In this post, my alma mater, Valley Forge Military Academy, announced its closure effective at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year. While I believe that most of us saw this coming based upon the rumored goings-on at the school over recent weeks and months, I still find myself saddened by the announcement.
I spent three of my five years in the academy, studying the usual courses. Eventually, I was hired to teach computer programming to both academy and college cadets in Shannon Hall during my sophomore year in the junior college. In fact, that was my very first paid IT job in a long series of IT jobs. This is to say that my attachment to the academy goes a little further than just having been a student.
To be clear, I won’t be losing any sleep over the academy’s closure, but it’s on my mind as I make my way through this Monday, September 15.
Yes, the college will continue, but for how long? The demand for military schools is not going to explode any time soon, best as my crystal ball can tell. Neither is the cost of education liable to be substantially reduced any time soon. So, I find myself wondering how much longer the college will be able to continue to operate at the same campus with the same maintenance, funding, enrollment, and leadership headaches.
Full disclosure: I know nothing of keeping such a school running and I leave it to those with greater experience and interest to keep the college afloat.
I wish the best for the college and its future. I hope that the standards so easily abandoned over the last fifteen years or so can be restored with new leadership who are committed to the task. With fewer cadets to supervise, I would hope this would become a much easier mission than in past years.
Time will tell.
P.S. Very belated thanks to COL Lee Temperton, BG Alfred Hess, and BG Alfred Sanelli for hiring me to teach computer science in 1975 and 76. I’ve used the skills learned during that job to help train hundreds of computer users in both academic and industrial settings over the years.
I’ve been reluctant for many years to write online about politics. I used to say that I was too conservative for my liberal friends and too liberal for my conservative friends. With all the polarization of politics in the last twenty years or so, I really didn’t – and still don’t – want to alienate myself from the few friends I have because of politics. I have always believed there’s more to a person’s character than politics and judging someone over who they voted for was ridiculous. Despite the degree of polarization today, I stand by this.
I’ve told this story many times and if you’ve heard it, I apologize for the repetition. Probably twenty years or so, I was sitting at the bar at the Fort Belvoir Golf club with a colleague. We got to talking about politics and had a lively – but friendly discussion whilst consuming an adult beverage of some sort. Probably beer.
When we got around to talking about universal health care, of course, as a card-carrying Republican at the time, I repeated the talking point, “Why should I have to pay for someone else’s health care when I worked to make sure that I had enough for me and my family?” I was declaring myself a member of the “I got mine and the hell with anyone else!” club.
He said “Look, if I can give up a few bucks so some people can have health care, why wouldn’t I do that?”
Why, indeed?
Perhaps I inferred something that wasn’t intended, but I suddenly realized that the position I was advocating was a very selfish position. The realization that I was selfish hit me like a ton of bricks, and I didn’t like how that felt.
When I was a little kid, my mom scolded me for being selfish and I was embarrassed and felt as though I let her and the family down. I developed an unhealthy need to be not selfish, which followed me into adulthood. Somehow, though, that didn’t follow me into political discussions. My colleague’s words and the inference that I was being selfish embarrassed me just as it had when I was little. That’s when everything started to change for me.
I didn’t want to be that selfish person.
I started really listening to the talk radio hosts that I listened to – all conservatives, I might add – and learned that a lot of what I was hearing was hyperbole, selfish, and heartless. And then I stopped listening.
Over the ensuing years, and the changes in the Republican party starting with the Tea Party, I changed my attitude about politics. I still believed in small government, a strong military, fiscal responsibility, and personal responsibility as I do today. These are traditionally Republican values, but so much has changed with the Republican party that they seem to have fallen by the wayside in favor of selfish, heartless values.
In rewatching “The Newsroom” on Max, I encountered a scene in which Will McAvoy, the lead character and anchor of a fictional cable news broadcast said this:
“No, I call myself a Republican ’cause I am one. I believe in market solutions, and I believe in common sense realities and the necessity to defend ourselves against a dangerous world and that’s about it. Problem is now I have to be homophobic. I have to count the number of times people go to church. I have to deny facts and think scientific research is a long con. I have to think poor people are getting a sweet ride. And I have to have such a stunning inferiority complex that I fear education and intellect in the 21st century. But most of all, the biggest new requirement, really the only requirement, is that I have to hate Democrats.”
I found truth in those words.
To be clear, I don’t hate Democrats, and I don’t hate Republicans. Let’s get that straight right now. I don’t hate anyone who treats me with the dignity and respect that we all deserve. I don’t choose my friends based on who they voted for in the last election. Your politics don’t matter to me as long as you’re not being a dick to me or anyone else.
