nice...
Monday, October 27, 2008
Friday, November 09, 2007
Monday, November 05, 2007
Christopher and Corrie
Eric took this picture at his daughter's birthday.... He really takes fantastic pictures.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
I pulled this off of Columbia's website... it is worth a read... I didn't think that anyone at Columbia would have the courage to speak out... I'm glad I was wrong in that assessment.
President Lee C. Bollinger's Introductory Remarks at SIPA-World Leaders Forum with President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Sept. 24, 2007
I would like to begin by thanking Dean John Coatsworth and Professor Richard Bulliet for their work in organizing this event and for their commitment to the role of the School of International and Public Affairs and its role in training future leaders in world affairs. If today proves anything it will be that there is an enormous amount of work ahead for all of us. This is just one of many events on Iran that will run throughout this academic year, all to help us better understand this critical and complex nation in today’s geopolitics.
Before speaking directly to the current President of Iran, I have a few critically important points to emphasize.
First, since 2003, the World Leaders Forum has advanced Columbia’s longstanding tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate, especially on global issues. It should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we deplore in any way implies our endorsement of those ideas, or the weakness of our resolve to resist those ideas or our naiveté about the very real dangers inherent in such ideas. It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable when we open the public forum to their voices. To hold otherwise would make vigorous debate impossible.
Second, to those who believe that this event never should have happened, that it is inappropriate for the University to conduct such an event, I want to say that I understand your perspective and respect it as reasonable. The scope of free speech and academic freedom should itself always be open to further debate. As one of the more famous quotations about free speech goes, it is “an experiment, as all life is an experiment.” I want to say, however, as forcefully as I can, that this is the right thing to do and, indeed, it is required by existing norms of free speech, the American university, and Columbia itself.
Third, to those among us who experience hurt and pain as a result of this day, I say on behalf of all of us we are sorry and wish to do what we can to alleviate it.
Fourth, to be clear on another matter - this event has nothing whatsoever to do with any “rights” of the speaker but only with our rights to listen and speak. We do it for ourselves.
We do it in the great tradition of openness that has defined this nation for many decades now. We need to understand the world we live in, neither neglecting its glories nor shrinking from its threats and dangers. It is consistent with the idea that one should know thine enemies, to have the intellectual and emotional courage to confront the mind of evil and to prepare ourselves to act with the right temperament. In the moment, the arguments for free speech will never seem to match the power of the arguments against, but what we must remember is that this is precisely because free speech asks us to exercise extraordinary self- restraint against the very natural but often counter-productive impulses that lead us to retreat from engagement with ideas we dislike and fear. In this lies the genius of the American idea of free speech.
Lastly, in universities, we have a deep and almost single-minded commitment to pursue the truth. We do not have access to the levers of power. We cannot make war or peace. We can only make minds. And to do this we must have the most full freedom of inquiry.
Let me now turn to Mr. Ahmadinejad.
THE BRUTAL CRACKDOWN ON SCHOLARS, JOURNALISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES
Over the last two weeks, your government has released Dr. Haleh Esfandiari and Parnaz Axima; and just two days ago Kian Tajbakhsh, a graduate of Columbia with a PhD in urban planning. While our community is relieved to learn of his release on bail, Dr. Tajbakhsh remains in Teheran, under house arrest, and he still does not know whether he will be charged with a crime or allowed to leave the country. Let me say this for the record, I call on the President today to ensure that Kian Tajbaksh will be free to travel out of Iran as he wishes. Let me also report today that we are extending an offer to Dr. Tajbaksh to join our faculty as a visiting professor in urban planning here at his Alma Mater, in our Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. And we hope he will be able to join us next semester.
The arrest and imprisonment of these Iranian Americans for no good reason is not only unjustified, it runs completely counter to the very values that allow today’s speaker to even appear on this campus.
But at least they are alive.
According to Amnesty International, 210 people have been executed in Iran so far this year – 21 of them on the morning of September 5th alone. This annual total includes at least two children – further proof, as Human Rights Watch puts it, that Iran leads the world in executing minors.
There is more.
Iran hanged up to 30 people this past July and August during a widely reported suppression of efforts to establish a more open, democratic society in Iran. Many of these executions were carried out in public view, a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.
These executions and others have coincided with a wider crackdown on student activists and academics accused of trying to foment a so-called “soft revolution”. This has included jailing and forced retirements of scholars. As Dr. Esfandiari said in a broadcast interview since her release, she was held in solitary confinement for 105 days because the government “believes that the United States . . . is planning a Velvet Revolution” in Iran.
In this very room last year we learned something about Velvet Revolutions from Vaclav Havel. And we will likely hear the same from our World Leaders Forum speaker this evening – President Michelle Bachelet Jeria of Chile. Both of their extraordinary stories remind us that there are not enough prisons to prevent an entire society that wants its freedom from achieving it.
We at this university have not been shy to protest and challenge the failures of our own government to live by these values; and we won’t be shy in criticizing yours.
Let’s, then, be clear at the beginning, Mr. President you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.
And so I ask you:
Why have women, members of the Baha’i faith, homosexuals and so many of our academic colleagues become targets of persecution in your country?
Why in a letter last week to the Secretary General of the UN did Akbar Gangi, Iran’s leading political dissident, and over 300 public intellectuals, writers and Nobel Laureates express such grave concern that your inflamed dispute with the West is distracting the world’s attention from the intolerable conditions your regime has created within Iran? In particular, the use of the Press Law to ban writers for criticizing the ruling system.
