Site has moved

As Inspired and the posts of J. Brad Hickman will no longer appear on blogspot. Please visit jbradhickman.com for the new posts. Thank you for reading.

Book Review: "A History of the English Speaking Peoples Since 1900" by Andrew Roberts

Before I started law school I read Winston Churchill's four volume "History of the English Speaking Peoples." The purpose of Churchill's set was to outline a history of the people groups that speak English from the creation of Britannia through the developments of America, Australia, South Africa, Canada, etc. I read this history so that I would have a deeper understanding of where the laws of the United States originated. After all, the discipline of history exists so that we may learn from the past to improve for the future.

In some ways, Andrew Roberts accomplishes this purpose more effectively than Churchill. Perhaps much of this lies in the fact that Roberts' book covers the happenings of the last century. The events of the most recent years affect us more in some ways because we do not have the healing aspects of time. Throughout the 648 pages, Roberts is careful to point out the strengths and weaknesses of the English speaking peoples.

As a citizen of Great Britain, he is unbiased in his views towards the U.S., yet he makes no apologies for her hegemony. Furthermore, his conservative viewpoint is a breath of fresh air. In my opinion he was generally quite fair in his analysis, illustrating the good and bad of both Republicans and Democrats.

As I finished the book, I left with an emboldened foundation for many of the things I believe in. I also found myself frustrated with the downright stupidity and unawareness we have as a society of the greater context surrounding today's political climate. This is the first book I have read that I believe every American should be required to read.

Law School : Kind of like Frisbee -- Your Catch is Only as Good as Your Next Throw

Yesterday, I filled in 94 bubbles on a scantron to end three years of law school. I am finished. Tomorrow I will graduate, take a couple of days off, and begin preparing for the Bar Exam. I kind of feel like I did when I played football in high school. Friday night was exciting after a win and you knew you had the next two days to celebrate. However, you knew that on Monday, it was time to get ready for the next team.

I think the same concept applies to throwing a frisbee. You might make an incredible under-the-legs catch, but if you botch the next throw, then the consecutive catch-throw tally is once again shy of the record. In other words, I think all of life brings a big accomplishment. You have a little time to celebrate, but it is soon time to move onto the next challenge.

Before I get there, I am going to celebrate. Part of this celebration entails reflecting on things I learned (or things I already knew but were reinforced) in my three years of law school.

> Confidence is important -- One of my professors told us, "Even if you don't know the answer, act like you know the answer."  He went on to say that if we were in front of a judge, it would not be good for your client if you said, "I guess the answer is..." or "I don't know."  His point was not that we should feign knowing, but that we should have confidence.

> Admit when you do not know -- While this might seem contradictory to my last lesson, it is not.  It saves every one a lot of time and awkwardness if you admit you do not know the answer.  But it seems imperative to add that while you might not know currently, you will work diligently to find the answer.  Plus, it adds to your credibility when you do know the answer.  

> Work-Life Balance -- It can be really easy for law school to demand every hour of your day.  There is no reason it should.  Nor should any other part of your life take up so much time that you miss life.  I believe that part of glorifying God and honoring Him entails working hard at the things He has assigned you too.  While this involves work and learning, it also involves relationships and stewardship of everything He has given you.

> Preparation usually works better than desperation  -- I found out that I understood the concepts much better if I put the work in ahead of time as opposed to trying to play catch up later on.  

I have no doubt that as I continue to reflect to think on my last three years I will be reminded of more things I learned.  I am thankful for the opportunity to pursue my law degree and I am thankful for those that have supported me in the journey.  

Ryan Hall : Fastest American Born Marathoner

Ryan Hall will represent the United States running the Marathon in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. As of this past week, he is now the fastest American born marathoner. He ran the London marathon in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 17 seconds. That is unbelievably fast.

Check out this video about Ryan's story.

Pertinent Words from W. Churchill

The last several months I have been treading through Andrew Roberts, A History of the English Speaking Peoples Since 1900.  I read Winston Churchill's four-volume set, A History of the English Speaking Peoples the summer before I started law school, so reading Roberts' work naturally seemed appropriate for my last year of law school.

As I was reading about the Allied Forces efforts in World War II, I thought a speech Winston Churchill gave in September of 1943 seemed pertinent for our nation today.  

The price of greatness is responsibility.  If the people of the United States had continued in a mediocre station, struggling with the wilderness, absorbed in their own affairs, and a factor of no consequence in the movement of the world, they might have remained forgotten and undistrubed beyone their protecting oceans: but one cannot rise to be in many ways the leading community in the civilized world without being involved in its problems, without being convulsed by its agonies and inspired by its causes.  If this has been proved in the past, as it has been, it will become indisputable in the future.  The people of the United States cannot escape world responsibility.  Although we live in a period so tumultous that little can be predicted, we may be quite sure that this process will be intensified with every forward step the United States make in wealth and in power.  Not only are the responsibilities of this great Republic growing, but the world over which they range is itself contracting in relation to our powers of locomotion at a positively alarming rate.

As you read these words, I hope that you will consider not only the policy of the politicians you elect, but I also hope that you will consider your influence in the place that you live.  Remember, "The price of greatness is responsibility."