Unfortunately, I see nothing but dick moves coming from the current administration. When did Americans start hating so much. We used to be a compassionate nation. When did we become so selfish and heartless?
I am all for legal immigration, but I am not so selfish and as to upend and ruin the lives of millions of people willy nilly and deport them to countries that are genuinely dangerous and with which they have no relationship. Yes, I would have preferred that they all enter the U.S. legally, but they are here now, and most are paying taxes and contributing to society. Why are we being so selfish and heartless?
Free trade is now dead and the only people who will be hurt by this are the poor and middle classes. They will pay more for goods because of new tariffs that were applied willy nilly. When did we become so selfish and heartless as to make living more difficult for the poorest of us?
And what of the cleansing of history that is coming from the elimination of DEI provisions that encouraged Americans to embrace diversity instead of abhorring it. When did we become so selfish and heartless and afraid of our history as a nation to erase American history in favor of one man’s vision of an exclusively white America?
According to CNN on July 5, 2025, the latest budget legislation signed into law on July 4, 2025, creates new spending and declines in tax revenue.
“…the measure cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid, along with cuts to food assistance. But it will still, according to an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, add $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit, which does not include the cost of servicing the debt.”
This will disproportionally affect those who can’t afford health insurance because of poverty and the disabled who rely on Medicaid to survive. A compassionate nation would not allow its most vulnerable population to have life-saving benefits to be terminated.
And since this was first written, the “big beautiful bill” is now law.
And now Iran has been provoked. I can’t imagine Iran taking their lumps and moving on. I believe it’s more likely that Iran will bide their time, wait for the U.S. to become complacent again, and then retaliate. I could well be wrong about this. However, the risk of retaliation is real. Had we not destroyed their nuclear capability, the risk of retaliation would be much lower. And we will never have real knowledge of the extent of the damage until neutral inspectors are allowed to do their jobs. It is possible that the strikes did not obliterate Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But I know they sure pissed them off.
And what of the separation of powers? Why isn’t the entirety of Congress screaming about the Executive Branch usurping the Constitutionally assigned powers of the Legislative branch of government? Why are they permitting the Executive Branch to rule by executive order? Congress is collectively too afraid of what Trump can do to their chances for reelection to protect Congress’s powers. They are collectively ignoring the checks and balances defined in our Constitution in favor of their reelection. And I see their power slipping away more and more every day. One day, once the Executive Branch consolidates all the power that they can, Congress will serve no real purpose.
I oppose Mr. Trump and those in his administration who appear to be doing intentional damage to both the reputation of the United States of America as a haven for the oppressed, and to the system of government that has made our nation and our economy the envy of the rest of the world. They have transformed nearly overnight the U.S. into a heartless and selfish nation. This is not the kind of nation we have been and not what I believe we ought to be. Just like that moment that I decided that I didn’t want to be that selfish and heartless person, I don’t want the U.S. to be a selfish and heartless nation.
I encourage all Americans to resist the reshaping of America from the land of the free and home of the brave, into a nation solely concerned with fiscally running itself right into the ground. Our nation has always used our abundant resources to be globally compassionate and selfless to those less fortunate. We are among the wealthiest nations in the world. We should act like it through domestic and foreign aid programs.
I encourage all Americans to continue to recognize that diversity is a strength not a liability and to resist those who want to change history.
I encourage all Americans to support the notion that the rule of law is paramount to the American experience and Americans must resist the migration away from the rule of law to the rule of one man. America is a representative republic and not a dictatorship.
Mom went to nursing school at Maumee Valley Hospital School of Nursing while raising two small humans, meaning me and my older sister, Bobbi Jo. I understand that nursing school looks a little bit different nowadays. Not sure which newspaper in which these were printed, but it was either the Fostoria Review Times or the Toledo Blade. That’s just a guess, though.
Dan
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PLEDGE in Maumee Valley student nurses’ home is viewed, from left, by Mrs. Wolfe; her sister-in-law, Mrs. James E. [Eileen] Howell, and Mrs. Oscar G. Barillas, assistant nursing instructor at Maumee Valley.
GRANDMOTHER Mrs. Ellsworth [Pauline] Howell, Fostoria, O., drove to Toledo so Mrs. Robert [Mary Jo] Wolfe, also of Fostoria, could see her children, Bobbi Jo, 5, and Danny Jim, 2, during a break in training.
Back in this post, we celebrated the landing of NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover launch and landing. NASA created a program by which the names of individuals here on Earth could be etched on a chip and sent to Mars as part of Perseverance. We submitted the names of the folks in the household and now our four names are among 1.2 million of our closest friends’ names on Mars.
