West Point, Phillips Collection: two very different YouTube clips

West Point: Over the decades I have sung the praises of defense thinkers broadly associated with or inspired by the late Air Force colonel John Boyd. More on this general outlook to national strategy here. One prominent figure in this group is Douglas Macgregor, a retired Army colonel and prolific author. Recently he was invited to West Point, his alma mater, to address cadets on the realities of military life and military thinking. His full address, broken into a series of YouTube clips, starts here.

See web-only content:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2009/11/west-point-phillips-collection-two-very-different-youtube-clips/29793/
Mostly for specialists, but for those interested in the effort to shape a sustainable U.S. military strategy, this is worthwhile. Macgregor's latest book is here.

Phillips Collection: This very elegant small museum/gallery near DuPont Circle in Washington now has has a display by the sculptor and artist Barbara Liotta (a close friend of my wife's).  This brief clip she shows how she installed her piece "Icarus" at the Phillips. This is interesting to me in showing the combination of elementary manual skills -- like tying knots around the small stones she is suspending -- with an original vision of how strings and stones can create a powerful 3-D structure. She has another gallery show in Washington here. Detail of suspended stone below; then, the YouTube clip.



See web-only content:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2009/11/west-point-phillips-collection-two-very-different-youtube-clips/29793/
Meta point: the value of YouTube in showing two committed people from completely different realms of endeavor intensely at their work.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2009/11/west-point-phillips-collection-two-very-different-youtube-clips/29793/