Why are you so afraid of Iranian citizens expressing their opinions for change?
In our country, you are interviewed by our press and asked that you to speak here today. And while my colleague at the Law School Michael Dorf spoke to Radio Free Europe [sic, Voice of America] viewers in Iran a short while ago on the tenets of freedom of speech in this country, I propose going further than that. Let me lead a delegation of students and faculty from Columbia to address your university about free speech, with the same freedom we afford you today? Will you do that?
THE DENIAL OF THE HOLOCAUST
In a December 2005 state television broadcast, you described the Holocaust as a “fabricated” “legend.” One year later, you held a two-day conference of Holocaust deniers.
For the illiterate and ignorant, this is dangerous propaganda. When you come to a place like this, this makes you, quite simply, ridiculous. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.
You should know that Columbia is a world center of Jewish studies and now, in partnership with the YIVO Institute, of Holocaust studies. Since the 1930s, we’ve provided an intellectual home for countless Holocaust refugees and survivors and their children and grandchildren. The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history. Because of this, and for many other reasons, your absurd comments about the “debate” over the Holocaust both defy historical truth and make all of us who continue to fear humanity’s capacity for evil shudder at this closure of memory, which is always virtue’s first line of defense.
Will you cease this outrage?
THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL
Twelve days ago, you said that the state of Israel “cannot continue its life.” This echoed a number of inflammatory statements you have delivered in the last two years, including in October 2005 when you said that Israel should be “wiped off the map.”
Columbia has over 800 alumni currently living in Israel. As an institution we have deep ties with our colleagues there. I personally have spoken out in the most forceful terms against proposals to boycott Israeli scholars and universities, saying that such boycotts might as well include Columbia. More than 400 college and university presidents in this country have joined in that statement. My question, then, is: Do you plan on wiping us off the map, too?
FUNDING TERRORISM
According to reports by the Council on Foreign Relations, it’s well documented that Iran is a state sponsor of terror that funds such violent group as the Lebanese Hezbollah, which Iran helped organize in the 1980s, the Palestinian Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
While your predecessor government was instrumental in providing the US with intelligence and base support in its 2001 campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan, your government is now undermining American troops in Iraq by funding, arming, and providing safe transit to insurgent leaders like Muqtada al-Sadr and his forces.
There are a number of reports that also link your government with Syria’s efforts to destabalize the fledgling Lebanese government through violence and political assassination.
My question is this: Why do you support well-documented terrorist organizations that continue to strike at peace and democracy in the Middle East, destroying lives and civil society in the region?
PROXY WAR AGAINST U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ
In a briefing before the National Press Club earlier this month, General David Petraeus reported that arms supplies from Iran, including 240mm rockets and explosively formed projectiles, are contributing to “a sophistication of attacks that would by no means be possible without Iranian support.”
A number of Columbia graduates and current students are among the brave members of our military who are serving or have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They, like other Americans with sons, daughters, fathers, husbands and wives serving in combat, rightly see your government as the enemy.
Can you tell them and us why Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq by arming Shi’a militia targeting and killing U.S. troops?
FINALLY, IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AND INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS
This week the United Nations Security Council is contemplating expanding sanctions for a third time because of your government’s refusal to suspend its uranium-enrichment program. You continue to defy this world body by claiming a right to develop peaceful nuclear power, but this hardly withstands scrutiny when you continue to issue military threats to neighbors. Last week, French President Sarkozy made clear his lost patience with your stall tactics; and even Russia and China have shown concern.
Why does your country continue to refuse to adhere to international standards for nuclear weapons verification in defiance of agreements that you have made with the UN nuclear agency? And why have you chosen to make the people of your country vulnerable to the effects of international economic sanctions and threaten to engulf the world with nuclear annihilation?
Let me close with this comment. Frankly, and in all candor, Mr. President, I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do. Fortunately, I am told by experts on your country, that this only further undermines your position in Iran with all the many good-hearted, intelligent citizens there. A year ago, I am reliably told, your preposterous and belligerent statements in this country (as in your meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations) so embarrassed sensible Iranian citizens that this led to your party’s defeat in the December mayoral elections. May this do that and more.
I am only a professor, who is also a university president, and today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for. I only wish I could do better.
President Lee C. Bollinger's Introductory Remarks at SIPA-World Leaders Forum with President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Sept. 24, 2007
I would like to begin by thanking Dean John Coatsworth and Professor Richard Bulliet for their work in organizing this event and for their commitment to the role of the School of International and Public Affairs and its role in training future leaders in world affairs. If today proves anything it will be that there is an enormous amount of work ahead for all of us. This is just one of many events on Iran that will run throughout this academic year, all to help us better understand this critical and complex nation in today’s geopolitics.
Before speaking directly to the current President of Iran, I have a few critically important points to emphasize.
First, since 2003, the World Leaders Forum has advanced Columbia’s longstanding tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate, especially on global issues. It should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we deplore in any way implies our endorsement of those ideas, or the weakness of our resolve to resist those ideas or our naiveté about the very real dangers inherent in such ideas. It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable when we open the public forum to their voices. To hold otherwise would make vigorous debate impossible.
Second, to those who believe that this event never should have happened, that it is inappropriate for the University to conduct such an event, I want to say that I understand your perspective and respect it as reasonable. The scope of free speech and academic freedom should itself always be open to further debate. As one of the more famous quotations about free speech goes, it is “an experiment, as all life is an experiment.” I want to say, however, as forcefully as I can, that this is the right thing to do and, indeed, it is required by existing norms of free speech, the American university, and Columbia itself.
