The Hunt: A Boykin's Perspective

Birds!  Is there anything else that matters?  They take up my entire day and I dream about them at night.  I don't know why but, there is just something about them that drives me crazy.  If you've never flared your nostrils, inhaled deeply and actually tasted the scent of a covey of quail, a gaudy rooster pheasant, chukars on a rock, or a ruffed grouse drumming log, you've yet to understand the meaning of life.  Luckily for me, I live with a funny looking two legged creature that shares my passion.  Sure, he seems slow at times, can't detect scent worth a darn and oftentimes misses with his double tubed bang stick however; he just as often nails what I've flushed and then I have the honor of rushing forward and searching it out and bringing it back to him.  He always takes it from me but it doesn't really bother me.  I mean think about it, since I do all of the work, the least he could do is carry my treasures for me so I can get back to work.  A new season has finally arrived!

My buddy came back last Friday evening from wherever he disappears to five times each week.  He never takes me with him but that's alright since I've got three crazy cats to annoy and I can always bug the other long haired human who lives with us.  She's funny.  She gets grumpy when I lay on her and wake her up but she's always ready to join me in a game of, "lets spread all of my toys around the house".  Sorry, I got off track (It's a Spaniel thing.) but, when he came home last Friday, I noticed that something was different.  He was getting our Jeep ready for something.  Now, I became really curious.  What was he doing?  Did it involve me?  Finally, yessss!  Out came the shotgun and that cool whistle.  I love that whistle!  It makes for a great game.  One blast means I get to sit, two blasts given in consort with weird looking waving of his arms mean I get to run off in the direction that he's waving.  A quick trill means I get to race back to my pal for some goofy gibberish (he talks a lot.), some ear rubbing, and oftentimes a cool draught of water.  Anyhow, he loaded the Jeep while I impatiently watched him from my front seat and then he really got me going!  He went to sleep! What? We're going hunting, not sleeping!  Oh well, you know what they say; "When in Rome".

The alarm went off at 3:30AM.  Woohoo, I love mornings!  He made his coffee, showered and then we loaded into the Jeep and were off on a new adventure.  I thought the ride would never end.  It took us almost three hours to reach the E.E. Wilson State Wildlife Area outside of Corvallis, Oregon.  Thankfully he stopped at a McDonald's drive thru and bought me a sausage egg mcmuffin.  Unfortunately, I had to share it with him and he always eats more of it than me.  I sure wish he'd learn to share 50-50.  Ya, I know I'm not even 40 lbs and he's lots bigger than me but I always do the majority of the work so the way I see it, fair is fair.

We finally pulled into the parking lot and he made me patiently wait while he got ready to go.  For the life of me, I cannot understand why he always has to put on so much stuff.  Unless I put on my neoprene vest for cold water duck hunting, I'm always ready to go.  He finally let me out of the confines of our Jeep and I immediately checked out each bush in front of our vehicle.  I scent marked every bush!  I ended up saying "howdy" to three or four Brittanies, a few Labs, one or two German Shorthairs (they always trot like they think they're cool.), and one Brittany who left a slight French twinge to her mark.  I'll bet if I met her, she'd be snooty.  FINALLY, we were off!  Oh man, so much to smell and see!  Blackberry bushes, tamaracks, oak trees, vine maples, sunflowers, and lush grass.  I even found three mud holes to jump into.  Unfortunately for us, the pheasants seemed to have left town.  They must have heard that I was coming.  We ended up covering lots of ground.  Finally, in the early afternoon I struck gold!  I was cruising by some blackberry brambles when I had to slam on my brakes.  Whoa, wait a minute.  What was that?  Had I detected the faint scent of a quail or two?  I sniffed deeply and confirmed my suspicions.  Yes, QUAIL!  I dove headlong into the blackberry entanglement and out they flushed.  BOOM!  BOOM!  My buddy looked exultant.  He gave me two blasts to send me on my way.  Twenty minutes later, I was exhausted however; I'd found both birds in that thorny mess.  I don't know why he couldn't of helped me out and shot those two birds in some easy cover but, at least we'd finally met with success.  Thankfully, he poured water on me and brushed out all of the stickery stuff stuck in my fur.  After that, he took me to a large pool of cool water and let me soak in it until I felt ready to get going.  As it turns out, we ended up not taking any more birds but, I'm not worried since the season is young.  We've got four months of pure pleasure ahead of us and I'm sure my two legged pal is just as excited as I am to enjoy every minute of it!  Happy Hunting and don't forget to take the time to stop and sniff once in a while.

