This post is available as a PDF file here: http://www.hackneys.com/docs/theystillcant.pdf 30 December 2009 In August of 2002 I endured a personal challenge. At the time, I was sitting on a bar stool at a friend’s house in my Iowa home…
My World View
This essay is available in PDF form here: http://www.hackneys.com/docs/myworldview.pdf “Your world view is, well, wrong.” Those were the last words I ever heard from a guy I’d been friends with for more than 30 years. That was back in…
Thoughts on Obama’s Peace Prize Speech
U.S. President Barack Obama presented his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway, earlier today. The headline you will read in the mass media regarding the speech will likely be some variation of “Obama defends US wars as he…
Health Care Reform, the Napkin Version
Back in March, I posted a series on Health Care Reform: Thoughts on Health Care Reform Health Care Reform FAQ Health Care Reform: The Options Health Care Reform: The Cost Drivers – One Academic’s View Health Care Reform: $2.4 Trillion…
Sobering Facts
Adult Americans Between 1989 and 2007 Americans knowledge of current events dropped by 8.3% 93% know Arnold Schwarzenegger while 36% know Vladimir Putin 32% know Sunni and Shia as two branches of Islam 41% know the name Muslims use…
Frogs
Our friends often ask us about our perspective on national and international issues due to our travels, experiences and perspectives. This is an excerpt from a recent email exchange on that topic: There continues to be very little insight and…
Why Do You Hate America?
Our friend, Lee Wochner, recently attended a town meeting on health care. It was, by his account, less scrum, and consequently more exchange of information, than other such events held recently around the country. While there, Lee took some photos…
The National Character
While researching the “Lessons From Saddam” post, I came across The National Security Archive of George Washington University. The National Security Archive is a repository of information and documents, many obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. In short, it’s…
Lessons From Saddam
This post is available as a PDF document here: http://www.hackneys.com/docs/lessonsfromsaddam.pdf ******* For the 23 people in the United States who have not been wholly consumed by the All Michael, All The Time media onslaught, it’s been an interesting week. For…
Sarah Says Goodbye – and What That Implies.
Last night I did a very unusual thing. I was in the room while CNN was on and I watched Sarah Palin’s goodbye-for-now press conference. It was unusual because a) I don’t watch television and b) I especially don’t watch…