Third, to those among us who experience hurt and pain as a result of this day, I say on behalf of all of us we are sorry and wish to do what we can to alleviate it.
Fourth, to be clear on another matter - this event has nothing whatsoever to do with any “rights” of the speaker but only with our rights to listen and speak. We do it for ourselves.
We do it in the great tradition of openness that has defined this nation for many decades now. We need to understand the world we live in, neither neglecting its glories nor shrinking from its threats and dangers. It is consistent with the idea that one should know thine enemies, to have the intellectual and emotional courage to confront the mind of evil and to prepare ourselves to act with the right temperament. In the moment, the arguments for free speech will never seem to match the power of the arguments against, but what we must remember is that this is precisely because free speech asks us to exercise extraordinary self- restraint against the very natural but often counter-productive impulses that lead us to retreat from engagement with ideas we dislike and fear. In this lies the genius of the American idea of free speech.
Lastly, in universities, we have a deep and almost single-minded commitment to pursue the truth. We do not have access to the levers of power. We cannot make war or peace. We can only make minds. And to do this we must have the most full freedom of inquiry.
Let me now turn to Mr. Ahmadinejad.
THE BRUTAL CRACKDOWN ON SCHOLARS, JOURNALISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES
Over the last two weeks, your government has released Dr. Haleh Esfandiari and Parnaz Axima; and just two days ago Kian Tajbakhsh, a graduate of Columbia with a PhD in urban planning. While our community is relieved to learn of his release on bail, Dr. Tajbakhsh remains in Teheran, under house arrest, and he still does not know whether he will be charged with a crime or allowed to leave the country. Let me say this for the record, I call on the President today to ensure that Kian Tajbaksh will be free to travel out of Iran as he wishes. Let me also report today that we are extending an offer to Dr. Tajbaksh to join our faculty as a visiting professor in urban planning here at his Alma Mater, in our Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. And we hope he will be able to join us next semester.
The arrest and imprisonment of these Iranian Americans for no good reason is not only unjustified, it runs completely counter to the very values that allow today’s speaker to even appear on this campus.
But at least they are alive.
According to Amnesty International, 210 people have been executed in Iran so far this year – 21 of them on the morning of September 5th alone. This annual total includes at least two children – further proof, as Human Rights Watch puts it, that Iran leads the world in executing minors.
There is more.
Iran hanged up to 30 people this past July and August during a widely reported suppression of efforts to establish a more open, democratic society in Iran. Many of these executions were carried out in public view, a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.
These executions and others have coincided with a wider crackdown on student activists and academics accused of trying to foment a so-called “soft revolution”. This has included jailing and forced retirements of scholars. As Dr. Esfandiari said in a broadcast interview since her release, she was held in solitary confinement for 105 days because the government “believes that the United States . . . is planning a Velvet Revolution” in Iran.
In this very room last year we learned something about Velvet Revolutions from Vaclav Havel. And we will likely hear the same from our World Leaders Forum speaker this evening – President Michelle Bachelet Jeria of Chile. Both of their extraordinary stories remind us that there are not enough prisons to prevent an entire society that wants its freedom from achieving it.
We at this university have not been shy to protest and challenge the failures of our own government to live by these values; and we won’t be shy in criticizing yours.
Let’s, then, be clear at the beginning, Mr. President you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.
And so I ask you:
Why have women, members of the Baha’i faith, homosexuals and so many of our academic colleagues become targets of persecution in your country?
Why in a letter last week to the Secretary General of the UN did Akbar Gangi, Iran’s leading political dissident, and over 300 public intellectuals, writers and Nobel Laureates express such grave concern that your inflamed dispute with the West is distracting the world’s attention from the intolerable conditions your regime has created within Iran? In particular, the use of the Press Law to ban writers for criticizing the ruling system.
Why are you so afraid of Iranian citizens expressing their opinions for change?
In our country, you are interviewed by our press and asked that you to speak here today. And while my colleague at the Law School Michael Dorf spoke to Radio Free Europe [sic, Voice of America] viewers in Iran a short while ago on the tenets of freedom of speech in this country, I propose going further than that. Let me lead a delegation of students and faculty from Columbia to address your university about free speech, with the same freedom we afford you today? Will you do that?
THE DENIAL OF THE HOLOCAUST
In a December 2005 state television broadcast, you described the Holocaust as a “fabricated” “legend.” One year later, you held a two-day conference of Holocaust deniers.
For the illiterate and ignorant, this is dangerous propaganda. When you come to a place like this, this makes you, quite simply, ridiculous. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.
You should know that Columbia is a world center of Jewish studies and now, in partnership with the YIVO Institute, of Holocaust studies. Since the 1930s, we’ve provided an intellectual home for countless Holocaust refugees and survivors and their children and grandchildren. The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history. Because of this, and for many other reasons, your absurd comments about the “debate” over the Holocaust both defy historical truth and make all of us who continue to fear humanity’s capacity for evil shudder at this closure of memory, which is always virtue’s first line of defense.
Will you cease this outrage?
THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL
Twelve days ago, you said that the state of Israel “cannot continue its life.” This echoed a number of inflammatory statements you have delivered in the last two years, including in October 2005 when you said that Israel should be “wiped off the map.”