De Oppresso Liber

Tribute to a Warrior: MSG Danial "Slim" Adams

Yesterday, I had the solemn duty of attending a memorial service for a fallen brother in Clackamas, Oregon.  Master Sergeant Danial "Slim" Adams was killed in action on September 13th in Wardack Province, Afghanistan.  Slim was a team sergeant assigned to 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) based out of Stuttgart, Germany.  He has left a loving wife and three children behind.  Whenever a warrior falls, our nation suffers a great loss.  Though I never knew Slim in life, I have no doubt that we'll meet in the afterlife.  In fact, I'm sure he is prepping the Area of Operations for the arrival of us late jumpers.  It was an honor to memorialize his life and service to our country.

The memorial service was simple yet dignified.  It was attended by MSG Adams's parents, family members and friends from the Portland area, a representative from the governor's office, the command team from 10th SFG(A), approximately 50 Patriot Guard Riders, and members of Special Forces Association Chapter 47.  Colonel Deedrick, the commander of the 10th SFG(A), gave a moving speech and presented MSG Adams's parents with a shadow box containing the US flag and all of the awards and decorations earned by Slim during his military career.  At the very end of the ceremony, SFA Chapter 47 brought the parents and sister of MSG Adams into a private room where we'd set up a fallen comrade table in his honor, as well as, a table for his parents and sister facing the memorial table.  All of the active duty SF personnel were in attendance.  We solemnly passed single file by the wine table and secured our charged wine glasses.  After this, we formed a semi circle around the family and toasted MSG Adams's memory.  Once finished with the toast, we filed by and crushed our wine glasses so that they'd never be drunk from again.  Hopefully, we were able to provide his parents and sister with some insight into how important and dignified MSG Adams's service to his country, team mates, and Special Forces truly was.

In honor of MSG Adams's service, I  ask all Americans to solemnly read the following words and to take a quiet moment or two to think about what their significance means to you, your family, friends, community, and great nation.  They are: Compassion, Courage, Honor, Loyalty, Devotion, Integrity, and Selfless Service to a cause greater than self.  As I looked up into the starry sky last night, I'm sure that I saw MSG Adams up there encouraging us all to live life to the fullest, to do our best, and always to practice the Golden Rule.

De Oppresso Liber

President Obama and Leadership

It has been far too long since I've put pen to paper however; as with many of us, the doldrums created by President Obama's mediocre leadership has made it difficult to address the woes that our nation faces.  I spent four days last week on a high country solo backpack deer hunt in the Cascades of Central Oregon.  An adventure such as this provides one with long periods of quiet time.  These protracted moments are conducive for constructive thought and so, I was finally able to wrap my mind around something that has bothered me during the term of this presidency.  Though he may be likable, President Obama is an ineffectual leader.  I'm not really sure that he grasps the philosophical nuances of leadership and it's concurrent effect on those who choose to follow you.  Everybody knows that our nation, and the world for that matter, are suffering through difficult economic times.  Any student of American history also knows that no president has ever been able to directly impact the rise or fall of our economy however; their indirect influence can and has, had deleterious effects on the rate of economic growth.  Their body language, their daily activities, their tone of voice, and who they surround themselves with can, and does have a direct impact on the American populace.  In my view, President Obama has isolated himself on an island of ambivalence, and will remain ensnared there until he can escape the confines of his rigid ideology.

President Obama is now in full campaign mode for 2012.  His popularity on economic matters continues to decline and the Republicans are still waiting for a party standard bearer to appear.  To muddy the waters even more, Congress is about as popular as mosquitoes or wood ticks.  The extremes on either side of the political aisle remain vociferous while the middle ground remains disarmingly quiet.  The political arena is ripe for the appearance of a candidate with true leadership skills.  Why has Obama the Candidate, failed to transform into Obama the Leader?

Humans are gregarious creatures and all of us are willing to follow a leader particularly if the leader's interests parallel our own, they provide us with a sense of security, and their values closely resemble our own.  Nationally, we Americans present a philosophical conundrum.  We want a national leader however; we don't want them interfering in any significant manner in our daily lives.  A leader must try to get every individual in a given group to buy into what the leader has planned.  US Army Field Manual 22-6 defines leadership as, the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization.  Dictionary. com defines leadership as, 1. the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group. 2. ability to lead. 3. an act or instance of leading; guidance; direction. 4. the leaders of a group.  By now, all of us have heard President Obama proclaim on numerous occasions that he is ensnared in troubled times that were caused by his predecessors.  I don't know about you but, I've become fatigued by this incessant blame game.  I want to know what my leader is going to do and not have to listen to whining about how tough it is.

