James Schmeling

@jschmeling.bsky.social

2615 Followers 4311 Following

Speaking only for myself. Nonprofit leader. Military, Veterans, Family supporter/advocate. #NatSec #Defense #NDU #NDUF Air Force veteran. Born and raised in Iowa. #IowaLaw #IowaState Midwesterner by temperament (I wave at passing cars and neighbors)!

Tiny praying mantis on a leaf beside an extension cord.
Bumper sticker, “Not a student driver, just bad at driving”
Cairn terrier slumped over the arm of the chair.
“Key Takeaways Households headed by a college graduate have a median net worth that's four times higher than those with only a high school diploma. College grads are more likely to own assets like real estate and retirement accounts that have historically multiplied wealth over time. Homes owned by college graduates are worth more than double those owned by high school graduates.” Excerpt From “Net Worth by Education Level: Just How Much Wealthier Are College Graduates?” Daniel Liberto Investopedia https://apple.news/AoWGKe9c_RlmXDDEzifvR_g
“We do not have the capacity to replicate this analysis for all 50 states, and that’s a huge deficiency,” said Beth Akers, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank who also sits on the board of the Postsecondary Commission. Still, Akers said the methodology could be useful for future studies to help identify college programs that aren’t helping people increase their earnings enough to justify the cost.” Excerpt From “Here are the undergraduate programs that pay off (and some that don’t)” The Washington Post https://apple.news/AUAS7x922TI2PJfBQ2YEizQ This material may be protected by copyright.
Sprawled out blonde Cairn terrier on the couch.
Peonies drooping and flower petals on the ground after heavy rains. I love peonies (my grandmother's yard had many of them) and rains in Maryland always destroy them.
Peony blooms
Garden flowers and plants. Allium.
Purple flowering plant. Maybe some sort of onion? No idea as I don’t recall planting this.
Photo of two clay sun faces on the wall in morning sunrise sunlight framed by shadows on the was of an iron railing and bamboo plants in a large clay pot.
Sunrise over the Sea of Cortez behind construction
Blue sky with contrail clouds and half moon.
Blue skies with two contrails left to right reminiscent of Rothko divisions.
Photo of hotel Marquis de Riscal in Spain.
Sign on cart corral asking people to sort carts in large and small cart lines.
Map showing drone use in warfare around the globe - Mexico, South America, of course the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia, but so many countries in Africa and in the Indo-Pacific surprised me.
Snowy landscape
Facebook ad for Marriott self-checkin kiosk. The word Hello is obscured by a video play button and cut off to say “Hell” so it looks like you can check in and out of Hell. Guessing this could be useful to some people…
Your application is being reviewed. You can typically expect a response in 45 days. Dec 4, 2025 We recieved your application for review. Dec 6, 2025 We recieved your application for review. "Received" is spelled incorrectly.
Night sky with long exposure. Full moon backlighting clouds.
Moonrise behind trees
Cairn peeking around right side of the laptop.
Blue, our Cairn terrier, laying close to my feet and intermittently whining for dinner time.
Panoramic photo of trees, white clouds and grey rain clouds near sunset.
Blue sky with contrails, clouds, sunrise and sun rays with rees silhouetted at the bottom.
Two Cairn terriers. Blue, our boy, at the top of the couch, Lola, our girl, on the cushions.
New water heater installed. Plumbing lines, expansion tank, and so on.
Our male Cairn terrier, blue, who is blonde and hanging out on a chair in the sun. One ear up. One ear down. Staring at me.
Blue, our male Cairn terrier, staring at me from a chair in the sun.
Blue, our boy Cairn terrier, resting in the arm of a chair.
Cairn terrier laying down facing away from me pouting be a it’s not dinner time.
Dark clouds and skies after dusk.
Black T shirt with gold text “Iowa” against black and black against gold “Great colors. Easy to spell.” From store in Iowa, @raygun
Sunrise with clouds and contrails
Fireplace with wood stacked on left and right and fire in the fireplace 🔥
Cloud at sunset above two sycamore tree tops.
The Peleus affair: In a notorious 1944 incident, the commander of U-852, Heinz-Wilhelm Eck, ordered his crew to machine-gun the survivors of the sunken Greek ship Peleus in the South Atlantic. Eck defended his actions as necessary to eliminate debris that might reveal the U-boat's location to Allied aircraft. However, three sailors survived and testified against him after the war.
Blue, our Cairn terrier, sprawled on the back of the couch, on pillows, legs and paws under him.
Blue, an 8 year old, blonde, male cairn terrier, is laying on the back of a couch with his head resting on throw pillows, looking pretty asleep.
Dissertation cover page with title “The Psychological Effects of Reviewer-2 on Early Career Researchers”
Lindsey Smith Taillie, professor in the nutrition department at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, said without the study, the nation would have no real compass on a key health indicator for Americans. “Why would you not want to measure it?” she said. “I think the only reason why you wouldn’t measure it is if you were planning to cut food assistance, because it basically allows you to pretend like we don’t have this food insecurity problem.”
Purplish pink and yellow flower in the garden.
Flock of Canadian geese walking toward me.
Clouds, mist, fog above valleys and ridges, lit from above near sunrise, taken from a plane flying over the landscape.
St John and surrounding islands and cayes.
Webpage text from Campari WHAT DOES THE NEGRONI TASTE LIKE? With its distinctive and simple yet perfectly balanced flavor, the Negroni is the most loved cocktail in the world’s best bars. Source: Drinks International Brands Report 2022
Clouds but the sun is still there and sky beyond is blue.
Maryland cloudscape in the afternoon. Grey above white rippled clouds above blue gradients.
Cloudscape with tree, blue sky beyond.
Illuminated clouds in night sky.
Cloudscape
Ginkgo tree in fall with a blanket of yellow leaves below.
Cairn terrier splooted in a sunny spot on the rug.
Tree with four turkey vultures and one red shouldered hawk.
Blue, our blonde male Cairn terrier.
Snow falling
5 of the 7 turkey vultures roosting in a tulip poplar tree, two were lower down. Another dozen on the fence below. I'm now worried. But they all flew away after I took this photo.
Cover of book Glory Road with people surrounding an egg and planets and suns and moons in the sky.
Book cover of Glory Road with two people dressed as rangers or something and negotiating with an ogre.