Columbia has over 800 alumni currently living in Israel. As an institution we have deep ties with our colleagues there. I personally have spoken out in the most forceful terms against proposals to boycott Israeli scholars and universities, saying that such boycotts might as well include Columbia. More than 400 college and university presidents in this country have joined in that statement. My question, then, is: Do you plan on wiping us off the map, too?
FUNDING TERRORISM
According to reports by the Council on Foreign Relations, it’s well documented that Iran is a state sponsor of terror that funds such violent group as the Lebanese Hezbollah, which Iran helped organize in the 1980s, the Palestinian Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
While your predecessor government was instrumental in providing the US with intelligence and base support in its 2001 campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan, your government is now undermining American troops in Iraq by funding, arming, and providing safe transit to insurgent leaders like Muqtada al-Sadr and his forces.
There are a number of reports that also link your government with Syria’s efforts to destabalize the fledgling Lebanese government through violence and political assassination.
My question is this: Why do you support well-documented terrorist organizations that continue to strike at peace and democracy in the Middle East, destroying lives and civil society in the region?
PROXY WAR AGAINST U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ
In a briefing before the National Press Club earlier this month, General David Petraeus reported that arms supplies from Iran, including 240mm rockets and explosively formed projectiles, are contributing to “a sophistication of attacks that would by no means be possible without Iranian support.”
A number of Columbia graduates and current students are among the brave members of our military who are serving or have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They, like other Americans with sons, daughters, fathers, husbands and wives serving in combat, rightly see your government as the enemy.
Can you tell them and us why Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq by arming Shi’a militia targeting and killing U.S. troops?
FINALLY, IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AND INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS
This week the United Nations Security Council is contemplating expanding sanctions for a third time because of your government’s refusal to suspend its uranium-enrichment program. You continue to defy this world body by claiming a right to develop peaceful nuclear power, but this hardly withstands scrutiny when you continue to issue military threats to neighbors. Last week, French President Sarkozy made clear his lost patience with your stall tactics; and even Russia and China have shown concern.
Why does your country continue to refuse to adhere to international standards for nuclear weapons verification in defiance of agreements that you have made with the UN nuclear agency? And why have you chosen to make the people of your country vulnerable to the effects of international economic sanctions and threaten to engulf the world with nuclear annihilation?
Let me close with this comment. Frankly, and in all candor, Mr. President, I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do. Fortunately, I am told by experts on your country, that this only further undermines your position in Iran with all the many good-hearted, intelligent citizens there. A year ago, I am reliably told, your preposterous and belligerent statements in this country (as in your meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations) so embarrassed sensible Iranian citizens that this led to your party’s defeat in the December mayoral elections. May this do that and more.
I am only a professor, who is also a university president, and today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for. I only wish I could do better.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
this is one of my favorite quotes lately (actually it was a while back, but it is still funny"
“Halo 2 is a lot like Halo 1, only it's Halo 1 on fire, going 130 miles per hour through a hospital zone, being chased by helicopters and ninjas ... And, the ninjas are all on fire, too.” Bungie Studios head Jason Jones
“Halo 2 is a lot like Halo 1, only it's Halo 1 on fire, going 130 miles per hour through a hospital zone, being chased by helicopters and ninjas ... And, the ninjas are all on fire, too.” Bungie Studios head Jason Jones
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
BREITBART.COM - Reporters Without Borders lists 13 "enemies of the Internet"
The article above is worth reading.... I know I'm not the big fan of liberal media here in the US but at least we have the freedom to hack each other off...
The article above is worth reading.... I know I'm not the big fan of liberal media here in the US but at least we have the freedom to hack each other off...
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Maple Canyon Rock
The rocks in Maple canyon look manmade.... the walls look like a cobblestone street. The only thing bad about Maple Canyon are the turkey farms at the mouth of the canyon. Let me tell you there is a certain aroma wafting through the canyon when the wind is just right...
Oh! A mullet!
Exactly.... How in the heck can this stylist go through life knowing that he is perpetuating the mullet.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Man am I tired of all of the xbox playing marathony type situations i have been in lately... I kid. I haven't spent any time with my precious device as of late, but that will change, oh yes that will change.
check out www.homestarruner.com it's pretty funny...
Just a little free advice to anyone out there. If you are going to post anything on News groups that make you look like a huge dork when reading them ten years later use a pseudonym. A friend of mine....
check out www.homestarruner.com it's pretty funny...
Just a little free advice to anyone out there. If you are going to post anything on News groups that make you look like a huge dork when reading them ten years later use a pseudonym. A friend of mine....
Monday, April 03, 2006
Friday, March 31, 2006
I've taken several days off in a sporadic fashion to be with Corrie and Christopher... It has proven to be a wonderful thing... I'm sure that my feet are just barely getting wet with regard to how our lives have radically changed. I have only gotten peed on 3 or 4..well maybe 5...come to think of it 6 or 7 times... so I think that I'm doing well in that regard... Corrie has thus far escaped a dousing but I'm very sure that Christopher will surprise his mommy when she's not looking....
Surprisingly enough he has been really good and I feel like I have actually caught up on some sleep... Corrie, however, has not..... More later......
Surprisingly enough he has been really good and I feel like I have actually caught up on some sleep... Corrie, however, has not..... More later......
