin Franklin: "If men are so wicked with religion what would they be without it?"

As 9/11 approaches my mind goes back to 1990. In my classroom was a good looking smart kid named Craig Amundson. I guess you never know what your destiny/fate will be in life but unfortunately for Craig he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, thanks to Osama bin Ladin. On the morning of 9/11/01 Craig was in the U.S. Army, working in the Pentagon as a multimedia illustrator for the Deputy Chief of Staff Personnel in the U.S. Army. My hope is that Craig's death was instant instead of being burned to death when the plane exploded into flames as it hit the Pentagon.

Crain Amundson's name rests in memory on the east side of the courthouse in Anamosa.

HUMOR for today:

A teacher asks asked her students to use the word fascinate in a sentence. Mary said she went to the N.Y. City zoo and saw all the animals and it was fascinating. Teacher said that was good but she wanted her to use fascinate.
Sally said she went to the zoo also and she was fascinated. Teach said that is good Sally but I still want somebody to use the word fascinate.

Little Johnny raised his hand. The teacher hesitated to call on Johnny because he was noted for his bad language. She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word "fascinate" so she called on him.

Johnny said, "My sister has a sweater with 10 buttons, but her boobs are so big she can only fasten 8."

Why the Muslim extremists hate us?

QUOTE from George Bernard Shaw: "Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated."

I'm a contributing memeber to "The Southern Poverty Law Center" located in Montgomery, Alabama. The center is a watchdog organiztion which identifies and studies the various extremists and hate groups in the U.S. Four times a year I get their INTELLIGENCE REPORT magazine - it is very enlightling but also very scary.

The fall issue of the magazine zeroed in on ten of the most militant extremist Muslin radicals in the U.S. These ten are some scary people and want to cause mayhem and death to as many Americans as they can. What I looked for in reading all ten articles is WHY do they hate us so much? Here is what I LEARNED.

1. Probably #1 reason for their hatred is our support of the nation of Israel. All ten are violently anti-Jewish and would wipe Israel off the map and kill every Jew if they could.

2. Another leading cause of their hatred is our invasion of Iraq in 2003.
And then when the Abu Ghraib prison tortures of Muslims was made public in 2004 a lot of fuel was added to their hatred of the U.S.

3. Some of the other reasons I picked up were the refusal to let them build an Islamic mosque in New York City. And when Pastor Terry Jones burned a Koran in his small Gainsville, Fla., church that was more fuel. And outright bullying, intimidation, and harassment of innocent Muslims living in the U.S. has added more fuel.

4. Another reason is simply the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. To them this is the land of the Arab Muslims and America has absolutely no business being there.

The hatred toward the U.S. expressed by these ten is so total that if they had their way they would destroy us. I do not expect we will see another 9/11 but there will be violence inside our borders and death to AMERICANS at some time in the near future. We can be grateful for the great job the FBI has done so far in stopping these but just wait......
HUMOR for today: "Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant."

It's GREAT to be a Hawkeye but you gotta be tough.

QUOTE from Dan Gable, the famous wrestler at Iowa State, in the Olympics in 1972 and legendary wrestling coach at Iowa from the 1970s to the 1990s:
"Once you've wrestled, everything else in life is easy."


Our son Brad came home last Friday night so we could go to the Hawkeye-Tennessee Tech game on Saturday. He had flown from Copenhagen, Denmark to San Francisco the previous Monday to attend a business conference. Brad is what you call a died-in-the-wool Hawkeye fan and and for reason just manages to get to Anamosa 3-4 times each fall to attend Hawk games.

Even though the forecast was for an 80% chance of heavy rain he and I went anyway. The weather forecast was right on. We got to the parking lot at 9 AM and by 10:30 the rain started. We got our rain gear on and headed for the stadium. When I sat down I moved my toes and it felt like I had a half inch of water in my shoes. It rained most of the first quarter then let up and even stopped for most of the second quarter. BUT during halftime it the rain started bigtime again with the wind blowing 20-25 mph. By the middle of the third quarter the fans started exiting the stadium. Finally, with about five minutes left in the third quarter I told Brad I'm leaving and I'd listen to the rest on the radio. The Hawks were ahead 34-0 anyway so I just wanted to get warm in the car and get out of the downpour.

In the car I heard Gary Dolphin announce that the stadium was ordered to be evacuated immediately and the players were to go to the locker room. The danger was the lightning. There was about 3-4 minutes left in the third quarter. Shortly thereafter I was joined in the car by Brad. He said that it would only be a half hour delay and then the game would resume and he was going back to watch the rest of it. The NCAA rule is if there is lightning in the area the game must be delayed by a half hour. If lightning is spotted again at 29 minutes the game will be delayed another half hour. Well, that is what happened - the game was delayed about an hour and twenty minutes. In the final quarter only about 2,000 fans went back in, the game started with 65,000.

After the second delay Brad was ready to go. When we got home it was still pouring down rain. We didn't unpack. I went in the bedroom and changed clothes. Every piece of clothing I had on was soaked. Even though I had raingear on the wind had blown so hard it came in through the front of my neck. Did warm dry clothes feel good.

Brad and I were part of a history making event as Kinnick Stadium had never been evacuated. It opened in 1929.

AS I said "It's great to be a HAWKEYE but you gotta be tough." Sixty five thousand Hawkeye fans proved that on Saturday, September, 3, 2011.

Leadership skills learned in the U.S. military.

QUOTE from Gelett Burgess: "If in the last few years you haven't discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead."

I LEARNED something very interesting while reading the August 19 edition of TIME. The front cover was entitled THE NEW GREATEST GENERATION. The article was about how young war veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are redefining leadership in America. The paragraph that struck me the most was how military officers are trained in making decisions.Here it is:

All officers in the U.S. military are trained to contruct an action plan for every mission. It consists of writing a five-paragraph memo. The inevitable militaty acronym for the five paragraphs is SMESC, and the mnemonic device is "Sargeant major eats sugar cookies." What are the five paragraphs? Here they are.

"S" stands for Situation: What's the problem?
"M" stands for Mission: What's our strategy for solving it?
"E" stands for Execution: What tactics are we going to use?
"S" stands for Support: What are the logistics; how many troops and what sort of equipment will we need?
"C" stands for Command: What other organizations (air strikes, aerial reconnaisance, Afghan security forces) will have to be involved.

To me this is interesting stuff. Many of these officers now are civilians and into leasdership roles outside the military and are using SMESC in making decisions. It appears to me that any person in a position of leadership can make use of SMESC.


HUMOR for today:
A third grade teacher had to leave her classroom for several minutes. When she returned the kids were in perfect order and it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

She was stunned and told the kids, "This is wonderful. But, please, tell me what came over you? Why are you so well behaved and quiet?"

Finally, Little Johnny spoke up and said, "Well, one time you said that if you ever came back and found us quiet, you would drop dead."