TRUMP: ‘I NEED THE KIND OF GENERALS THAT HITLER HAD’; The Atlantic, October 22, 2024

Jeffrey Goldberg , The Atlantic; TRUMP: ‘I NEED THE KIND OF GENERALS THAT HITLER HAD’

"The personal qualities displayed by Trump in his reaction to the cost of the Guillén funeral—contempt, rage, parsimony, racism—hardly surprised his inner circle. Trump has frequently voiced his disdain for those who serve in the military and for their devotion to duty, honor, and sacrifice. Former generals who have worked for Trump say that the sole military virtue he prizes is obedience. As his presidency drew to a close, and in the years since, he has become more and more interested in the advantages of dictatorship, and the absolute control over the military that he believes it would deliver. “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,” Trump said in a private conversation in the White House, according to two people who heard him say this. “People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders.” (“This is absolutely false,” Pfeiffer wrote in an email. “President Trump never said this.”)...

Trump’s singularly corrosive approach to military tradition was in evidence as recently as August, when he described the Medal of Honor, the nation’s top award for heroism and selflessness in combat, as inferior to the Medal of Freedom, which is awarded to civilians for career achievement. During a campaign speech, he described Medal of Honor recipients as “either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead,” prompting the Veterans of Foreign Wars to issue a condemnation: “These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty.” Later in August, Trump caused controversy by violating federal regulations prohibiting the politicization of military cemeteries, after a campaign visit to Arlington in which he gave a smiling thumbs-up while standing behind gravestones of fallen American soldiers...

One former Trump-administration Cabinet secretary told me of a conversation he’d had with Trump during his time in office about the Vietnam War. Trump famously escaped the draft by claiming that his feet were afflicted with bone spurs. (“I had a doctor that gave me a letter—a very strong letter on the heels,” Trump told The New York Times in 2016.) Once, when the subject of aging Vietnam veterans came up in conversation, Trump offered this observation to the Cabinet official: “Vietnam would have been a waste of time for me. Only suckers went to Vietnam.”...

Trump, those who have worked for him say, is unable to understand the military norm that one does not leave fellow soldiers behind on the battlefield. As president, Trump told senior advisers that he didn’t understand why the U.S. government placed such value on finding soldiers missing in action. To him, they could be left behind, because they had performed poorly by getting captured."

Serving on a Nonprofit Board: Basics and Ethical Responsibilities; PBI, April 6, 2022

 PBI; Serving on a Nonprofit Board: Basics and Ethical Responsibilities

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, Live Webcast

3 substantive CLE credits | 1:30 pm to 4:45 pm

"Thinking of serving on a nonprofit board? We’ve got you covered.

Many attorneys get the chance to join a nonprofit board. This can be a very rewarding experience to improve your skills and make valuable connections while helping a cause that is meaningful to you. This CLE will explore the role of the Board of Directors and the laws governing nonprofits. You will get training on the basics of nonprofit board service, including charitable issues raised under state and federal laws for current board members.

Explore the nuts and bolts of serving on a nonprofit board

Some topics covered will include:

• Proper due diligence: what questions to ask and documents to request before joining
• Understanding your role as a board member
• Board member fiduciary duties
• Board member limited liability, D&O insurance, and indemnification
• The basics of nonprofit financial information
• Ethics of serving on a nonprofit board
• And more!"

My family sacrificed to fight covid. Many Americans didn’t. Now my mom is dead.; The Washington Post, April 2, 2021

Jackie Munn, The Washington Post; My family sacrificed to fight covid. Many Americans didn’t. Now my mom is dead.

"And while part of me wants to wallow in my anger and grief, I know my mother wouldn’t want that for me. Instead, she would want me to take action. So now I volunteer as a vaccinator, helping to keep willing Americans and their families from suffering her fate — and ours.

When I give members of my community in Arlington, Va., their coronavirus vaccines, almost all of them thank me for my service. I want to cry, upset that it’s too late for my mother. Instead, I try to smile and thank each person getting vaccinated for doing their part. It’s what my mother would have wanted."

Hundreds of helpless cold-stunned sea turtles rescued by Navy pilots and pickup trucks; The Washington Post, February 18, 2021

Alex Horton, The Washington Post; Hundreds of helpless cold-stunned sea turtles rescued by Navy pilots and pickup trucks

"“Most of these people didn’t have good conditions in their own homes,” he said. “But they came out to help.”

The hardships of the extreme weather, coupled with the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic, compelled the volunteers to do something tangible and positive amid the bleakness, Bellamy said.

“Things have been rough over the past year. It’s fun to see people come together focused on recovering these turtles. People just need it.”"

Addressing the Crisis in Academic Publishing; Inside Higher Ed, November 5, 2018

Hans De Wit and Phillip G. Altbach and Betty Leask, Inside Higher Ed; Addressing the Crisis in Academic Publishing

[Kip Currier: Important reading and a much-needed perspective to challenge the status quo!

I just recently was expressing aspects of this article to an academic colleague: For too long the dominant view of what constitutes "an academic" has been too parochial and prescriptive.

The academy should and must expand its notions of teaching, research, and service, in order to be more truly inclusive and acknowledge diverse kinds of knowledge and humans extant in our world.]

"We must find ways to ensure that equal respect, recognition and reward is given to excellence in teaching, research and service by institutional leaders, governments, publishers, university ranking and accreditation schemes."

Something is not right; Washington Post, May 26, 2017

Ruth Marcus, Washington Post; Something is not right

"In the middle of one night

Miss Clavel turned on the light

And said, “Something is not right!”

— “Madeline,” by Ludwig Bemelmans, 1939...

Something is really not right when all this is done to help pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the richest Americans. When it is built on an edifice of fairy-tale growth projections exacerbated by fraudulent accounting, double-counting savings from this supposed growth.

We are all Miss Clavel now, or should be."

Ghazala Khan: Trump criticized my silence. He knows nothing about true sacrifice.; Washington Trump, 7/31/16

Ghazala Khan, Washington Post; Ghazala Khan: Trump criticized my silence. He knows nothing about true sacrifice. :

Ghazala Khan’s son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq in 2004.

"I cannot walk into a room with pictures of Humayun. For all these years, I haven’t been able to clean the closet where his things are — I had to ask my daughter-in-law to do it. Walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?

Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn’t allowed to say anything. That is not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak, but I told him I could not. My religion teaches me that all human beings are equal in God’s eyes. Husband and wife are part of each other; you should love and respect each other so you can take care of the family."