Thursday, March 30, 2006
As everyone who has ever taken time to reflect upon the changes that take place when you have a child says... This is a major life change.... I didn't actually sleep (like everyone else) for the first week... Corrie is just now catching up to her sleep... and as I write I think Christopher is working on a diaper for Dad to change.... or maybe he is mentally going through the turns on the Nurburgring in his head since he doesn't currently have his drivers license.... In case anyone in Houston reads this I HIGHLY recommend the Women's Hospital of Texas they have been awesome..... More later, diaper is finished...
rpm
rpm
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
the wife and I are looking forward to having our first child sometime in March of '06. Some folks tell me that our lives are going to change a little. I am wondering for myself exactly how. I mean, I really don't function well on less that 8 hours of sleep. Anything less than 5 and I start contemplating the use of deadly force for pretty much anything this because of the extreme head pounding, eyes burning.... I mean to tell you. there have been many discussions as to the merit of the father actually getting up at night. I do not possess the technology to breastfeed my child (yet, or hopefully ever).....
Thursday, November 10, 2005
As someone who has slept in an airport more than I would have liked, I am glad to see that this is being taken seriously....
http://www.sleepinginairports.com
Also, if you are a terrorist and/or have terrorist leanings. Please stop being a terrorist now. Thank you.
http://www.sleepinginairports.com
Also, if you are a terrorist and/or have terrorist leanings. Please stop being a terrorist now. Thank you.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Friday, April 08, 2005
so random talk at the southwest gate @ good 'ole Hobby. good stuff. i knew that one day everyone would be grown up and such, but i don't know if i believed it. oh well, at least me and adam are still holding down the quasi-single nomadic lifestyle. ;)
seriously, i love that corrie and you are doing well. and way to go on the landscaping.
seriously, i love that corrie and you are doing well. and way to go on the landscaping.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
Thursday, February 10, 2005
dude, i completely forgot about this blog! it's been three years. and i just started blogging on live journal. yep, i'm a sporatic blogging crackhead, i think. and i wonder if i can double postI went to the brewbacher's by gamelan today and thought about how you (rob) were a gaming geek before it was Aisha Tyler cool!
Monday, January 17, 2005
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Friday, June 25, 2004
Saturday, February 28, 2004
ENTP - The Innovator: "ENTP - The Innovator
Profile by Sandra Krebs Hirsch and Jean Kummerow
ENTPs are known for their quest of the novel and complex. They have faith in their ability to improvise and to overcome any challenges that they face. They are highly independent, and value adaptability and innovation. They may be several steps ahead of others in encouraging and valuing change. They hate uninspired routine and resist hierarchical and bureaucratic structures that are not functional. They need freedom for action.
Living
ENTPs are lively children who question established truths and norms, dream and scheme, and develop unusual ways of doing traditional childhood things. The ENTP child is oriented toward doing the unique, which may mean taking risks and outwitting parental, school, and societal authority. They enjoy creating projects and following interests that are unusual and different.
ENTP children enjoy inventing new toys, dances, and languages. Because they are outgoing in their personality style, they often engage other children in their projects and assign them particular roles to play. ENTPs rarely accept things just as they are. They like to test or explore to see new meanings and relationships. When things do not go as they want, they use their ingenuity and cleverness to bring people and situations around to their point of view.
As young adults, when ENTPs choose a career for themselves, they tend to set flexible goals that allow them to incorporate new information and accommodate to new circumstances when they come along. It is hard for ENTPs not to be able to explore the road not taken. Their byword is keep your options open. Sometimes this flexibility can look like indecision to outsiders.
As adults, ENTPs take advantage of opportunities. Because of their ability to see relationships and connections between seem"
Profile by Sandra Krebs Hirsch and Jean Kummerow
ENTPs are known for their quest of the novel and complex. They have faith in their ability to improvise and to overcome any challenges that they face. They are highly independent, and value adaptability and innovation. They may be several steps ahead of others in encouraging and valuing change. They hate uninspired routine and resist hierarchical and bureaucratic structures that are not functional. They need freedom for action.
Living
ENTPs are lively children who question established truths and norms, dream and scheme, and develop unusual ways of doing traditional childhood things. The ENTP child is oriented toward doing the unique, which may mean taking risks and outwitting parental, school, and societal authority. They enjoy creating projects and following interests that are unusual and different.
ENTP children enjoy inventing new toys, dances, and languages. Because they are outgoing in their personality style, they often engage other children in their projects and assign them particular roles to play. ENTPs rarely accept things just as they are. They like to test or explore to see new meanings and relationships. When things do not go as they want, they use their ingenuity and cleverness to bring people and situations around to their point of view.
As young adults, when ENTPs choose a career for themselves, they tend to set flexible goals that allow them to incorporate new information and accommodate to new circumstances when they come along. It is hard for ENTPs not to be able to explore the road not taken. Their byword is keep your options open. Sometimes this flexibility can look like indecision to outsiders.
As adults, ENTPs take advantage of opportunities. Because of their ability to see relationships and connections between seem"
Saturday, February 07, 2004
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
List of Words That Should Be 'Banned'
Wed Dec 31, 1:03 PM ET
By The Associated Press
The 2004 list of words that should be banished for "misuse, overuse and general uselessness," according to Lake Superior State University:
Metrosexual: An urban male who pays a great deal of attention to appearance.
X: As in "X-Files," Xtreme, Windows XP (news - web sites) and X-Box.
Punked: To dupe, popularized by the MTV show "Punk'd."
Place Stamp Here: Printed on return envelopes.
Companion animals: Also known as pets.
Bling or Bling-Bling: Flashy jewelry.
