The Rational Ram

Here are twelve life lessons I learned over my 23 year career in the United States Army: 1. Always say less than is necessary, especially when doing business and in meetings. You risk saying too much and revealing thoughts not meant for your intended audience to know. 2. Don’t let perfection become the enemy of […]

http://neveryetmelted.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/MilkSheep.jpg (Source of photo: http://neveryetmelted.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/MilkSheep.jpg) What am I tired of today? Mindless sheep. Not just in politics, but in public opinion, media, and consumerism. I’m not going to make this post about anything specific to any particular political ideology. However, people should really take political ideologies with a grain of salt because they are all […]

(Source of photo: https://www.picturequotes.me/quote_pictures/th_martin_luther_king_jr_quote_nothing_in_the_world_is_more_dangerous_than_sincere_ignorance_and_conscientious_stupidity_5410.jpg) Those who know me know that the MLK Jr. quote above is something I often cite or paraphrase whenever I hear or see something that is being said or done out of sincere ignorance or conscientious stupidity. This quote isn’t limited to politics. I can easily apply it to society in […]

(Source of photo: https://image.slidesharecdn.com/generationalleadership-110612172737-phpapp02/95/generational-leadership-8-638.jpg?cb=1450726285) Today I’m railing against the generation wars. I’m considered Generation X given my age (1965-1979), and in my more youthful years, I heard about how “sorry” my generation was, all based on media-driven “characteristics” presented as indicia of the behavior pattern of everyone in my age range. Growing up in the […]

I’m tired of people in this day and age fomenting division and using the human tendency towards tribalism to do it. In this instance, as indicated by the meme in this post, I’m frustrated with the male/female divide. The war between feminists and MRAs (Men’s Rights Activists) and other similar groups is going decidedly more […]

(Source of photo: https://bcdairy.ca/uploads/bcdairy/Resources/SoWhatisNormal.jpg) Let’s engage in a little thought exercise, shall we? Before we do that, I’d like share a line from an episode of one of my favorite classic television shows, The Twilight Zone (from its original run, 1959-1964)… The particular episode I’m referencing is a 1963 episode called Miniature (season 4, episode […]

(Source of photo: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c6/af/80/c6af80d9162024aeec4ee6c8f006cbb3.jpg) Republican vs Democrat. Conservative vs Liberal. Coke vs Pepsi. Ford vs Chevy Alabama vs Auburn McDonald’s vs Burger King It’s amazing to me how easy it is to manufacture a rivalry out of almost anything, from the sodas we drink, to the vehicles we drive, to the fast food we prefer […]

(Source of photo: http://quotespictures.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/some-people-succeed-because-they-are-destined-but-most-because-they-are-determined.png) A personal short story about a man I admire more than anyone. A man who shaped the kind of man I am today. Over 45 years ago, growing up in a small Texas town that most people probably never heard of outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, I lost my father […]

The last post to close this series… If I were actually running for president, I wouldn’t mislead (read: lie) to the American people by using the typical ideological tropes that do not accurately reflect how jobs are created and how vital international trade is to the prosperity of our country. Ergo, this series-closing post covers […]

My penultimate blog post of this series will very clearly outline my stance on gun control… My stance is that we do not have a gun control problem in this country, we have a personal responsibility problem. I am neither a liberal or a conservative, so I have no dog in the left vs right […]