It's been a while...I think
Mood:  chatty
Topic: random
I think it's been around a week since my last post. I'm not 100% sure because the engineering library doesn't allow access of URLs with a "_" in them. So, since I haven't looked at it in a while ( I was supposed to yesterday) I don't know.

I've been so busy with homework that really my only time to post now is between my classes on Mon/Wed. That's why the recent pattern.

Also, I stopped watching the news for a while because it became more repetitive than a Pop Music Station. Every night was something about the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth ads and after about two or three nights I had gotten the drift already.

That's why I always laugh when the media keeps a straight face while asking a guest, "do you think that the media plays a role in dragging out this issue?" I have so many issues with this. First of all, what does the guy asking the question think that HE (or she) is? They are part of the media too and they are also covering it so they are obviously part of the problem. But the funny thing is that the people being interviewed also keep a straight face as if there was nothing wrong with the question. For once I'd like to see someone say, "yes - YOU are part of the media and part of the problem. To help you stop talking about this I will leave right now." And just get up and walk out. It would NEVER, EVER happen, but it'd be cool - you have to admit that.

The last non-Kerry/Bush news story that I saw was that the criminal case against Kobe Bryant was dropped. And, I think I remember hearing a few months ago that the civil case had been dropped too. Does this mean that he's going scot free? (is it scot free? I always say it and hear other say it, but I've never seen it written so perhaps I've written it incorrectly) Well, good for him - I think. From what I heard since two summers ago about this case, I figured that it was basically not a rape. Or rather, perhaps the girl thought she was being raped, but she didn't communicate that clearly to Kobe. I know that sentence sounds a little rape-friendly, but let me try to put it into perspective. If a guy is raping a girl and she's screaming and smacking him and all kinds of stuff like that, then it should be obvious to the guy that he's raping her. Or if she told him no from the beginning. But it always seemed to me that this was one of the trickier cases. From his "testimony" it always seemed that he truly believed that his only wrong-doing had been cheating on his wife. But I know I'm walking a very fine line because all kinds of people could claim for one reason or another that it wasn't made clear to them, no matter what went on. With the exception of the seriel rapist, there'd be no reason not to believe them on that basis. But, I always felt for some reason that, even if the girl did feel hurt, that Bryant hadn't willingly done something wrong. Or to try to explain it another way, say you're cutting down a tree and you have signs up and whatnot. Then out of nowhere some kid runs under your tree right as you cut it. I don't believe that you should be considered a murderer. You didn't plan to kill the kid with a tree. In fact, it's the mother's fault for not holding on to the kid. She should be the murderer. But that's not the way society sees things and it stinks. It's not a perfect analogy, but that's how I saw Bryant. If it was rape, it was accidental.

But even beyond that, the girl claims that she's dropping the case because she's tired of having her name dragged through the mud. But I say, well, it's already been done. People already know it was you - so why not go ahead? If you didn't want people to know it was you, then you should have quit a long time ago. In other words, the damgage is done so it is not logical to let the case go or your name was damaged for nothing. You see? It's like she got her name all out there and then has nothing to show for it. That just doesn't make one ounce of logical sense to me. Perhaps I'm just too logical because I'm an engineer, but it's a silly reason to drop the case. Therefore, since I assume that others who are not so mentally unstable that they belong in a ward also act rationally, she must have not had a good case. In other words, there's a chance x where 0
Anyway, like I always do when I talk about this subject, I want to make it clear that I feel that rape is evil and that rapists should have their bits cut off. It is a very complicated and sensitive subject and our country is still getting out of caveman like ideas from the pre-1960s about rape. So don't hate me or think I'm some kind of rape advocate because I'm not.

Posted by Eric at 10:48 AM EDT

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New Blog
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Site Info
A few days ago I added another blog to my list on the left. It belongs to Ashley, my younger brother's girlfriend. It's more of the diary format of a blog, but if you like that, check it out.

Weddings
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Family
This weekend I was in NYC for my fiancee's cousin's wedding. It was quite a bit of fun. One of my favorite parts of the wedding was getting to see my fiancee and her girl cousins dressed up in Ao Yais (probably spelt wrong), the traditional Vietnamese dress. I'd never seen her in one before and I think it was her first time wearing it since here in the States they're only worn for special occasions like Weddings. Over in Vietnam they are worn to school or Church like a dress here in the US. The difference is that the ones for special occasions have much more elaborate designs and colours. The one worn to school is plain white.

