What is up, guys?! Happy Friday!
Hope everyone is doing well!
What follows are the source notes for this podcast. (I’ll talk about the show below.)
So, if you just happen to be stopping by on the internet, or you’ve arrived here from the Apple Podcast, you’ll find the source notes here on my substack.
On the other hand, if you’re on Apple Podcast or one of the other podcast apps, you’ll need to click the “episode website” button at the bottom to reach those notes. Otherwise, not all of them will show up.
About me: I am a prior infantry Marine, who earned the rank of Sergeant and a Combat Action Ribbon in 1997, and I love doing this podcast twice a week.
For those who don’t know, every Tuesday and Friday, I discuss military and defense news, as well as some history, motivation, and wisdom. (And I do all of this from a moderate perspective.)
Tuesday posts will be available to everyone, but they’ll be delayed by one day unless you’re a paid subscriber.
That way, it will encourage folks to support what we’re doing here if they can, but also doesn’t really penalize you if you can’t make that $5 a month payment. At most, you’re waiting an additional day for the content.
But I do want to keep the option there (and the incentive there) for you to support this effort with a paid subscription. I’m doing this for several reasons.
First, I believe in the mission of this. Of trying to highlight what our military troops are doing around the world, while also trying to better educate Americans about looming hotspots. We want to avoid those places we should avoid. We also want to avoid unplanned mission creep, such as we did in Afghanistan, where we went from removing the Taliban and pursuing Osama bin Laden, to then trying to create a thriving democracy in one of the poorest, least-educated parts of the world. I could also mention our invasion of Iraq. Or our intervention in Vietnam. These decisions mattered when they were made, and the decisions being made now matter as well. I am passionate about this topic because I’ve been the scared, young rifleman, who went into a foreign land and had the wits scared out of him, while dodging bullets for a few days in a foreign land. The bottom line is foreign policy really matters. (What are the details of your military career?)
Second, I know that as our support grows, so, too, can the depth, length, and reach of the show. This, given the mission I just mentioned above, is important to me. And it’s also something that’s hard to achieve while continuing to work a full-time job, as I’m currently doing. Not to mention trying to be as awesome of a husband and step-dad as I can possibly be.
Finally, I also know that this isn’t a broad topic that 80 percent of the country is excited to hear about. Foreign policy news is a very-small, niche subject, and I’m not kidding myself into believing that I can somehow single-handedly make half the country care about it.
So for all of these reasons, I need your support. If you’re a free subscriber, I need you telling others who might be interested. Or sharing some of the podcasts from time-to-time. And for those who can, and who really believe in what we’re trying to do, I’d greatly appreciate it if you can throw a few bucks in the hat. It’s $5 a month to subscribe, and if you do so, you’ll get the Tuesday edition without the one-day delay.
So, if you believe in what we’re doing, and you want to be a part of this community, I’d be honored if you signed up. Either as a free or paid subscriber.
So, that’s what I’m trying to do here. I don’t claim to know the answers, but I think we can ask the questions, seeks the answers, and make a difference.
And this concept is why I do all of this from a moderate perspective. I believe with we have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.
We need compromise, respect for the other side, and a more serious gravity to our politics.
So, please, join what we’re trying to do. Sign up for free at a minimum. And chip in a few bucks if you can.
Source notes
China:
Pelosi, Congressional Delegation statement on visit to Taiwan press release.
Nancy Pelosi has left Taiwan. The real crisis may be just beginning. From The Economist.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/05/us-summons-china-ambassador/
China sends missiles flying over Taiwan https://www.economist.com/china/2022/08/04/china-sends-missiles-flying-over-taiwan from @TheEconomist
Russia:
Russia’s faltering invasion. http://espresso.economist.com/44b8b1b5c2c259df31d9d9b0f53be68b from @TheEconomist
Africa:
Story link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/20/michael-langley-africom-marines-general/
In tech news, I wanted to cover:
Previous news on unmanned ships in my newsletter:
Motivation and wisdom:
That’s it for this edition.
As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans.
We have to pull this country together. We have to stop hating those on the other side of the aisle and we have to stop rewarding the loudest (and most angry) voices on either side.
We need compromise, respect for the other side, and a more serious gravity to our politics.
So, please, try to be a better person yourself each and every day.
And, please, if you haven’t already, sign up for free episodes at a minimum. We’d be proud to have you join us here.
And if you love what you’re reading, throw a couple of bucks in the hat by subscribing below.
I appreciate each and every one of you. Every tweet, every share, every email, etc. I can’t even tell you how much those mean to me, and I love each and every one of you all.
And also, if you have two seconds, drop a rating or review on Apple Podcasts. I think we only have a few ratings, so a little love there might help us grow the show a little better.
Thanks again, everyone! You guys are the best.
The view from the front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to make this work sustainable, and to help improve it, is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!
Semper Fidelis,
Stan R. Mitchell
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.
P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter.
Stan R. Mitchell: The view from the front podcast for 8-5-22.