Robert Canright's Communications Strategy

Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Family,
I am making a small change in how I communicate.  As many of you are aware, I post articles and essays on the internet in a set of blogs. 

Since everyone is using Facebook now, and many people use Twitter, my new strategy is to notify through Twitter and Facebook that I have published an article in a blog.  I plan to use the same notification in Twitter and Facebook so you only need to use one to be alerted.  I will also bring to your attention an occasional article from the Wall Street Journal, Epoch Times, or New York Times that you might find interesting.  My plan for Twitter is to  a very streamlined and compact presentation for your convenience; I will do this by not "Liking" other tweets, and by not re-tweeting.   So if you go to Twitter and search "@RobertCanright" then you will only find links to my articles.  If you look for me on Facebook then you will find I am not the only Robert Canright in America.  This is my Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/robert.canright.10

Here are the blogs I write.  I invite you to go and look, browse.
Plano Parents   https://planoparents.blogspot.com/
Robert Canright's Personal Blog  https://robertcanrightsblog.blogspot.com/
Texas Ascendant   https://texasascendant.blogspot.com/
Canright on Software and Programming  http://canrightonsoftwareandprogramming.blogspot.com/

I should explain the Texas Ascendant blog: the idea behind it, and some tips on how to read it.  It is multi-threaded.  A thread is a series of related posts.  It has 12 years of articles.  I have organized sets of articles as projects.  If you read the introductory article you will see I started writing after the economic meltdown of 2008, often called the sub-prime mortgage crisis or the Great Recession.  It actually has many names.  Wikipedia calls it the Financial crisis of 2007–2008:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%932008
Here is the introductory article to Texas Ascendant:
What is Texas Ascendant?  https://texasascendant.blogspot.com/2018/07/what-is-texas-ascendant-campaign.html
Here is the list of projects within Texas Ascendant:  https://texasascendant.blogspot.com/2009/09/list-of-projects.html

I write because the articles and op-ed pieces in all the major papers are not very good, not helpful.  There has been a noticeable decline in objectivity and quality, deteriorating steadily over the last 20 years.  Our society is complex and there are enormous pressures upon our society.  I work hard to make sense of the complexities in our society:  the turmoil and conflict, the repeated economic and political crises.  I share with you what I perceive and hope my thoughts and observations might be a help to you.

Your friend and neighbor,
Robert Canright

Remembering the Bagpiper of D-Day

Today is the 76th anniversary of D-Day, the Normandy invasion to end World War II.  You might not have heard the story of the Bagpiper of D-Day.  Bill Millin was a trained commando, but his commanding officer wanted him to play the pipes through the invasion.  They were Highlanders and they were going into battle with bagpipes playing.  Yes, he marched back and forth on the beach playing his bagpipes.  Many German soldiers had him in their sights, but did not shoot.  In interviews the Germans said they thought he was crazy and that is why they did not shoot.  It strikes me as the protecting hand of God.  They  put up a statue to him on the Normandy invasion beach.

Here are a couple of articles about him.
One of first soldiers to charge the beach on D-Day was a bagpiper  https://www.insider.com/bill-millin-d-day-bagpipes-soldier-survival-story-2019-6

The bagpiper of D-Day  https://www.history.co.uk/article/the-bagpiper-of-d-day

Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Millin

We have a truly great civilization.  This is courage with a special sense of style; it is elan.  We must never lose heart when things go wrong, because we are a great people, regardless of how many petty people try to tear us down.  Take heart. It is always dark before the dawn.

Robert

War of the Worlds - 1953

When I was a kid I got to see The War of the Worlds on TV, the 1953 version.  I just got a copy on DVD and enjoyed it very much.  Here is what the cover art work on the DVD box looks like.

This DVD version has Korean subtitles that you can turn off.  I enjoyed the show immensely.  It received 3 Oscar nominations and won an award for Best Special Effects.  For 1953 the special effects were very good.  It was a well done film that I remembered the rest of my life!
Here is what Wikipedia says about it:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(1953_film)
This is a classic Science Fiction film.  Here's what IMDB says about it.

This is a film the family can watch.