The Family Tree: My Kinship to Brad Pitt and Barack Obama

Today, the New England Historical Genealogical Society released the various celebrities each of the three remaining presidential candidates are related to.  The AP news story tagline focused on Hillary Clinton's kinship with Angelina Jolie and Barack Obama's kinship with Brad Pitt.  

I thought it would be interesting to see who each candidate is related to, so I started reading the article.  When I got toward the bottom of the article, it said, "Pitt and Obama are ninth cousins, linked by Edwin Hickman, who died in Virginia in 1769."  This immediately piqued my interest because my dad recently discovered that one of our great-grandfathers was named Edwin Hickman.  

So I called my dad and he said that his sixth great-grandfather was named Edwin Hickman, from Virginia, and he died in 1769.  So I did a little more research and discovered that my seventh great-grandfather, is also Barack Obama's & Brad Pitt's ninth great-grandfather.  That makes both of them like my eighth cousins.  

Eighth is kind of close when you think about it.  I am really close to my third cousins.  8-3=5.  That is not that big of a difference.  Seriously, I doubt I will ever meet either of these "relatives," but it made for a fun day all the same.  This explains why people often confuse my good looks with the other Brad "in the family."

Apple

Sorry for the delayed posting -- I had the pleasure of skiing Winter Park last week for my last spring break.  

______________

One thing I like about the iPhone are the periodic software updates Apple provides to keep the iPhone operating at an optimal level.  Just before spring break, I downloaded the newest update via iTunes and began the installation on my iPhone.  For some reason, the update didn't work, sending my iPhone into recovery mode.  No big deal -- I thought I could essentially reboot the phone and sync it to a previous backup.  Unfortunately this did not work.

Long story short -- I tried the recovery process in 9 different ways, spent an two hours on the phone with three different technicians trying to fix error 1012.  Nothing worked.  Fortunately I was driving to Denver the next morning and they fixed me up with an appointment at the Apple store there.  

I received a new iPhone because no one could fix the problem -- they didn't even know what the error was.  The point of this post is not to state my frustration with the iPhone.  These kind of things are going to happen.  The point is to convey how impressed I was with Apple's customer service.  They were prompt, helpful, and very pro-active.  

Losing Guilt

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me

 -- words from "In Christ Alone"

Over the last several days, "In Christ Alone" has been my song of choice.  I was listening to it today, reflecting on the words, when those quoted above struck a chord in my heart.  "No guilt in life, no fear in death."  The realization and impact of that realization from what these words actually mean allowed me to taste the freedom of a life in Christ.

It seems to me that the enemy loves to bring guilt into our lives.  Guilt renders us ineffective, holding us back from the purposes for which God has created us for -- namely to glorify him.  I think part of the ingredients in the miry clay is guilt.  Webster says that "mire" is "heavy often deep mud or slush."  

I remember times as a kid that I would need to get across a muddy field.  By the time I crossed, the mud had so caked onto the bottoms of my shoes that the weight had to have increased what seemed like 40 pounds.  It felt awkward and slowing.  The guilt of sin does this to our lives.  Paul says to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles."  It is Christ's power alone that allows us to remove sin and the guilt it brings.  

I hope you find the freedom of Christ and experience anew each day.  If you belong to Christ, then it is the only option.  

There is Plenty of Oil Left

From time to time, I become concerned with the amount of oil that exists, primarily because I know it is going to affect my pocket book.  It seems this concern is unfounded.  An opinion piece in today's The Wall Street Journal entitled, "The World Has Plenty of Oil," provides a synopsis as to why the world is not going to be running out of oil anytime soon.  While I think you should read the article, I want to mention some of the things I found interesting.

• "The globe has consumed only one out of a grand total of 12 to 16 trillion barrels underground."
  

• "Even a 10% gain in extraction efficiency on a global scale will unlock 1.2 to 1.6 trillion barrels of extra resources -- an additional 50-year supply at current consumption rates." [Ed. Note: Part of the problem is that we currently have outdated extraction methods/technology.]

• The author of the article estimates that we will not hit the peak-point of oil supply (in other words, where we have used 50% of the world's oil) when I reach my 60's, which is a good 40 years from now.

The WSJ ran a similar op-ed piece about four years ago stating similar propositions.  The article then centered around a book, Black Gold Stranglehold.  If you want more information, I would suggest you read this book.  

Why I Support Tax Reform

I found this little anecdote on the web today (compliments of Wise Bread).  It makes a solid point.

___________________________________________________

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
"Since you are all such good customers", he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20". Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. 
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share?"
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia

_____________________________________________________________

Choose the Countries for World Monopoly

Games.  Card Games.  Board Games.  Spontaneous Games.  Football Games.  Baseball Games.  Golf Games.  I like games.  

 

Risk and Monopoly are two of my favorite board games.  Monopoly has several editions and they are coming out with another.  It is called Monopoly: Here & Now : The World Edition.  

You can vote for the cities that will be placed on the board.  But hurry, you only have until Friday, February 29, to vote on the cities Mr. Monopoly provides.

And next time you want to play a game, holler at me.