NASA is at it again with their Europa Clipper mission scheduled for launch in October, 2024. Since I egregiously failed to include my sons, Jonathon and Andrew Wolfe in the previous mission, I made sure to not just add these fine gentlemen to the list of names destined for Europa, but gave them top billing in the gallery below.
From NASA’s website, “[The Europa Clipper’s] three main science objectives are to understand the nature of the ice shell and the ocean beneath it, along with the moon’s composition and geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
“NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will perform dozens of close flybys of Jupiter’s moon Europa, gathering detailed measurements to investigate the moon. The spacecraft, in orbit around Jupiter, will make nearly 50 flybys of Europa at closest-approach altitudes as low as 16 miles (25 kilometers) above the surface, soaring over a different location during each flyby to scan nearly the entire moon.
“Europa shows strong evidence for an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust. Beyond Earth, Europa is considered one of the most promising places where we might find currently habitable environments in our solar system. Europa Clipper will determine whether there are places below Europa’s surface that could support life.“
It will be an honor to accompany the Europa Clipper to the outer reaches of our Solar System. It will be an even greater honor to be with the family for all time one more time.
Warning: This is a ham radio post. If you’re not a nerd, turn back now.You’ve been warned.
As some of you may know, I am a licensed amateur radio operator known colloquially as a ham radio operator. From time to time, I write something about ham radio even though it’s a very small community and not likely to be read by any other hams.
This blog, sparse as it is, contains three ham radio posts. They are:
Feel free to read those if you like, but for those looking for the TL;DR version, Chat GPT tells me that:
“Ham radio, also known as amateur radio, is a hobby that allows people to communicate over long distances using radio frequencies. Unlike standard commercial broadcasts, ham radio operators use a variety of equipment to send and receive messages, often bypassing the need for the internet or phone networks. This can be especially valuable in emergencies, when other forms of communication may be unavailable. Ham radio operators often assist in disaster relief efforts, providing crucial communication links. Beyond emergencies, ham radio fosters global connections, enabling hobbyists to learn about electronics, communication technology, and to connect with others worldwide.”
There exist several ways to communicate among hams, for example, morse code, voice, television, or from computer to computer. One of the computer modes is called FT-8. I’ll rely on Chat GPT again for a brief description:
“FT-8 is a popular digital mode in ham radio designed for making reliable, short-distance and long-distance contacts under challenging conditions. Developed by Nobel laureate Joe Taylor, FT-8 uses a computer and radio to exchange minimal information, such as call signs and signal reports, in rapid, automated sequences. It’s particularly useful when signals are weak or the band conditions are poor, allowing operators to communicate with stations thousands of miles away, even when voice or other digital modes struggle. FT-8 is widely used for casual contacts and DXing (long-distance communication) due to its efficiency and ability to connect stations with very low power signals.”
All set? Got the terminology? OK, off we go!
Ham radio operators are divided on the legitimacy of FT-8 in ham radio. Some operators believe that the automatic collection of contacts, or QSLs, is a cheat. It’s not REAL ham radio. Some believe that you can set up FT-8 in your shack and walk away from the computer and let it do all the contacting. Others believe that using FT-8 for contests and awards is cheating, too, since the operator isn’t really contacting a person. It’s just two computers talking to each other and that shouldn’t count towards anything.
I fall into the other camp.
I have found FT-8 to be a whole lot of fun, and I have learned a lot as an operator and improved my skills by learning how to get the most out of it.
So, whilst I understand the objections to FT-8, I do not agree. I genuinely enjoy it as do thousands of other FT-8 operators around the world. So, something about it is appealing to a lot of operators.
Objection: “FT-8 isn’t REAL ham radio.”
Defense: Ever since ham radio got its start, every new technology that’s been introduced has been labelled at least temporarily as not real ham radio. When single sideband transmission (SSB) was authorized for amateur radio use, some operators thought that using SSB was cheating because it wasn’t the purest form of ham radio, CW, or continuous wave transmission, the OG of ham radio modes.
Since then, there have been many other modes authorized on ham radio frequencies and most have gone through the same “it’s cheating” criticism until meeting with wide acceptance.
Bottom line: if it’s authorized on the worldwide ham radio frequencies, it’s just as real as CW, SSB or earth-moon-earth. (Yes, that’s a thing.)
Objection: “There’s no operating going on. It’s completely automated.
