Month: February 2007

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What were YOU doing in 1976?

time flies....

Looking through old scrapbooks, I found a couple of pictures of Laura and I from 1976… whew, have I changed! Laura had her masters and was working on her Ph.D., I was in my first year of my MBA, we had been married 4 years… and we were visiting Laura’s Austrian exchange family. Funny to remember what was happening in those years…

1) Viking probe lands on Mars 2)Summer Olympic Games held in Montréal 3) Israeli airborne commandos attack Uganda’s Entebbe Airport
and free 103 hostages Islamic terrrorists of Air France plane 4)Jimmy Carter elected US President (sheeesh) 5) Ethernet invented (no, Al Gore didn’t invent this either) 

6) Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot becomes prime minister
(and virtual dictator) of Cambodia after
Prince Sihanouk steps down (April 2) 7) Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung Dies 8) Two amateur electronics enthusiasts develop the
Apple computer in a California garage
 
9) Most Popular T.V Shows: Happy Days (ABC),
Laverne & Shirley (ABC) ,ABC Monday Night Movie (ABC),
M*A*S*H (CBS),  Charlie’s Angels (ABC) I loved Austria… but we just came from Munich and spent a week at the Hotel Haberstock (a great place… but now just a memory) with evening walks to the Hofbrauhaus… aaah.   Roger Freberg   

      

     

 

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Obsession — Radical Islam’s War on the West!

Seeing is believingThere are a lot of wonderful films out today… many of which you will never see at the Oscars… but are valuable none-the-less.

In fact, some of these films will never be seen on college campuses… for reasons most involved with higher education know very well. Censorship in American colleges is alive and well. Here’s one movie not to miss.

Obsession — Radical Islams War Against the West
the Nazi salute is a little cute and still used in Palestine today

Check out the connection in this little clip on radical Islam’s connection with Hitler. More on Hannity & Combs tonight.

Roger Freberg

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What WE Do for Love….

what we do for loveI am always fascinated by articles preaching to women on what a bad situation they have in life IF they get married.

Certainly, some women will find this article oddly compelling and in a way help rationalize their own decisions & current situation:

“Might I suggest that women have more of a “taste” for housework because they are shamed into it when they are even quite small.They are taught it is their responsibility. As a friend of mine once said, “Where in the marriage vows does it say, ‘The wife shall clean the toilets?’ I have as much “taste for hou(S)ework” as I have for rancid porridge. –  Julienne”

The author and Julienne seemed to be surprised that being married is more ‘work.’ Choose to have a family and the ‘work’ increases logarithmically…. for everyone.

Another outdated argument… and allow me to paraphrase: ‘women are victims of our environment and of men… blah blah’. I found it amusing that the post was on an evolutionary psychology site… which would  — by it’s ‘nature’ — be less sympatheic.. Besides, it goes without saying , Julienne is single.

Here are a few thoughts on love and marriage:

1) MARRIAGE COMES WITH STRINGS ATTACHED

Please forgive me if I don’t shed a few tears that a few ‘strings’ may be attached when anyone gets married. Marriage is all about ‘strings.’ Everyone walks into any relationship with hopes and expectations. However, obtaining ‘full disclosure’ is usually discovered only AFTER we are married… for better or worse. Strangely enough, ‘living together’ is less revealing for most couples…. 

2) FAMILIES (2 or more) FUNCTION BEST COMMUNALLY

Marriages and families are best as a communal system…. ‘from each according to their abilities and to each according to their needs.’ Mother goes back to school, we all pitch in to pick up the slack. Children go to college, resources are mustered to get them through. If dad comes home from a tough physical job, leave him be and hand him a beer.  By the way, Communism works best ONLY in a family.

3) WORK IS GOOD FOR YOU…

 If you think you are giving your partner 80%, chances are that the ‘other’ person is making most of the concessions. Does this surprise you? To make this work… in any business, marriage or family… we must recognized that it is in our ‘enightened self-interest’ to help, support and comfort those who will give us pride and happiness in the future. The effort and time placed into your relationships… is what increases it’s chance of continuing survival… and mutual satisfaction into those far off ‘golden years.’.

 By the way, ‘keeping score’ in any relationship is key to conflict without resolution. Men and women have needed each other for thousands of years…. and accepting the fact that any relationship increases the number of tasks and ‘duties as assigned’ by all parties is just a fact of life. Concequently, there is a price for playing this game… but it also has it’s rewards.

Finding your partner in marriage makes one’s life richer, happier and fuller… but it does mean more inconvenience and work for all.

 

Roger Freberg

 

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Oscar Weeeeeners!

Everyone knows I am not a big fan of the Oscars… primarily because this event is in no way in touch with reality. These awards are run by ‘gatekeepers’ who do not reflect the American public in any way and judge entertainment solely with respect to their personal politics… and consequently, ‘their’ selections rank as some of the most…. uninteresting.

Al the Puffer FishCase in point, the award for bad science was give to Al Gore’s ‘documentary’… just a plea to get the United Nations more into our lives. However, old Al was impressive in getting the Oscar for the ‘Best Imitation of a Puffer Fish’!

It could have been a funny and fun night… but it wasn’t. Here’s one thing that might have even enticed me to watch:

“Nor did Sacha Baron Cohen appear. Asked to be a presenter, he said he would do it only if he could be in character as Borat. But the Powers-That-Be said, “No way,” thus eliminating what surely might have been an oasis of humor in a desert of mediocrity. Morons. “

There was one redeeming feature… the male stars wore Armani tuxedos .. very cool.

Roger Freberg

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the ‘Oscar’ gets the “Weenie’!

the SUPERBOWL for women?

 I really do try to give the ‘Oscars’ some thought… and I always hope that they will pull their head out of a very dark place and find something we can all get behind… but then….THAT wouldn’t be ‘art’ then would it?

Art is supposed to be stuff that we ‘don’t understand’ or ‘don’t like’ but… is suppose to be good for us, educate us and help us build a better world. riiiight!

Now that takes me to the movies that are supposed to be in consideration for “Best Picture.” This is a category of movies that few people generally ever see… and the winner is usually the one that no one sees at all. So, what do the ‘masters’ tell us are the best of the best?

“this Sunday is up for grabs among the far-flung ensemble drama

“Babel,” the crime epic

“The Departed,” the war story “Letters From Iwo Jima,

” the road comedy “Little Miss Sunshine”

and

the British-royalty tale “The Queen.”

So… with ‘classics like these…  I am surprised that Obama isn’t presiding over the effort. so now for the BIG AWARD…. and the winner of this year’s “Weenie Award” is the entire “Academy”!
the highly coveted Big weenie Award....

Roger Freberg