And now, for something completely different ….

We are working on a rather longish article at the moment. It may not be ready for a while. But in the meantime, we wanted to share the thoughtful blog posts of others. These pieces are not necessarily about government contracting matters. Some contain bad words. Some may espouse political positions with which you are in strong disagreement.

Still, we think each is worthy of your time. Each is a thoughtful piece, well-written and full of challenging concepts. Check them out and see if you agree.

Jim Wright, Master of Stonekettle Station. Jim is a retired U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer who lives in Alaska, roughly 8 miles from Sarah Palin’s house.

In this article, which went viral across Facebook, Jim explores the phenomenon of people who say they love America but show by word and deed how much of America they really hate.

In this follow-up article, Jim answers critics who challenged him to discuss what he loved about America.

John Scalzi, Proprietor of Whatever. John is an author, blogger, and currently serves as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America. Whatever is one of the oldest and most popular blogs on the Internet.

In this popular article, John discusses differences between the haves and have-nots of America, and the impact of tax increases (both perceived and real) on the well-to-do set.

In this short but poignant article, John explores difficulties faced by so many of us, each day—difficulties that we need to consider when we interact with others.

Okay, for those of you who want something—anything—related to government contracts, here’s Vern Edwards, blogging on WIFCON. WIFCON, of course, is a must-read site for anybody into government contracting matters. Vern, of course, is the master of government contracting advice—alternately stern, acerbic, frustrated, and fatherly, often he is quite literally the last word in WIFCON’s discussion forum.

In this absolutely must-read article, Vern provides 14 tips to would-be government contractors.

Here’s a very helpful article on the real nature of the United States Code.

Finally, here’s a text of a speech that Vern gave to Air Force Space Command, Space and Missile Systems Center.

Okay, we’re getting back to work on our pièce de résistance, to be published as soon as we can polish it off. Until then, consider the words of these other authors ….