Defense: Operating a ham radio station involves a multitude of tasks including but not limited to adjusting output power, changing frequencies, listening before you transmit, and adjusting these and other parameters to get the signal through with minimal power, no interference, and courtesy for other operators.
In my FT-8 experience, limited though it is, I’ve had to learn to operate my rigs carefully, making certain to listen before I allow the computer to key up the transmitter. I’ve had to learn how to choose frequencies and power levels correctly, while adjusting receive gain, bandwidth and other parameters that help get the message through. The difference is that I am using a computer to do some – not all – of the adjustments. Note that I can adjust power and frequency while making sure that I don’t overlap other hams using FT-8. (Click to make this image more readable.)
You are still required to operate your radio in accordance with FCC rules and regulations just as you would with voice or CW transmissions. But, instead of a microphone or morse code keyer, you’re using a computer.
As well, if an operator really DOES automate the FT-8 process, which is not permitted, they are violating FCC regulations. FT-8 does not automate ham radio. You still must operate responsibly the way you would for any other mode.
Objection: “It’s too easy to make lots of contacts. Doing it with SSB or CW is much harder and besides that’s real ham radio.”
Defense: Ok, it IS true that it’s easier to make lots of contacts using FT-8. But why is this a bad thing? Don’t we want people to be active in ham radio? Don’t we want all the hams to be successful?
Yes. Yes, we do.
It doesn’t cheapen your ARRLDX Century Club (DXCC) award that you earned using voice or code. The DXCC award has multiple categories. If you have one with CW and voice that’s wonderful and I am impressed. (Yes, favorably!) But those DXCC awards based solely on FT-8 QSLs is so noted on the award certificate. It is not precisely the same award.
Here are some of the reasons why I enjoy FT-8 and why it’s so useful for me:
1. I am hard of hearing and even with hearing aids and headphones, I can’t always make out what other hams are saying if conditions are bad. If my ears were better, I would be able to, but they’re not. FT-8 gives me the opportunity to make contacts and be competitive with other hams because I am not struggling to hear speech that others can hear easily. Using FT-8 means I get to play ham radio with everyone else.
2. FT-8 is what’s known as a weak signal mode. That means that a computer running FT-8 can “hear” and decode messages that are undetectable to the average human ear. That means for me that with a limited antenna system, I can reach out farther than I could using voice. Weak signal modes like FT-8 give me a greater reach with the equipment I can afford. More ham radio bang for my ham radio dollar.
3. Ham radio has a reputation for being an old technology used by old men.
They’re half right. Most ham radio operators are older. One only need attend a local ham radio club meeting to confirm these demographics. It’s considered an old man’s hobby.
As you know by now, I am a computer geek. Computer message exchange modes like FT-8 and others bring ham radio into the 21st century. I can send email messages, images, digital files like word processing files, and other data via ham radio. Plus – and this is its real strength for me – using these digital modes allow me to meld both ham radio and computer geekdom into one. It’s the best of both worlds and making it all work together is a blast!
Here’s a photo of my computer desk/radio shack at home:
Sidebar: I’ve always believed that the nexus of computers and ham radio is the perfect entry point for young people to enter the ham radio world. Young students in electrical engineering and computer science programs are perfect for ham radio. It would give them practical experience in radio transmission and reception hardware, antenna theory, analog and digital modulation modes, among others. Using FT-8 is just one of many ways to integrate computers into ham radio, making it more attractive and available to young operators.
4. I can help other operators worldwide. FT-8 software such as WSJT-X or JDTX can report back to a central server which plots out where FT-8 and other computer-based ham radio communications are being received. In other words, even when WSJT-X is idle, it is reporting what is being received at my location and making that information available worldwide. By leaving my radio and WSJT-X up and running, I am helping other operators learn where their signal is going and help them adjust their operations to get their intended message through. I like doing that.
Here’s an example of my spots. This shows the stations that received my FT-8 transmission just now. Note the station in South Africa:
Ham radio is what you make of it. Ham radio means to you whatever you want it to mean. If FT-8 isn’t for you, that’s ok. If, like me, you find it challenging and fun, that’s ok, too. If you believe that I’m cheating using FT-8, that’s ok. I promise I won’t think you’re cheating doing whatever it is you like doing in ham radio. And even I did, so what? You like it and that’s what really matters.
FT-8 is ham radio. It can be fun and rewarding, and I have spent many hours chasing distant stations at all hours of the day and night. It allows me to blend my love of computer and radio technology in ways that fascinate me and take up a lot of time.
You don’t have to love it. But you never know. You just might.
UPDATE: Here’s a presentation that can give you some more technical informaton about FT-8.