My other favorite part was taking pictures. This was the first real event for my Fujifilm Digi-SLR. Luckily I bought it last Spring Break and have been spending a lot of time learning all of the modes and controls. I still learn new things every time I use it and figure out better techniques, but I would say that on a scale of 1-10, I probably have a mastery level of 8 with it. I still have a few secrets to learn and some of them just have to do with SLR techniques. I was never able to take photography in High School so I'm having to self-teach myself proper photographic technique and how to use F-stops and all of that.

But, much to my joy, everyone loved the pictures I took. I don't know yet how they compare to the professional photographer because he was using an analog camera, but mine came out great. Based only on watching them on the Tv, which always is worse quality than a photo, my fiancee's mom said that she loves the pictures and requested a CD with all of the pictures on them. And, she's not just saying this because I'm her future son-in-law. She also said that her own son's pictures were pretty poor quality. (Her family doesn't mince words) My mom saw some that we sent her over IM and she said they looked beautiful too. My mom wouldn't say they looked bad, but she wouldn't say that it looked good if it didn't. Of course, that doesn't mean that every picture is worth putting into a book on how to take wedding pictures, but I think it takes many years of experience to consistently achieve that level of quality.

But I always believe in being obsessively knowledgeable in my passions. At the beginning of last summer I was considering doing some wedding photography and so I was looking into a ton of books and resources. I'm happy to report that it worked. I used a bunch of techniques that I picked up in some of the books to get some great pictures. In fact, among my top ten favorite pictures is one that I took of the bride having her makeup applied. That was something that I read about in one of the books and the effect was pretty good. Another thing I borrowed from the book was the use of black and white photography.

I was previously of the opinion that it is pointless to take pictures in B/W because you can always convert to black and white later. But that was in my less sophisticated days when I realized that if I'm taking a 24-bit picture on my camera in 6MP, then putting it on Adobe 7 with 8-bit depth and saving it as a jpeg again (because that's the standard needed to print at most places at this point in time) then I'm losing quite a bit of quality. If the image is already a 2MP picture, then who cares. But if we're talking a 6MP picture then we're potentially losing a lot.

But speaking of my favorite pictures, I've always loved closeups. But only now with my camera's 6x optical zoom have I been able to get the type of closeups that are so amazing without being intrusive. In other words, I was quite a distance from the bride and groom because of logistical reasons and because the professional photographer had "dibs" (since they were paying him) and I got some amazing closeups. My absolute favorite shot is a closeup of my mother-in-law (to be) wiping away the tears from the bride. As any female knows (and a few enlightened guys - such as myself) the person crying can't really wipe them away or she may smudge her makeup and cause all of the subsequent pictures of her to look as though she transfigured into a racoon. So someone else has to dab at it and get the tears off. So the entire shot is consumed by the two faces and the hand wiping away the tears. There isn't a thing in the background to distract you from the image. It's perfect. In fact, after seeing me take the picture, the photographer tried to imitate me and got pictures of her wiping her nose - not quite the same effect if you ask me. My second favorite was one I got when the bride and groom first saw each other. They look SOOOO in love. Granted, it's obvious that they are in love because they're getting married. But as you can see in some of the other pictures, the marriage process takes its toll on the participants and the bride and groom have a harder time smiling later. Not that they look ticked in future pictures, just exhausted. So I caught the freshness of the day as well as the fact that this was the first time they saw each other in this garb - both in traditional Vietnamese wedding garb.

In the end it made me pine for my own wedding - tentatively a year from now. But it also made me wonder who will take these kinds of pictures of us? We are currently debating whether we need two photographers, one to take candids and one to take the usual poses. For, I must say, my favorite shots were the candids. BUT, the posed shots are not only needed, but they have their place too and some of them look quite stunning in their own right. Well, I need to runt to class. See you next time!

