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Eric M. Murphy

@ericmmurphy.bsky.social

1.5K followers 830 following 2.9K posts

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

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · Aug 19

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.

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 7h

“History”
Robert Penn Warren

www.vqronline.org/summer-1935/...

(I can’t find a version of the poem this side of a paywall. Alas.)

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 10h

Even in LITERATURE we ask questions about the reliability of the narrator. 🤣

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 10h

Truth.

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 10h

Most schools that do OR degrees are nothing more than trade schools. I have nothing against bricklayers, but that’s not what I need from an AFIT graduate in OR (or, for that matter, from a PME graduate).

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 11h

I say the same thing about my own community of military ops research.

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 15h

A thought for journalists (looking at you, @nytimes.com):

If one source says it’s raining, & another source says it isn’t, you don’t report both uncritically. YOU GO THE HELL OUTSIDE & report how the assertions correspond to the evidence.

You’re reporters for fuck sake, not stenographers!

a man with an umbrella is walking through a puddle

ALT: a man with an umbrella is walking through a puddle

media.tenor.com

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

To be fair, there is a provision in statute that allows fairly broad discretion for the SECDEF to reprogram funds. The $6B limit has been increased (in Mar) to $8B. The president and the SECDEF get to define military necessity unless Congress imposes constraints.

www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

www.congress.gov

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

Around 45 years ago, I heard “My Bologna,” and I’ve been a little silly since.

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

It’s a matter of information. If the rule is to always include the serial comma, its absence conveys information. We get more clarity. God knows we could use a little clarity.

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

“They are the most curious creature of all. Hyper-focused. Single-minded. Intense. Devoted. Often single. They speak in reverent tones and hushed whispers and can walk with preternatural silence across a bed of leaves…”

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Here’s to the birdwatchers! Optimistic, slightly eccentric custodians of wonder and joy and passion and love

At its heart, birdwatching is an act of quiet rebellion, says Natalie Kyriacou. It is the gentle act of noticing – the willingness to see the world around you

www.theguardian.com

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

We like owls.

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

*has been shy about breaking

Sheesh.

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

All true, but it’s not as if the administration about breaking the law with respect to appropriations thus far. In the case it may actually be difficult mechanically, though.

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve not read the Butler or the Lattimore. I’ll check out the latter.

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 4d

The Landmark are great in many ways—the maps, essays, timeline, summary/concordance are so helpful. That’s why we use them in PME.

I much prefer other translations. Strassler, god bless him, was looking for translations in the public domain.

But in every case, Landmark was my first.

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 4d

I think I’ll change the titles on this little shelf each month.

I’m a little late this month. Government shutdowns, having to turn someone else’s concept of a plan into an actual plan, etc., have interfered.

So here’s some grand stategerizationing.

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 6d

I agree.

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 6d

I’m a birder. I came to this thing, not quite an obsession (except when it is), relatively late in life.

There are classic works that capture and communicate what this is. Now, I have a new one.

This is good. So. Fucking. Good.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-w...

LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching

YouTube video by owen reiser

m.youtube.com

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 6d

“Inniskeen Road: July Evening”
Patrick Kavanagh

allpoetry.com/Inniskeen-Ro...

The bicycles go by in twos and threes -
There's a dance in Billy Brennan's barn to-night,
And there's the half-talk code of mysteries
And the wink-and-elbow language of delight.
Half-past eight and there is not a spot
Upon a mile of road, no shadow thrown
That might turn out a man or woman, not
A footfall tapping secrecies of stone.
I have what every poet hates in spite
Of all the solemn talk of contemplation.
Oh, Alexander Selkirk knew the plight
Of being king and government and nation.
A road, a mile of kingdom, I am king
Of banks and stones and every blooming thing.

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 6d

Fun note:

I first looked for the book at the public library, using a card catalog. There were two cards. One was filed under G: “Goldman, William…see Morgenstern, S.” The other, was filed under M: “Morgenstern, S…see Goldman, William.”

I shit you not. I friggin LOVE librarians.

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 6d

On an exciting Sat night in the laundry, I found this in our residents’ little lending library. It’s frivolous but fun. I saw the film in the theater, found the book at a library, read it repeatedly, & watched the film daily for a summer. I never tire of it. The song over the CREDITS makes me cry.

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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 7d

I didn’t see any National Guard, a constant presence in this part of DC. For that absence, I’m grateful, and I’ll sleep a little better.

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 7d

I would normally suggest that the @chargers.bsky.social are dead to me, but we don’t celebrate the misfortunes of the dead.

When I was young, I hoped for the Raiders and Cowboys to lose, and I prayed for a Chargers win.

Today, I hope for and celebrate anything ill that befalls the Chargers.

Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 7d

It was cool, with a breeze. The water was quiet, the people occupied with puppies and priorities to which I’m not privy.

It was lovely, but I shoulda oughta gone home tonight. 🤷‍♂️

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