During my military career, I had the opportunity to take charge of two groups that were under achievers.  I was brought in to fix the problem.  I never became transfixed by the situation that I'd inherited.  Doing so would've solved nothing.  Initially, I sat back and let the group figure out who I was, watched the interactions within the group, identified the strengths and weaknesses of all the players, and then I developed a course of action to implement our goals. Finally, I got everyone in the group to buy into what we were about.  Notice my use of the plural pronoun, WE.  In order to be a successful leader, you must inculcate into the group a sense of WE.  You cannot tolerate an atmosphere of Us and Them.  It was equally important to maintain a sense of individuality for each member of the group while getting all of them to pull in the same direction.  Was I a great leader?  No.  I was an efficient leader because I operated outside of a sense of self.  President Obama's failure to exclude a sense of self from his leadership style is his greatest weakness.

Our Nation's ills effect all of us and it is a president's task to somehow involve all of the players on the field.  I seem to remember President Obama saying that he would rather have a single successful term than two mediocre ones.  If this is true, where are his daring attempts to involve all of the players on the field?  Instead, we all have had to endure his posturing to keep power.  Rather than being a leader, President Obama is a sycophant to his political ideology.  Our nation is now at a fork in the road.  It is time for us to follow the trail illuminated by Doers and turn our backs on the dimly lit path taken by Talkers.

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President Obama: The Election of 2012

I find it surprising that somehow, President Obama seems to avoid direct criticism for the current state of affairs in our country. It is amazing to me that people seem ambivalent to the ineffectual nature of his administration. Granted, he is a likable man however; what does this have to do with his track record in office? I might want to have a beer with him and invite his family over for dinner but I wouldn't want him to manage my affairs. Managers are held accountable for what they achieve, as well as, their failure to perform. Blaming your predecessor might work while you're beginning to establish your presence in the workplace but, sooner or later you must develop your own course of action to solve your organization's problems and, you must own this course of action. Pointing fingers at others only serves to illuminate your own ineffectiveness.

Why has his base not held him accountable for his campaign promises? GITMO remains open. Gay marriage has been delicately avoided. His overreach on health care reform cost him the House of Representatives. We're still in Iraq, increased our presence in Afghanistan, and who knows what we're doing in Libya. I thought that the left was against our involvement in overseas conflicts? I thought that they demanded the closure of GITMO? I thought that gay marriage was important to them? In their eyes, George Bush was inept and yet, they refuse to hold their own creation to account. Could it be that they've come to the realization that talk is simple and action is difficult?

All of us, conservative and liberal, republican, democrat and independent must ask ourselves one simple question. Are we better off on the eve of 2012 than we were in 2008? I don't know about you but, it has gotten more expensive to exist in Obama's America than it ever was in Bush's America. In my view, the belief postulated by this presidency has shown itself to be an abysmal failure. Over the years, I've met and worked with several extremely intelligent people with fantastic academic resumes who were unable to apply these skills to the topsy turvy travails of the everyday world. I believe that President Obama is one of these individuals. His devotion to the hypothetical nature of academic ideology blinds him to the grungy reality of the world that he now finds himself immersed in. The following chart will support my hypothesis.

	January 2009	TODAY	% chg	Source
Avg.. Retail price/gallon gas in U.S. ***	$1.83	$3.75.3	205.1%	1
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel) ***	$43.48	$122.36	281.4%	2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel) ***	$38.74	$107.53	277.6%	2
Gold: London (per troy oz.) ***	$853.25	$1,500.00	175.8%	2
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL	$3.56	$6.33	78.1%	2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL	$9.66	$13.75	42.3%	2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. Fob	$13.37	$35.39	164.7%	2
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall	7.6%	9.4%	23.7%	3
Unemployment rate, blacks	12.6%	15.8%	25.4%	3
Number of unemployed	11,616,000	14,485,000	24.7%	3
Number of fed. Employees, ex. Military (curr = 12/10 prelim)	2,779,000	2,840,000	2.2%	3
Real median household income (2008 v 2009)	$50,112	$49,777	-0.7%	4
Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10)	31,983,716	43,200,878	35.1%	5
Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10)	7,526,598	9,193,838	22.2%	6
Number of long-term unemployed	2,600,000	6,400,000	146.2%	3
Poverty rate, individuals (2008 v 2009)	13.2%	14.3%	8.3%	4
People in poverty in U.S. (2008 v 2009)	39,800,000	43,600,000	9.5%	4
U.S.. Rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings	5	9	n/a	10
Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10)	29.9	23.5	-21.4%	11
Failed banks (curr = 2010 + 2011 to date)	140	164	17.1%	12
U.S.. Dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate	89.76	82.03	-8.6%	2
U.S.. Money supply, M1, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)	1,575.1	1,865.7	18.4%	13
U.S.. Money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)	8,310.9	8,852.3	6.5%	13
National debt, in trillions	$10..627	$14..052	32.2%	14

Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history.. Over 27 times as fast. Metaphorically speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane. 27 times faster, it would be doing 7,555 MPH!

