I am at the Army Worldwide Public Affairs Seminar

Well, the fun starts tomorrow.

I am sure we'll discuss the Army's new blog, found here.

Sadly ironic that we are having a seminar about the importance of social media, at the same time that Army PAOs have to beg permission to access the same from their work computers...

Year of the NCO videos

Here's a little something to enjoy given that it's the Year of the NCO.

Is the new Army-brand cycle jacket an i-wreck waiting to happen?

It's no secret we have had an alarming rise in motorcycle deaths in the past few years, especially among sport bikers.

A few months ago, the service secretaries met with motorcycle manufacturers to discuss the trend.

The secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force met with four major motorcycle makers Jan. 15. The discussion focused on motorcycle safety and how sport bikes are marketed to service members. read the full story.

The military has attacked this issue numerous ways: safety courses, motorcycle rallies, and my favorite (seriously) ... rally days where they encourage fast riding in a safe, controlled environment.

I haven't had the opportunity to ride much here in Korea, but I certainly expect to at my next PAO assignment. So, I was in the Military Clothing Sales store when I saw one of the newest "Power Trip" Army-branded motorcycle jackets. I bought this model.



I really like the jacket ... it's got some nice touches like reflective strips that fold out for riding, but tuck away for wearing; jacket loops that attach to your belt so the jacket doesn't ride up during a fall; pads for the shoulders and elbows and an option to put in a heavier pad for the back.





But one thing bothers me: with the increase in motorcycle deaths, did we really need this?















It might just be me ... but do we want Soldiers listening to their iPods while operating THE piece of equipment most likely to be involved in their peacetime early death?

Or am I over thinking things?

--Mike

How I knew I would hate teaching.

I remember the day I said to myself, “there’s no way in hell I ever want to be a teacher”.

I had told my 9th grade Anatomy & Physiology teacher I was considering teaching. When I asked him about it; he mentioned it got easier as he went along.

He said something like, “You know, I’ve taught the same classes for 14 years. You could pick any day of the year, and I could teach that lesson from memory.”

I was horrified.

I couldn’t conceive of doing the same thing every day for 3 years, let alone 14.

It’s one of the reasons I love the Army… after about 2 years in a job, it’s time to move, but you take your seniority with you. After moving 12 times in 17 years, I have never had to worry about knowing the day’s lesson plan in advance.

Ironically though, I received an email the other day from a Soldier who thanked me for everything that he had learned while in my command.

It’s one of the things I love the most about being a leader in the Army: taking care of Soldiers.

And one of the ways we do that is of course:

The teaching.

Lost Generation

This is an incredible ... and incredibly creative video I came across last week. Watch the whole thing, and enjoy!

Why the Mainstream Media lose trust, viewers and readers

I don't know who hasn't heard by now about the recent back-and-forth between Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" and Jim Cramer of CNBC. Mr. Cramer has a show entitled "Mad Money with Jim Cramer"

Here's how the media covered the spat between the two gentlemen.

Mr. Cramer put his head in the proverbial lion's mouth by being a guest on "The Daily Show". He apparently didn't catch on when Mr. Stewart had the entire episode set aside for this one guest, and I guess he thought that he had already seen every video clip of himself that Jon Stewart had.

He was wrong... comically, pathetically, sadly, wrong.

But the greater sadness is having to ask the question, "why does it take a comedy show to ask the tough questions about the financial mess?" Why is Jon Stewart the only guy who will say to someone like Jim Cramer, "It's like this is a big joke to you ... and it's not f#$%-ing funny".

Worst of all, why does the mainstream media, whose supposedly has the mission to "comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable" choose to cover the fight between these two, and not the reason for the fight in the first place?

Here's how the Jim Cramer Hindenburg crashed on The Daily Show....

Good staff work?

Recently, I have given a lot of thought to this blog as well as other forms of communication such as Facebook (I’m the Mike Lawhorn in the yellow jacket on the Great Wall of China) etc.

I have decided I am going to keep this blog, but will commit to updating it on a regular basis – for me, this means Sunday Korean time.

This will help me organize and commit my time as well as ensuring anyone who’s actually still reading this knows when to expect something new.

I really appreciate anyone who’s out there taking the time to check this blog… thanks for your support!

GOOD STAFF WORK: should Mrs. Clinton and President Obama expect more?

Recently Secretary Clinton gave the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, a button that says “overcharge” as opposed to “recharge” (in Russian) and The Guardian ran a story saying the President gave the British Prime Minister a box of 25 movie DVDs.

See the Clinton video here.

As a commander, I understand and fully embrace that I am responsible for everything my unit does or fails to do. But politics aside, doesn’t Sec. Clinton have a reasonable expectation that her staff has been over this translation time and time again?

And for the president, doesn’t his staff say, “let’s do something more than run to Best Buy for a gift”?

What’s next, the staff recommends the Spanish Ambassador gets a $50 gift card to Red Lobster?