Eric M. Murphy

Eric M. Murphy

@ericmmurphy.bsky.social

Birds, Math, Literature, & Air Power. BoD Member @Strategy_Bridge, #Strategy, #Development, #NationalSecurity, #MilitaryAffairs. Repost is not endorsement. Nothing interesting to say.

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I’m led back to this: “Of all sins, the greatest is certainty.” And, for the record and to head off the inevitable cleverness from the peanut gallery, of this and other things I am not certain.

My small thought here, since so many others have made other large points: Can we all agree to use the casual othering of “they” with more care?

The Bulwark@thebulwark.com

RFK: "There's five hundred million Arabs in the world. And yet they don't produce science. They don't win the Nobel Prize. They don't win the Fields Prize. They don't win the Wolf Prize. They don't produce literature."

I LOVE that SAMS exists. SAASS and SAW owe their existence to visionaries like Huba Wass de Czege and Hal Winton. Theirs is a different curriculum than SAASS, and that’s GOOD…though I sometimes wish I were THAT kind of planner. But let’s not do the “we won the war without you” fiction.

Senator Tillis appears to absolve himself of all responsibility for these outcomes, forgetting his votes and his failures to impose oversight. History will judge America, but it will absolutely judge Thom Tillis.

Republicans Against Trumpism@rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social

Republican Senator Thom Tillis: “Putin is playing President Trump like a fiddle. And history is not going to look good on an America that failed to rise up and defend the Western world.”

Eric M. Murphy reposted

@prbeckman.bsky.social and Kevin Benson discuss the impact of SAMS: “And [JUST CAUSE] was the first real test of SAMS graduates. And folks kind of looking around going, wow, that was pretty good. Hey, maybe we can use some of these guys on our staff. Now, the next big test would be DESERT STORM.”

podcasts.apple.comThe History of the School of Advanced Military Studies, 1983-1994 with Kevin BensonPodcast Episode · The Strategy Bridge · October 12 · 1h 2m

I’ve been surprised and delighted. Of the 76 (yes, I’m counting) titles I’ve put out for students and faculty, they appear to be going to people who want them.

Eric M. Murphy@ericmmurphy.bsky.social

Funny that beginning the cull of my shelves at work makes retirement (still months away!) feel more real than orders did. The first 50(ish) titles going on the “free to a good home” shelf.

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William Schneider called this combination of past tense and passive voice the “past exonerative.” Who voted (or didn’t) to enable or limit ICE in these activities? Who executed effective oversight (or didn’t)?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Susan Collins: "I think what happened is far too many ICE officers were hired and deployed without adequate vetting and training"

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Perhaps astonishing that this is NOT the most pathological position I’ve heard from the senior levels of the USG just TODAY.

The Washington Sun@washingtonsun.com

The FBI wants to hire the Ultimate Fighting Championship to train its special agents under a one-year deal that would bypass the competitive bidding process typically used for federal contracts, according to federal records.

24 hours ago, I walked out of the last classroom I’ll occupy as a professor for the foreseeable future. Very grateful for the seconds, minutes, and hours I’ve been able to spend in a classroom since my first time in that role in 1994. As Farmer Hoggett once said, “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.”

I’ve read this. If you’re even remotely inclined toward birds as lovely and interesting and a possible hobby (or obsession), you might want to read it, too.

The Birdist@thebirdist.bsky.social

I looked back at more than 100 years of TV and movies and charted how birding and birders have been portrayed over time in a new piece for @audubon.org There are distinct eras! The Golden Years! The Bleak Years! Lots of bow ties! Popeye! Angela Lansbury! Much more! www.audubon.org/magazine/his...

I’ve been surprised and delighted. Of the 76 (yes, I’m counting) titles I’ve put out for students and faculty, they appear to be going to people who want them.

Eric M. Murphy@ericmmurphy.bsky.social

Funny that beginning the cull of my shelves at work makes retirement (still months away!) feel more real than orders did. The first 50(ish) titles going on the “free to a good home” shelf.

View full thread

Had a weird conversation today. Passed a foundational text to someone in a PhD program who was looking for advice. Someone overheard, asked why that title was important. It sounded like X, which was their research. It is X. It’s fundamental to X. You’re stupid. I know what your “PhD” is worth.

But if I know the fundamental texts of your field better than you do…your program was shite, your advisor was an idiot, your committee were a fraud, your degree is a sham, your program was for profit (in some sense)…and here we are, trapped in the devaluation of education writ large.

I’ve been surprised and delighted. Of the 76 (yes, I’m counting) titles I’ve put out for students and faculty, they appear to be going to people who want them.

Eric M. Murphy@ericmmurphy.bsky.social

Funny that beginning the cull of my shelves at work makes retirement (still months away!) feel more real than orders did. The first 50(ish) titles going on the “free to a good home” shelf.

There is a thing about the military life, and the lives around it. When there are tragedies…we’re not there. The blame feels harder. What we “should” have done is easier to access…because we “should” have been there. Fucking heartbroken. Heart. Broken. Again. Fuck.

“Never trust an observation unless it’s backed up by a theory.” —Neil deGrasse Tyson I keep trying to teach this idea, that the universe of observations and a causal logic matter more than the anecdotes we collect like Lenny thinking bunnies just, like, stop breathing.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social

Because I'm feeling punchy tonight - the primary thing that distinguishes white supremacy from other forms of xenophobia and bigotry used to justify imperial brutality is simply that it was the bigotry to hand for the most powerful countries at the moment the world happened to globalize.

Jumping Jesus Christ on a pogo stick. No reputable study shows “vaccine injury” to be anything but vanishingly small…and accommodated in the public health recommendations for vaccination schedules. He’s a crank, a conspiracist, and without any evidence to support his rejection of…well…science.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

RFK Jr: "We care about every child who dies from measles. They get headlines. We should care about the children who are dying or suffering or being injured by vaccine injuries."

Knowable & known problems w/well-defined requirements for decades prior to this imbroglio. The Army, Air Force, Navy, etc., could not at any point get out of their own way. I’ve said for years that we need our own Jena-Auerstedt. Maybe this is it, at lower cost than Prussia paid. Fools learning.

I’ve got $1 that says the admin does it anyway. The history here is one of general disregard for judicial orders.

Democracy Docket@democracydocket.com

BREAKING: In a major win for voters, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to reinstate its mail voting restrictions ahead of November’s pivotal midterm elections.  www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...