LOL: E-mail speak for "laugh out loud."
Embedded Journalist.
Smoking Gun.
Shock and Awe.
Captured Alive.
Shots Rang Out.
Ripped From the Headlines.
Sweat Like a Pig: The problem is pigs don't sweat.
In Harm's Way.
Hand-Crafted Latte.
Sanitary Landfill: Also known as a dump.
Wed Dec 31, 1:03 PM ET
By The Associated Press
The 2004 list of words that should be banished for "misuse, overuse and general uselessness," according to Lake Superior State University:
Metrosexual: An urban male who pays a great deal of attention to appearance.
X: As in "X-Files," Xtreme, Windows XP (news - web sites) and X-Box.
Punked: To dupe, popularized by the MTV show "Punk'd."
Place Stamp Here: Printed on return envelopes.
Companion animals: Also known as pets.
Bling or Bling-Bling: Flashy jewelry.
LOL: E-mail speak for "laugh out loud."
Embedded Journalist.
Smoking Gun.
Shock and Awe.
Captured Alive.
Shots Rang Out.
Ripped From the Headlines.
Sweat Like a Pig: The problem is pigs don't sweat.
In Harm's Way.
Hand-Crafted Latte.
Sanitary Landfill: Also known as a dump.
Monday, December 08, 2003
Riot in Sierra Leone Over Midget No-Show
Riot in Sierra Leone Over Midget No-Show
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - Thousands of fans rioted at Sierra Leone's national stadium Saturday when authorities substituted two local dwarf comedians for a widely anticipated out-of-town midget duo. Police arrested 30 people, amid damage and dozens of injuries.
Daylong radio ads had whipped up excitement and ticket sales for Friday night's scheduled performance by the two Nigerian entertainers, Aki and Paw Paw.
The Nigerian performers failed to show by early morning. Organizers put the two local dwarf comedians on the stage instead.
Fans rioted, throwing projectiles and smashing windows, light fixtures and hundreds of chairs.
Witnesses said police fired tear gas. Authorities said 30 people were arrested, including eight who allegedly had tried to steal the stadium's seats.
Dozens of show-goers were reported injured in the melee. Saturday, blood splattered parts of the stadium.
Acting President Solomon Berewa, filling in while President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah is at a Commonwealth summit in Nigeria, toured the riot site Saturday and condemned the violence.
Sierra Leone's National Stadium was built as a gift from China. The stadium was under repairs for damage from the West African nation's devastating 10-year rebellion, ended in January 2002.
Riot in Sierra Leone Over Midget No-Show
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - Thousands of fans rioted at Sierra Leone's national stadium Saturday when authorities substituted two local dwarf comedians for a widely anticipated out-of-town midget duo. Police arrested 30 people, amid damage and dozens of injuries.
Daylong radio ads had whipped up excitement and ticket sales for Friday night's scheduled performance by the two Nigerian entertainers, Aki and Paw Paw.
The Nigerian performers failed to show by early morning. Organizers put the two local dwarf comedians on the stage instead.
Fans rioted, throwing projectiles and smashing windows, light fixtures and hundreds of chairs.
Witnesses said police fired tear gas. Authorities said 30 people were arrested, including eight who allegedly had tried to steal the stadium's seats.
Dozens of show-goers were reported injured in the melee. Saturday, blood splattered parts of the stadium.
Acting President Solomon Berewa, filling in while President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah is at a Commonwealth summit in Nigeria, toured the riot site Saturday and condemned the violence.
Sierra Leone's National Stadium was built as a gift from China. The stadium was under repairs for damage from the West African nation's devastating 10-year rebellion, ended in January 2002.
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Sunday, August 10, 2003
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Saturday, June 07, 2003
Friday, June 06, 2003
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Yahoo! News - Rangers Go to Landfills and Smell Them
Okay... I won't complain about my job anymore....
Okay... I won't complain about my job anymore....
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
Yahoo! News - Eisen's desire to branch out ends stint on 'SportsCenter'
Dude.... will I even watch anymore?
Dude.... will I even watch anymore?
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
I second that sentiment.... Spent a nice weekend moving misc. stuff to Houston in ancitipation of God moving me there soon.
Was sick as a freaking dog for the last day and a half. There is nothing like writhing in pain whilst trying to sleep. Oh well....
Is it just me or are Jackson and Coop-dog getting bigger every second???
Much Love,
robert
Was sick as a freaking dog for the last day and a half. There is nothing like writhing in pain whilst trying to sleep. Oh well....
Is it just me or are Jackson and Coop-dog getting bigger every second???
Much Love,
robert
Friday, May 23, 2003
the best way to defend yourself against accusations is to hire a clown to defend You....rrriiiggghhhttt..
Yahoo! News - First Lady in Bizarre TV Defense
Yahoo! News - First Lady in Bizarre TV Defense
Thursday, May 22, 2003
You know, I've always thought you were a wise, wise man! Rob for President! (Please remember me and the horror of 7:30 exams when you are elected. :) ) Soo.... the beach was fabulous, now I'm off to see Jess and go to OneDay - which is conviently 30 mins. away from her house in Texas!
P.S. the exams helped me end up with a 3.4 this semester, not too shabby for someone who tends towards irresponsible procrastination. :)
P.S. the exams helped me end up with a 3.4 this semester, not too shabby for someone who tends towards irresponsible procrastination. :)
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
MARGE "Homer, when are you going to give up this crazy sugar scheme?"
