Archive for the ‘Cultures’ Category
Monday, December 21st, 2009
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 late 2004. At the time, I was sitting in Beijing, China, and had recently ...
Posted in Cultures, Geopolitics, Outside the Fishbowl, US Politics | No Comments »
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
In traveling through 43 countries across six continents, we’ve seen quite a few ancient stadiums. From Rome’s definitive Coliseum to lesser known examples scattered around the world, we’ve explored many.
All share a sense of grandeur that matches the contests staged there, and as you wander about the stones, if you ...
Posted in Cultures, Travel | 8 Comments »
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
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 to refer to God and the name of Islam's sacred text
33% believe that Iraq carried ...
Posted in Cultures, Geopolitics, US Politics | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Americans don’t get out much.
That should come as no surprise considering that, according to the U.S. State Department, only 27 percent of Americans hold a valid passport. That means that 73 percent of Americans couldn’t get out to see the rest of the world even if they wanted to; even ...
Posted in Cultures, Geopolitics, Travel | 6 Comments »
Sunday, October 25th, 2009
Reentering the grid is a challenging experience when planned and voluntary. When unexpected, arbitrary and not of your own making, it is doubly so.
At times, the pragmatic aspects are overwhelming in their breadth, requiring an entire life to be reconstructed and assembled out of sometimes moving parts. But those challenges ...
Posted in Cultures, Motorcycles, Travel | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
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 understanding of the challenges that face the country among the American people, ...
Posted in Cultures, US Politics | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Much to the chagrin of my long-suffering wife, I’m a bit of a pack rat, as well as a horizontal filer.
What that translates into is an office that inevitably evolves into stacks of material covering every horizontal surface.
To my wife’s and others amazement, I can locate the correct strata of ...
Posted in Cultures, Expedition Vehicles, Motorcycles, Travel | 16 Comments »
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
When you're inside the United States, it is nearly impossible to realize how insular it is, especially related to information and perspective.
Since we're going to be here for a while, I'm providing a semi-regular injection of outside perspectives and information gleaned from other cultures, counties and regions in an effort ...
Posted in Cultures, Geopolitics, Outside the Fishbowl, Religion | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
Exactly 40 years ago this second, one chapter ended and another began.
40 years ago, plopped down on the shag carpet of our basement family room, watching our round tube Curtis Mathis color television, I saw Neil Armstrong step down onto the surface of the moon.
I didn’t know it then, but ...
Posted in Cultures, Sci / Tech | No Comments »
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
"The transition from 'astronaut preparing to accomplish the next big thing' to 'astronaut telling about the last big thing' did not come easily to me." Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 Astronaut, and second man on the moon.
When we were still down in South America, pondering the sudden necessity to return to ...
Posted in Cultures, Travel | No Comments »
