I’d like to remind my fellow veterans that in the scope of human history, you are the NORMAL ones. It’s our bubble-wrapped modern society that is the oddball. Violence, injuries, and death are a norm in human existence. Even just a little over 100 years ago, seeing someone get run over by a horse, die in a farming accident or killed in a mineshaft was normal before reaching adulthood. Most people saw several. Brother’s went to war and simply never returned. On the American prairie, women fought with a baby on their hip when their husbands were out bringing in crops or trapping fur. You who answered the Nations call embody the true American spirit. The spirit of a warrior, a pioneer, one willing to endure hardships and build the future. Fighting and death are normal human experiences. You are normal. When the protected and insulted population looks at you sideways, keep that in mind. They are the ones lacking depth of normal human experience. What to do about it? Live your life to the fullest in honor of the ones who sacrificed to give you that opportunity. Don’t waste or dishonor that sacrifice. If you struggle with traumatic stress, reach out to those who can understand your very normal experiences. I still think half of the ones going down a dark road bought into the opinion the bubble-wrapped leaf-eaters pushed onto them. The leaf-eaters are the odd and broken ones; says all of human history. I’m no psychologist. That much should be obvious. I spent many hours chatting with the ones who worked at SERE though. I still think that field is just observation and guessing. The Psych’s I worked with generally agreed. Cortisol levels (stress) are very real and can ruin your decision making processes. Nutrition, sleep & exercise can turn that around. Willfully choosing to have a positive attitude and recognizing that you can’t time travel improve life massively. When life’s struggles become almost unbearable, simply making the next right choice, will take you far. It’s the same thing you did in a gunfight or while evaluating a casualty. You already have experience in this. Be good to each other and don’t be a stranger if you need someone to chat with. First responders, that goes for you too.

Breaking News: Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a health emergency in New York State as measles cases increased dangerously across rural counties. nyti.ms/4zhFzmd

Tonight at Gillette Stadium, Zach Bryan, one of the biggest country music artists in the world, wore a Free Palestine shirt onstage. Gillette Stadium is owned by Robert Kraft, who pushed Ed Sheeran and his promoter to drop Macklemore from his tour. Bryan isn’t just a major country artist. He is one of the biggest live draws in music, filling stadiums across the United States and in major cities around the world. Bryan served eight years on active duty in the US Navy and served overseas in Bahrain and Djibouti. Members of Bryan’s band also wore shirts supporting the Palestinian cause, including his drummer, who wore a jersey honoring the memory of Hind Rajab. Zach Bryan has a second show at Gillette Stadium tomorrow, Saturday night.

Peach bbq sauce - so easy and made from one can of peaches in light syrup and just a few ingredients. Check out my recipe here: facebook.com/share/r/1BZiPyF…

I have submitted my resignation from the Department of War. It has been an honor to support the mission of the Department. I remain a strong supporter of our nation’s military and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership. I’m stepping back to focus on my book tour and midterms analysis in the months ahead. I do want to say I’m disappointed by how Special Government Employees, not just myself, have been treated in public discourse. The SGE program exists so that talented private citizens can serve their country without leaving their lives behind. We as a nation can find a better way to welcome those who want to serve their country. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity. I wish the Department and Secretary Hegseth continued success.

WATCH LIVE: Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James are speaking in New York City this morning about the Cornell University sexual assault investigation news10.com/news/watch-hochul…

The price New Yorkers will pay for heat this winter is expected to rise dramatically, climbing from $3.72 per gallon of heating oil to $6.27 per gallon, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. news10.com/news/ny-news/heat…

There’s a generation a lot of people forget exists. We were born at the tail end of the Boomers, but we are not culturally the same as people born in the 40s and early 50s. We are Generation Jones. And honestly, it explains a lot. We grew up in a world that still felt fundamentally analog, but we were young enough to be dragged headfirst into the digital revolution. We are the bridge generation between rotary phones and smartphones, between slide rules and AI, between Walter Cronkite and algorithm driven media. We remember when there were only a few television channels and the entire country watched the same thing at the same time. We also adapted to the internet, email, forums, social media, streaming and now artificial intelligence. We lived before and after the technological singularity hit everyday life. That is not a small thing. People born in the 40s came of age in a post World War II America that was still industrial, deeply hierarchical and institutionally stable. Their formative years were shaped by the Cold War, Vietnam, the civil rights era and a society where information moved slowly. Generation Jones came later. We inherited the aftermath of all of that. We were the kids who watched Watergate destroy blind trust in government. We watched manufacturing begin to collapse. We saw divorce rates explode. We were the first truly latchkey generation in massive numbers. We learned independence early because many of us had to. We grew up with one foot in old America and one foot in whatever this new thing was becoming. We played outside until the streetlights came on but we also learned DOS commands. We learned cursive and keyboarding. We had card catalogs and Google searches. We went from vinyl records to cassette tapes to CDs to MP3s to streaming in one lifetime. We remember maps. We remember memorizing phone numbers. We remember life before GPS and before every human interaction became filtered through a screen. And because of that, I think Generation Jones developed a very unique perspective. We are adaptable because we had no choice but to adapt. We learned technology as adults instead of being born into it. We remember a slower world but were forced to survive in a rapidly accelerating one. That creates a very different mindset than either older Boomers or younger Gen X and Millennials. A lot of us also reject the caricature people now associate with “Boomers.” We were not buying houses for the cost of a sandwich in 1965. The interest rate on my first house was over 14% and that was after buying down a point. Many of us got hit by recessions, outsourcing, pension collapses and economic instability just like younger generations did. We watched promises evaporate in real time. We understand older generations because we were raised by them. We understand younger generations because we had to evolve alongside them. That’s why the Jones generation often feels culturally homeless. We are rarely discussed, rarely defined and usually lumped into categories that don’t actually fit us. But we exist. We are the human transition point between the industrial age and the digital age. And frankly, there will probably never be another generation quite like us again.