Again?!?
Mood:  sad
Topic: News
After a relatively quiet hurricane year, the eastern US is getting SLAMMED! Please keep the Bahamas, Florida, and whatever other states get battered in your prayers and meditations. Especially because Florida just got hit by a hurricane a week or two ago. Also, I've heard reports that this hurricane is the size of Texas, meaning that the Carolinas may be indirectly hit. With the hurricanes going that way they are currently dealing with major flooding. So remember them as well. And afterwards please donate to the red cross if you can. Hopefully my immediate family will be mostly safe because they're on the eastern Florida coast. But my extended family all lives in Miami-Dade County, so I'm keeping an eye out for that.

Quotes are back with a vengeance
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Quotes
"I have nipples Greg, could you milk me?" - Deniro in Meet the Parents

"Lisa! In this house we obey the laws of themodynamics!" - Homer, Simpsons

"Have you ever heard of this? No? You should read a few books, then" - Prof Tiwari

"You are an economic Girlie Man" - Arnold

"Engineering - the study of systems whose solution is ASinx+BCosx" - Eric Mesa

Sick Bastards I'd Love to Castrate
Mood:  irritated
Topic: News
I switched on my Tv sometime around midnight last Saturday. I had just returned to my apartment after going out dancing with my fiancee. Since I usually watch the news during dinnertime, MSNBC was on. It was some kind of special news report where the reporters go undercover with hidden cameras and expose the evils of the world. My favorite part about it is when they confront the people as reporters and the peole they are confronting don't know that there is secret footage of them doing shady things so they deny the charges.

When they are shown the video of the illegal or unethical activity, the viewer takes great pleasure in observing the reactions of the confronted. Usually their face quickly transitions from shock to guilt to anger at being caught. No one likes to be caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Even less people like to be caught covertly and then confronted about it because they're being ambushed. But as the viewer, the effect is exactly what the networks want, pure satisfaction and joy that this immoral person is getting his just desserts.

This week's episode - people who go to Asia to have sex with the hookers there. Although it's technically illegal there too, those developing countries don't have the resources or government integrity to actually enforce it. Well, ok, these are bad people, but trivially so. People go to prostitutes all the time.

Then MSNBC hits me with the punchline - these travellers don't just want sex, they want sex with underaged partners. So my outrage increased a little. But, again, I thought "well, that's no surprise. You're 15 or 16 and some American wants to throw US dollars at you and you won't say no." So this is wrong, but by no means attrocious. Also, it's not a surprise to me either.

But MSNBC isn't done yet, they're just getting to the climax - these tourists want to have sex with girls around the age of SIX to TEN. I almost lost my dinner all over the living room. "Say that again!!" I incredulously asked the telivision. It was happy to oblige, "that's right we said six to ten year olds." I felt myself getting nauseous, but it continued.

The pimps were thirteen to fifteen year old boys. The girls were not even doing this for money since they were too young to really understand. They were kidnapped Vietnamese girls (I forgot to say this was in Cambodia) and they were forced to have sex so that the pimps or madames of the sex houses could make money. Most of them were slaves for life.

Then they interviewed an American radioologist who explained how to do it and not get in trouble with the authorities. I immediately wanted to get on a plane with a .45 and shoot him. NO doubt about it in my mind, no second thoughts. Just, "hey there" BOOM! And that sick, deranged man is out of commission. Even better, we should castrate those people. I got so mad I was hoping that at the end of the show they'd advertise that they were looking for people to join a la Boondock Saints and snipe these jerks out of existance.

Unfortunately, they just said there was some British or Australian guy trying to help out the girls through the UN and crap like that. If I ever snap and go holy vengeance, you can bet, that's where I'll be.

The Quincentennial Post!
Mood:  chatty
Topic: News
This is THE FIVE HUNDRETH POST for Eric's Binary World! Alright! It's just a couple of months until this blog has been in existance for a whole year. Pretty neat. I've got 230 more posts if I want to have two posts for every day of the year - we'll see if I can make it.

Well, I've been wanting to blog for quite some time now about the "Swiftboat" Ads against John Kerry. However, I'd like to take a different approach from the talking heads on CNN and MSNBC. They have mostly focused on whether the information is factual or not. Basically, I think it's a pointless question. Everything on Tv during an election year is BS. Anything about Kerry OR Bush is either an exaggeration or a misrepresentation. So whether these "Swiftboat" ads are factual or not seems to be irrelevant.