Sources:

(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury

So, what are we to do? None of us can know for certain. Unfortunately, the republicans are floundering and not really providing any of us with any real sense of change. Hopefully, a leader will emerge who will provide our great nation with an answer to our current problems. Time will tell. I'm anxiously awaiting for someone to arrive on the scene with a solid grasp on reality.

De Oppresso Liber

President Obama: His Agenda and the Roadblocks of Reality

Recent events in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and Libya have once again pulled President Obama away from his desire to socially re-mold America. It is funny how many of our nation's presidents have suffered from this malady. Several of our presidents have been swept into office with an aggressive agenda and been knocked off course by unseen events. A four year term also creates a mere snapshot of an opportunity to reshape who we are. The simmering cauldron in the Middle East has sent a tremor of trepidation throughout the White House. No one can know for certain just how the tension in the Arab world will continue to unfold. I cannot imagine how uneasy Israel may feel at this very moment. So, what is a president to do? Rather than Monday morning quarterbacking our president, I would only recommend that he tread lightly. We are navigating through unknown waters. The Middle East is changing before our very eyes.

Now he has to also confront a budget cutting House of Representatives, and governors who are aggressively trying to get their state's budgets in order. So much for spending our way into prosperity. Any one of us who manages our own fiscal affairs know that you cannot spend more than you bring in and survive. It is amazing that President Obama tried to market this philosophy. Wisconsin is representative of our nation's financial struggles. We can only hope that the governor has the fortitude to hold the line and force those who want to stick their heads in the sand to face reality. We can no longer ignore our situation however; I fear that we're now observing a vast game of 2012 political chicken. Thankfully, the governors of Wisconsin and Ohio seem to have forced the hand of politicians in Washington D.C. The legislators who have fled Wisconsin so that they don't have to vote should be ashamed of themselves and their constituents should not tolerate this behavior. Have we been reduced to a child like belief that if I don't get my way I can take my toys and leave?

The next two years could well be a turning point for our nation. Will we follow a path of personal responsibility or will the narcissism of select groups drag us down into a pool of fiduciary mediocrity? While we must learn from our world neighbors, we need to forge our own way. This independent streak is who we are. Will we follow others down a path or blaze a new one for others to follow? As for me, I've got my compass, a solid pair of hiking boots, and uncharted terrain to explore.

De Oppresso Liber

Tragedy and Turmoil

One week ago, a madman in Tucson, Arizona opened fire at a local Safeway store. His actions led to the deaths of 6 Americans including, a federal judge and a nine year old girl. Congresswoman Gabby Gifford was shot in the head and thankfully survived the gunshot and is currently recovering in a local hospital. All of us can agree that this man's horrific actions are beyond reprehensible however; some amongst us began to try to rationalize this shooting by laying the blame at the feet of the Tea Party and conservative talk radio. Liberal pundits and a few democratic politicians were the guilty parties with this libelous charge. All I can say is, shame on them! During his speech at the memorial service, President Obama did a marvelous job by pointing out that this diatribe served no healthy purpose however; one has to wonder if his message might have fallen on deaf ears? Those on the left are still licking their wounds from the election this past November and they seem to be lashing out at anyone on the opposite side of the political spectrum.

It will serve no purpose to aggressively counter those on the left with my conservative viewpoint so, I'll try the Socratic approach. Why is it that many on the left always seem to fall back to a position of moral relativism? Is there really any equivalence between a lone disturbed gunman with personal issues and a terrorist enthralled with a specific socio-political agenda? What purpose does it serve our Secretary of State to tell parties in the Middle East that we have terrorist violence in our country too? Why is it that those on the left choose to view terrorists and criminals in the same light? If liberals are open minded, why do they assume that those on the right are close minded? Is there no difference between the close minded positions of both far left and far right viewpoints?

Naturally, as with almost every issue in life, there are no easy answers however; assuming that there are no answers amounts to a philosophical cop out. All of us take positions on issues every day. That said, it is important that our stances are based on principles, values, and norms. We must also remain cognizant of the fact that our views are not necessarily held by others. All of us in the United States are lucky enough to live in a representative republic where non violent debate is the rule of the land. With the exception of the Civil War, national debates have always remained non violent but, they have been incendiary since the days of our founding fathers. Somehow, we've always been able to correct one another when either side crosses a line of social responsibility. In this particular situation, some on the left have crossed a line of philosophical propriety and I ask that they reconsider their venomous vicissitude.

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