Spoke at "Serviam" celebration sponsored by Blackwater Worldwide

Serviam being a stability-ops (private sector) industry mag.

Spoke at Ronald Reagan Building amphitheater, which is a gorgeous place (visually and acoustically) to perform yesterday afternoon to an invited audience. Then cocktail party in rotunda up top. Previous night was dinner with Blackwater senior execs and magazine publisher.

Interesting evolutions at Blackwater, moving upstream (I might say) in stability ops (less at pointy end and more into logistics & conflict prevention). Got to speak at length with president Gary Jackson, an intense but conversational guy who's very passionate about the biz (he's really upset over the lack of movement of food relief supplies in Haiti from port to people). These guys are running a business, but you see the real emotion, like with any former military, over badly run ops. They see the problem and know full well what the solution entails.