What I think that the pundits haven't drawn enough attention to is the motive of the men who are backing these ads. And, no, I don't mean whether Bush or someone else is paying them or something like that. Rather, as no reporter yet has paid much attention to, these men are putting forth these ads because they are mad at what John Kerry said after his time in the Vietnam war. Actually, to clarify, the media has talked about this in the sense that they have mentioned it. That's how I know about that fact.

But what they have failed to do is point to how rediculous this is. The ads really don't make sense to me. They show Kerry talking about attrocities that occured in Vietnam and then say he's a bad candidate. I don't get it. Basically they are mad at him for airing the dirty laundry. So what?

What they did was disgusting - raping women, cutting off peoples ears, etc. They have no right to mad at him. These things NEED to be exposed because they show that even the mighty USA needs to focus on wartime ethics.

Kerry is not a traitor for bringing these things to light. If he's a traitor then those who are calling for the Abu Garaihb soldiers to be brought to justice are traitors. And, as you can see, wartime conduct has NOT improved since Vietnam when Kerry made a big deal of it. I think that more attention needs to be brought to these injustices. You can't just do whatever the heck you want - ethics be damned - just because you're in a war. It's bad enough that people are being killed - and often for silly reasons such as oil or weird Cowboy revenge-type reasons.

But what can one expect? In an atmosphere so full of negative feelings and energy, can you expect people to act ethically? Just look at the footage that Moore shot of US soldiers in Iraq where they are making fun of corpses and doing a bunch of sophmoric stunts.

Seriously, if Kerry shot someone in the back (literally) or negotiated with the VietCong for his own life at the expense of his crew, then he's a traitor. Otherwise this whole ad campaign is just a crock of bull.

The Curses and Benefits of Being a Cornell Student
Mood:  chatty
Topic: School Stuff
Call me a nerd (you wouldn't be the first), but I was actually anticipating my classes today. I really just wanted to get started on my classes so that I could be one step closer to graduation and thus one step closer to working and getting married. Also, I think my classes are really exciting this semester. I'm in the real meat and potatoes of ECE at Cornell now. This semester all of my classes have course IDs like 4XX. Nice, hard material that gets me one step closer to the reason why I wanted to be ECE in the first place - the exciting technology.

So the awesome part of Cornell is that you get kick-@$$ awesome professors who really know their stuff. I can scarcely go an issue of IEEE without reading about the research of some professor at Cornell. And, although John Hopkins and Duke get most of the press, even in other periodicals that are for non-technical folks there are Cornell professors cited. Our professors are doing things! That, of course, is their job since they are part of the Ivy League. All of the member schools require the professors to be doing awesome stuff or they are shown the door.

There is, however, a dark side to this. First of all, although this never affected me too much as an underclassman, some professors feel that their teaching jobs are secondary - at least at the frosh level classes. They are teaching something that is so below their knowledge field that they almost seem to feel insulted. But, I never had to deal with that too much. The reason for my post today is actually because of the other problem: our professors are so awesome that they are called around the world to offer their expertise. Freshman year my advisor was always in some other country working on an important job. And today, my first class was cancelled because my professor is in China. I can only guess that he's there helping to improve the infrastructure of China's power system since he's a power systems professor, but who knows. I guess we'll find out on Tuesday. It's a shame, because it's the class that I was looking forward to second-most. But such is the plight of a Cornell student. I've had friends whose academic or research advisors were AWOL all semester-long off on some trek to save the world.

Fine and dandy, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of us students who are paying >$30k a year to be here. Additionally, I have been trying to find stuff to do for about an hour so that I could make up for the time I was supposed to be in class today. I don't have any homework or readings to do yet, since it's the first day of classes. And, since I didn't know (until I arrived in the classroom) that class would be cancelled, I already did my morning meditation. I guess I should cherish this last bit of time during which I'll have absolutely no obligations because I won't have another time like this until after finals.

But, as I said above, I just want to get this over with. Yesterday in the apartment, waiting for today to come, I was overcome with boredom. Sure, I could have found things to do, but I just couldn't get myself to do any of it - probably because I knew that, compared to school work, it was all pointless. I mean, how would playing Mario Kart contribute to me getting a better job? What purpose does Chrono Trigger serve, other than to entertain and stimulate my mind? The only game that I played last night that I truly enjoyed was Boggle because that jogs my mind from both the left and the right. It makes me be creative and jogs my vocab.