HOMER "Never, Marge! Never. I can't live the button-down life like you. I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles. Sure, I might offend a few of the bluenoses with my cocky stride and musky odor. Oh, I'll never be the darling of the so called "City Fathers" who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about "What's to be done with this Homer Simpson"
HOMER "Never, Marge! Never. I can't live the button-down life like you. I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles. Sure, I might offend a few of the bluenoses with my cocky stride and musky odor. Oh, I'll never be the darling of the so called "City Fathers" who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about "What's to be done with this Homer Simpson"
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Monday, May 12, 2003
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Everybody enjoys a good story about the colon.
The Miami Herald | 04/27/2003 | Getting the inside story on health of your colon
The Miami Herald | 04/27/2003 | Getting the inside story on health of your colon
This is by far one of the coolest ads I have ever seen... Check it out.
rob
Silver Technologies' Mirror of the Rube Goldberg-inspired ad from Honda.
rob
Silver Technologies' Mirror of the Rube Goldberg-inspired ad from Honda.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
I'm glad that we now have our priorities straight....
Yahoo! News - World's First Internet Loo Planned
Yahoo! News - World's First Internet Loo Planned
Urban Legends Reference Pages
fairly interesting debunking and/or supporting of urban legends and the like..
robert
fairly interesting debunking and/or supporting of urban legends and the like..
robert
Friday, May 02, 2003
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Saturday, April 05, 2003
Thursday, March 13, 2003
Q. Who or what do you find funny?
A. The U.S. government. Also dogs.
Q. What is the strangest thing you ever did to get material for a column or book?
A. I guess setting fire to a pair of underpants with a sparking Barbie doll.
-Dave Barry
also you can read his funny blog here: http://davebarry.blogspot.com/
A. The U.S. government. Also dogs.
Q. What is the strangest thing you ever did to get material for a column or book?
A. I guess setting fire to a pair of underpants with a sparking Barbie doll.
-Dave Barry
also you can read his funny blog here: http://davebarry.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
"You never know when an old calendar might come in handy. Sure, it's not 1985 right now, but who knows what tommorow will bring. And these TV Guides, so many memories. Gomer upset's Sgt. Carter. I'll never forget that episode."
"And how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?"
"This perpetual motion machine she made is a joke: It just keeps going faster and faster. Lisa, get in here! In this house, we obey the laws of THERMODYNAMICS!"
"What are you gonna do? Sick your dogs on me? Or your bees? Or dogs with bees in their mouth so when they bark they shoot bees at me?"
"Well, crying isn't gonna bring him back...unless your tears smell like dog food. So you can either sit there crying and eating can after can of dog food until your tears smell enough like dog food to make your dog come back or you can go out there and find your dog."
H. Simpson
"And how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?"
"This perpetual motion machine she made is a joke: It just keeps going faster and faster. Lisa, get in here! In this house, we obey the laws of THERMODYNAMICS!"
"What are you gonna do? Sick your dogs on me? Or your bees? Or dogs with bees in their mouth so when they bark they shoot bees at me?"
"Well, crying isn't gonna bring him back...unless your tears smell like dog food. So you can either sit there crying and eating can after can of dog food until your tears smell enough like dog food to make your dog come back or you can go out there and find your dog."
H. Simpson
Saturday, March 08, 2003
Friday, March 07, 2003
Saturday, February 15, 2003
In the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, two cars both slightly cross over the white line in the center of the road. They collide and a fair amount of damage is done to both cars, although neither driver is hurt.
It's impossible to assess blame for the accident on either party, however. Both drivers get out of their cars. One is a doctor and the other is a lawyer. The lawyer calls the police on his car phone: they will be there in 20 minutes.
It's cold and damp, and both men are shaken-up. The lawyer offers the doctor a drink of brandy from his hip flask. The doctor accepts, drinks and hands it back to the lawyer, who puts it away.
"Aren't you going to have a drink, too?" asks the doctor.
"Oh, maybe AFTER we've talked to the police..." replies the lawyer.
It's impossible to assess blame for the accident on either party, however. Both drivers get out of their cars. One is a doctor and the other is a lawyer. The lawyer calls the police on his car phone: they will be there in 20 minutes.
It's cold and damp, and both men are shaken-up. The lawyer offers the doctor a drink of brandy from his hip flask. The doctor accepts, drinks and hands it back to the lawyer, who puts it away.
"Aren't you going to have a drink, too?" asks the doctor.
"Oh, maybe AFTER we've talked to the police..." replies the lawyer.
Saturday, February 08, 2003
A Time For Reflection... It's important to let your heart get touched.
What with all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which almost went unnoticed last week.
Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at age 93.
The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin.
They put his left leg in... and then the trouble started.
What with all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which almost went unnoticed last week.
Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at age 93.
The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin.
They put his left leg in... and then the trouble started.
Friday, January 24, 2003
Friday, January 10, 2003
Flatulence Can be Hazardous to your Health
AMSTERDAM, Holland - Recently, researchers at the University of Amsterdam have been delving into the hazards of flatulence. Apparently, prolonged exposure of four hours a day to humans "passing gas" can weaken the immune system. The doctor heading this piece of vital research, Dr. Hans Sholten, was quoted as saying, "It would behoove anyone who cares about his or her health to avoid people with chronic flatulence."