Well, enough about that, I'm hungry so I'm going to go munch on some almonds and sit in the newly restored engineering quadrangle while I wait for my next class to start.

School is nearly upon me!
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: School Stuff
This thursday I will begin my senior year of Cornell. I'm pretty psyched about my classes. It'll also be a ton of fun to collect quotes again. Not much else to say right now....

Bush is coming to an end today
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Quotes
REPORTER: What do you think tribal sovereignty means in the 21st century, and how do we resolve conflicts between tribes and the federal and state governments?
DUBYA: Yeah -- tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. It's -- you're a -- you're a -- you've been given sovereignty, and you're -- viewed as a sovereign entity. [Laughter emanates from the audience]
REPORTER: Okay.
DUBYA: And, therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between -- sovereign entities.
-- Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

One sure way to hold things up is that the federal lands say, you can't build on us.
-- I'd say that federal lands being able to speak would have greater implications than that, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Apr. 26, 2004

I'm working with Congress to pass the Striving Reader and Math Initiative Program, and that's a fancy word for saying we're going to intervene quickly with struggling middle-class -- middle grade and high school students.
-- Freudian slip? Minneapolis, Minnesota, Apr. 26, 2004

We have an obligation to lead the fight on AIDS, on Africa.
-- Prime Time Press Conference #3, White House, Apr. 13, 2004

By the way, Patty is a 7-11 franchisee, owner. Pays taxes, by the way, business taxes at the individual income tax rate. So when you hear them talking about, going to run up these -- tax the rich, that's what you're talking about, right there.
-- Dubya and his ilk are apparently just a bunch of poor 7-11 franchisees trying to make a living, Washington, D.C., Mar. 16, 2004

We need less regulations. I suspect -- we met with a homeowner -- home builder yesterday, Congressman. Remember the guy? He was upset that he had to fill out forms at the federal, state, and local level in order to build a house.
-- Advocating deregulation for the sole reason that filling out forms is a hassle, Washington, D.C., Mar. 16, 2004

Alphonso and I have set a job. We want to close the minority homeownership gap in America. We want more people owning their own home, and we want more of our minorities owning their own home, as well.
-- People and minorities are apparently mutually exclusive terms, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, Mar. 15, 2004

[The estate tax is] on its way to being put to extinction. I say, on its way -- you'll hear me talk in a minute that these -- some of these taxes don't really go away. It's like they go away for a period of time, but they come back.
-- Louisville, Kentucky, Feb. 26, 2004
Marriage ought to be defined by the people, not by the courts.
-- Washington, D.C., Feb. 18, 2004

And traveling with me today is one of our daughters, a newly-graduate from college, Barbara Bush. Thanks for coming, Barbara.
-- Marquette, Michigan, Jul. 13, 2004

I shared a story the other day during a press conference where I talked about a dinner I had with Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan. And we're eating Kobe beef. I don't know whether it's grown here in Minnesota or not, but it's real good.
-- Ummm, no it's called Kobe beef because it comes from Kobe, Japan. Minneapolis, Minnesota, Apr. 26, 2004

Secretary of State Powell and Secretary of State Rumsfeld, and a number of NATO defense and foreign ministers are exploring a more formal role for NATO.
-- Prime Time Press Conference #3, White House, Apr. 13, 2004

Earlier today, the Libyan government released Fathi Jahmi. She's a local government official who was imprisoned in 2002 for advocating free speech and democracy.
-- Actually, Fathi Jahmi is a man, so Dubya probably would have been better off paying tribute to someone else in this speech commemorating International Women's Week, Washington, D.C., Mar. 12, 2004

I want to thank all the other members of the Congress and the Senate who have joined us. Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to share in this historic moment.
-- Also known as the House and the Senate, at signing of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, Washington, D.C., Dec. 8, 2003

REPORTER: Mr. President, we were told you got to see Mr. Chalabi today?
DUBYA: I did see Chalabi. I met with -- well, let's see, I had the dinner, you saw that. I wasn't sure how long you were there, you probably timed it, but an hour or so -- are these the times? Oh, these are the people there. I shook a lot of hands, saw a lot of kids, took a lot of pictures, served a lot of food and we moved on to see four members of the Governing Council -- the names are here. Talibani is the head of it right now, so he was the main spokesman. But Chalabi was there, as was Dr. Khuzaii.
-- Air Force One, Nov. 27, 2003

You know, let me let me talk about al Qaeda just for a second. I -- I made the statement that we're dismantling senior management, and we are. Our people have done a really good job of hauling in a lot of the key operators: Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi ahh -- Ramzi al Shibh, or whatever the guy's name was.
-- Eventually he got around to saying "Binalshibh", White House, Jul. 30, 2003

When you think about the continent of Africa, you think about leadership, you think about President Mbeki. He's taking strong positions along with President Obasanjo, and providing troops -- the South African.
-- By adding "the South African", Dubya is presumably clarifying which country's president has committed troops. In this context, Dubya would be "the American". Washington, D.C., Jul. 3, 2003

President [Arroyo] and I also reviewed the developments with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front -- MLIF. That group must abandon the path of violence.
-- Even if called by the wrong acronym, White House, May 19, 2003

REPORTER: And about the MILF -- your offer of assistance in the MILF problem...
DUBYA: Well, my offer of assistance, it depends upon the MLIF choosing peace as a peaceful reconciliation of issues. If they continue to want to use terror and force, we will be involved to the extent that the President invites us to be involved, within the constitution of the Philippine government.
-- Dubya's sticking to his acronym, come hell or high water, White House, May 19, 2003

And, most importantly, Alma Powell, Secretary of Colin Powell, is with us.
-- In case you were wondering, Alma Powell is not the "Secretary of Colin Powell", but rather Secretary of State Colin Powell's wife, Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2003

The law I sign today directs new funds and new focus to the task of collecting vital intelligence on terrorist threats and on weapons of mass production.
-- At the signing of the September 11th Commission Bill, Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2002

I want to thank all the local and state officials who are here with us today. I see governors and county judges, mayors for coming. My own mayor -- the Mayor of Washington, D.C., I appreciate you coming, Mr. Mayor. I want to thank the local and state law enforcement officials who are here, the chiefs of police and fire chiefs who are with us today. I see the chief of my city now is here as well. Thank you, Mr. Chief, for coming.
-- Either the mayor's last name is Mayor, and the police chief's name (or is it the fire chief's name) is Chief, or Dubya doesn't recall either of their names, Washington, D.C., Nov. 25, 2002

I'm using this as an opportunity to make a point on judicial reform. And that is that if a judge thinks he's going to retire, give us a year's notice, if possible. And then we will act -- we, the administrative branch -- will nominate somebody and clear them within 180 days.
-- Dubya still having trouble with the name of the branch of government he heads: the executive branch. White House, Nov. 7, 2002

I need to be able to move the right people to the right place at the right time to protect you, and I'm not going to accept a lousy bill out of the United Nations Senate.
-- South Bend, Indiana, Oct. 31, 2002

John Thune has got a common-sense vision for good forest policy. I look forward to working with him in the United Nations Senate to preserve these national heritages.
-- Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota, Oct. 31, 2002

Any time we've got any kind of inkling that somebody is thinking about doing something to an American and something to our homeland, you've just got to know we're moving on it, to protect the United Nations Constitution, and at the same time, we're protecting you.
-- Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota, Oct. 31, 2002

You see, the Senate wants to take away some of the powers of the administrative branch.
-- White House, Sep. 19, 2002

I'm proud to come back to my alma mater -- well, that is, my honorary alma mater. I'm proud to come back to support Chris Cacho -- Chocola.
-- Presumably talking about Indiana University at a Chris Chocola for Congress dinner, South Bend, Indiana, Sep. 5, 2002

I'm thrilled to be here in the breadbasket of America.
-- Ah yes, the sprawling wheatfields of California, Stockton, California, Aug. 23, 2002

Of course, I like to remind people that Washington is full of all kinds of numbers crunchers. They talk about this number here, and that number there.
-- Birmingham, Alabama, July 15, 2002

I want to thank Chung for her introduction. Backstage, we had a picture taken. I said, only in America. Only in America do we have somebody as dedicated as people like Chung, who are willing to sacrifice on behalf of the United States of America, use their time and talent and energy like everybody in this hall to work for others. So, Chung, thanks for your hard work, thanks for your dedication to your job, and thanks for representing the good folks in this hall.
-- "Chung" is so respected that she apparently doesn't merit being referred to by her full name (Chung Yon Kim Marston) once, most likely because it was too difficult for Dubya to remember, Washington, D.C., July 10, 2002