AMSTERDAM, Holland - Recently, researchers at the University of Amsterdam have been delving into the hazards of flatulence. Apparently, prolonged exposure of four hours a day to humans "passing gas" can weaken the immune system. The doctor heading this piece of vital research, Dr. Hans Sholten, was quoted as saying, "It would behoove anyone who cares about his or her health to avoid people with chronic flatulence."
Thursday, January 09, 2003
Tuesday, January 07, 2003
Yes.... that is correct.... No one should be denied the sight of Ben with a mullet. It is truly a wonderful thing.
The only thing that I didn't like is that I wish that it would have been a longer drive...... :) Actually, it was very nice because I got to sit next to a certain young lady for many hours and there was no way that she could run away......
The only thing that I didn't like is that I wish that it would have been a longer drive...... :) Actually, it was very nice because I got to sit next to a certain young lady for many hours and there was no way that she could run away......
Friday, January 03, 2003
Sunday, December 22, 2002
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Monday, December 09, 2002
I thought I'd catch ya'll up with what's in:
Hot/Not
hot-not lists/responding to hot-not lists with opinions
Rold Gold Honey Wheat pretzels/popcorn
Dr. Pepper/Red Fusion
no rats/rats
straightening irons/curling irons
reading fiction/writing papers
no job/no money
pets/pets that ran away
nike/new balance
friends/acquaintances
Madeleine L'Engle/Madeleine Albright
hanging out with your family/hating your family
creativity/conformity
chapstick/lipstick
real christmas trees/artificial christmas trees
winter/summer
Joseph Fiennes/Ralph Fiennes
cris-crossing your shoelaces/Kris Kross
photographs/posters
Austin/Dallas
hi-tech/tech-no
Christopher Lowell/Martha Stewart
running/sitting
Charlie Brown Christmas/It's a Wonderful Life
Adult Swim/adult responsibilities
road trips/acid trips
piercings/tatoos
cell phones/cell phone bills
Justin/Britney- haha
this is my response to a thread on the ring forum which ya'll can visit here http://forums.delphiforums.com/TheRing268/messages/?msg=277.1
Hot/Not
hot-not lists/responding to hot-not lists with opinions
Rold Gold Honey Wheat pretzels/popcorn
Dr. Pepper/Red Fusion
no rats/rats
straightening irons/curling irons
reading fiction/writing papers
no job/no money
pets/pets that ran away
nike/new balance
friends/acquaintances
Madeleine L'Engle/Madeleine Albright
hanging out with your family/hating your family
creativity/conformity
chapstick/lipstick
real christmas trees/artificial christmas trees
winter/summer
Joseph Fiennes/Ralph Fiennes
cris-crossing your shoelaces/Kris Kross
photographs/posters
Austin/Dallas
hi-tech/tech-no
Christopher Lowell/Martha Stewart
running/sitting
Charlie Brown Christmas/It's a Wonderful Life
Adult Swim/adult responsibilities
road trips/acid trips
piercings/tatoos
cell phones/cell phone bills
Justin/Britney- haha
this is my response to a thread on the ring forum which ya'll can visit here http://forums.delphiforums.com/TheRing268/messages/?msg=277.1
Thursday, December 05, 2002
Tuesday, November 19, 2002
Sunday, November 17, 2002
Thursday, November 14, 2002
This is a wicked fun one for the extremely talented golfer.... Click Here
And don't tell me that people that send their kids to MIT aren't getting there money's worth....
And don't tell me that people that send their kids to MIT aren't getting there money's worth....
I would like to see if anyone else can come up with pages filled with such magnificent images. click here
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
excuse me, "make ourselves known?" well, dr. manigold, what about those of us that earn their keep being world infamous double agents? would it behoove me to blow my cover as a international spy for a measly little invite into your circle? you bet your sweet yams it would! IM IN!!! i just ask that the circle have a confidentiality agreement, "what happens in the circle, stays in the circle". that way we can all go on living out the routines of our lives without jeopardizing anyone's vocation or our little secret society going on here. i must that that it is especially important in my case because even as we speak i am on special assignment to undermine the UN and i have a team of agents trailing a certain camel-ridin, jesus-cursin, woman-hatin, bush-aggravatin, coward--if ya catch my drift. if this is going to be a society that stands the test of time i also suggest we put together one of them infrastructures. obviously we all know the president of the circle. i nominate myself as sgt. at. arms because i can do undercover work (duh!) and handle the dirty details (snubbing out enemies and circle drop outs) that no one else really needs to know is going on. i also nominate Walton and Johnson as our mascot and the lovely ms. sutton to whatever position she desires b/c she's sweet-n-sassy! let me know what you think. agent focker, out.
Be who you are! Think for yourself! Be a cog in no System! Admonishments, exhortations and calls to authenticity such as these, whose value once seemed beyond argument, have become so prevalent in Western culture, and now emanate from such dubious sources, so that they not only ring false, but have about them the X-ray glow of their own inverted meaning. We're told to think critically by looming, spotlit billboards erected by companies whose product is at best unnecessary, and at worst a direct link to human suffering. The language of resistance is owned and trademarked.
—Ken Babstock, Canadian poet, The Globe and Mail, October 19, 2002
—Ken Babstock, Canadian poet, The Globe and Mail, October 19, 2002
Saturday, November 09, 2002
This is probably one of my favorite quotes....
"It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or the doer of deeds could have them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the Arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but he who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) at Sorbonne
"It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or the doer of deeds could have them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the Arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but he who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) at Sorbonne
Thursday, November 07, 2002
Sunday, November 03, 2002
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