Get me Pootie-Poot on the phone!
-- Dubya's way of requesting a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as reported in May 27, 2002 issue of Time

DUBYA: I want to thank and welcome Geno Auriuma. Is that right?
MR. AURIEMMA: Auriemma.
DUBYA: Auriemma. Okay, fine. I've never been too good in English. But he's a heck of a coach, however he says his name.
-- interaction with U-Conn. women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, in remarks to NCAA men and women sports champions, White House, May 21, 2002

I want to thank Delegate Faleomavaega. Did I even come close? Well, at least I gave it my best shot, Eni. How about just Eni? Thank you for coming from the American Samoa.
-- Remarks on Asian Pacific Heritage Month, in front of a room full of people of Asian-Pacific backgrounds, White House, May 17, 2002

I was -- and I must confess, it did confuse some of the folks at the Crawford, Texas coffee shop, when I was traveling around the country with Theodore Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, thanking him for working on this bill. But we put it all aside, all the typical Washington, D.C. bickering and name-calling, and decided to do something right for the children, and passed a great piece of education reform.
-- Senator Kennedy's full name is Edward Moore Kennedy, Chicago, Illinois, May 13, 2002

And so, in my State of the -- my State of the Union -- or state -- my speech to the -- nation, whatever you wanna call it, speech to the nation -- I asked Americans to give 4,000 years -- 4,000 hours over the next -- of the rest of your life -- of service to America. That's what I asked. I said 2 -- 4,000 hours.
-- The medicine seems to be wearing off, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Apr. 9, 2002

For those of you out there who are interested in participating, I want you to call up this number, 1-800-USA-CORPS, or to dial up on the Internet, www.citizencorps.gov.
-- The correct phone number is 1-877-USA-CORPS (the one Dubya mentioned is the toll-free number for AppleOne Employment Services Inc. of Glendale, California), Knoxville, Tennessee, Apr. 8, 2002

We're in for a long struggle, and I think Texans understand that. And so do Americans.
-- Texans and Americans are apparently completely separate entities, El Paso, Texas, Mar. 21, 2002

Let me see if I can put this into English, or Texan.
-- remarks at Albers Manufacturing, O'Fallon, Missouri, Mar. 18, 2002

[We're] working hard to convince both the Indians and the Pakis there's a way to deal with their problems without going to war.
-- Casually throwing an ethnic slur into the mix, Jan. 7, 2001

It is a great honor to travel to Spain and visit the King and also Prime Minister Anzar.
-- Commenting on Spain trip, where he met Prime Minister Aznar, June 11, 2001

Neither in French nor in English nor in Mexican.
-- Dubya's way of declining to answer reporters' questions at the Summit of the Americas, Quebec City, Canada, Apr. 21, 2001

Tonight we'll have a dinner, just the four of us -- Ms. Blair and Laura and the two of us, and I'm really looking forward to it.
-- British PM Tony Blair's wife's name is Cherie Booth, as she did not change her last name when they married, Feb. 23, 2001

We will require all power plants to meet clean air standards in order to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon binoxide - carbon duh - dioxide within a reasonable period of time. My opponent calls for voluntary reductions in such admissions. In Texas, I think we've done it better, with mandatory reductions. And I believe the nation can do better, as well.
-- Saginaw, Michigan, Sept. 29, 2000

This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve.
-- Speaking during Perseverance Month at Fairgrounds Elementary School in Nashua, N.H. As quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28, 2000

DUBYA: "First of all, Cinco de Mayo is not the independence day. That's dieciseis de Septiembre, and ..."
MATTHEWS: "What's that in English?"
DUBYA: "Fifteenth of September."
-- (Dieciseis de Septiembre = Sept. 16) Interview with Chris Matthews on "Hardball", MSNBC, May 31, 2000


MODERATOR: Do you know who the president of India is?
DUBYA: Vajpayee.
--. In actuality, Atal Behari Vajpayee was the prime minister of India and K. R. Narayanan was the president of India at the time, New York Times, Feb. 26, 2000

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Hope you enjoyed it. I think we should vote for Bush - four more years of fun quotes!