My only regret is this: Jordan's Furniture had a promotional sale before the season started. Buy anything you want from their store (no limit) and if the Sox win it all it would be free. I pleaded that we should go for it, but my wife is the one of reason and is always right so I relented. Alas, it looks like I was right (for those keeping score, that is Jennifer 184 Robert 2). Some people really cleaned up. Someone where I work bought $3000 worth of furniture and at Jen's work they redid their entire home. Darned if you do... Regardless, Go Sox!!Monday, October 29, 2007
World Champions!
Congrats to the Boston Red Sox who completed a 4 game sweep of the Colorado Rockies last night. Bostonians can finally sleep easy again, and on time. Those late games kill, but the fans just couldn't turn it off. My only regret is this: Jordan's Furniture had a promotional sale before the season started. Buy anything you want from their store (no limit) and if the Sox win it all it would be free. I pleaded that we should go for it, but my wife is the one of reason and is always right so I relented. Alas, it looks like I was right (for those keeping score, that is Jennifer 184 Robert 2). Some people really cleaned up. Someone where I work bought $3000 worth of furniture and at Jen's work they redid their entire home. Darned if you do... Regardless, Go Sox!!
My only regret is this: Jordan's Furniture had a promotional sale before the season started. Buy anything you want from their store (no limit) and if the Sox win it all it would be free. I pleaded that we should go for it, but my wife is the one of reason and is always right so I relented. Alas, it looks like I was right (for those keeping score, that is Jennifer 184 Robert 2). Some people really cleaned up. Someone where I work bought $3000 worth of furniture and at Jen's work they redid their entire home. Darned if you do... Regardless, Go Sox!!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Week 8 NFL Selections
Lions over the bears...as it would be in the wild.
Steerlers bounce back against Bengals
Titans win over Raiders
Browns beat Rams...and what is a Brown anyway?
Giants one up Dolphins across the pond
Eagles beat Vikings...as it would not be in the wild.
Colts easily handle Panthers making Manning first player to beat all 31 teams
Bills over Jets
Chargers over Texans who seem now to just have been a tease much like the...
49ers fall against Saints
Bucs over Jaguars
Patriots over Redskins making Brady the SECOND player to beat all 31 teams and setting up a great week 9 matchup versus Colts
And in Monday's game, Packers over Broncos
Steerlers bounce back against Bengals
Titans win over Raiders
Browns beat Rams...and what is a Brown anyway?
Giants one up Dolphins across the pond
Eagles beat Vikings...as it would not be in the wild.
Colts easily handle Panthers making Manning first player to beat all 31 teams
Bills over Jets
Chargers over Texans who seem now to just have been a tease much like the...
49ers fall against Saints
Bucs over Jaguars
Patriots over Redskins making Brady the SECOND player to beat all 31 teams and setting up a great week 9 matchup versus Colts
And in Monday's game, Packers over Broncos
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
How Time Goes By
The Boston Red Sox are in the World 
Series. In honor of that, I have put "Red Sox Songs" at the 
top of my list. Why is "Sweet Caroline" a Red Sox Song? Click here to find out. They play it at the games and even have a version with the fans singing. The Sox are sort of winning 9-1 (and it is only the bottom of the 5th). In their last (I believe) 4 games, the Sox have outscored the Indians and now Rockies 39-6. There is a light rain falling over historic Fenway, and bases are now loaded. Sad since there have been 2 outs for the last 10 minutes and 3 runs scored. Insane. The AL is to baseball what the AFC is to football, a powerhouse. Take the best team in either the NFC or NL and they generally pale in comparison to to the AFC/AL. I originally said the Sox in 6, but they may pull it off in 5. I give at least one to the Rockies when they travel back to Denver. I'm thinking that thin air may cause some issues. Rocky Mountain high indeed.
Alright, I need sleep. Happy 2 years Boston.
And Go Sox!!!
Series. In honor of that, I have put "Red Sox Songs" at the 
top of my list. Why is "Sweet Caroline" a Red Sox Song? Click here to find out. They play it at the games and even have a version with the fans singing. The Sox are sort of winning 9-1 (and it is only the bottom of the 5th). In their last (I believe) 4 games, the Sox have outscored the Indians and now Rockies 39-6. There is a light rain falling over historic Fenway, and bases are now loaded. Sad since there have been 2 outs for the last 10 minutes and 3 runs scored. Insane. The AL is to baseball what the AFC is to football, a powerhouse. Take the best team in either the NFC or NL and they generally pale in comparison to to the AFC/AL. I originally said the Sox in 6, but they may pull it off in 5. I give at least one to the Rockies when they travel back to Denver. I'm thinking that thin air may cause some issues. Rocky Mountain high indeed.An interesting World Series note for you: I have been to both Fenway to see the Sox and Coors Field to see the Rockies. Both are impressive stadiums for totally separate reasons. Coors is one of those newer stadiums with an amazing mountain view. Fenway though is one of those historic parks and unlike any other I have seen. Sox just scored again making it 10-1...time for a pitching change. I believe this is the first time I watched with such interest. The only other time I came close was when the Astros played 2 years ago. Didn't get to watch much of that because my wife and I were moving up here to Boston. October 23 was officially our 2 year anniversary (12-1, bases loaded and still 2 outs). I can't believe it really. Jen is still loving her position in Maternal Fetal Medicine at the hospital, I am in my last semester in the quest for the Bachelor's Degree, God blessed us with a beautiful home, and even more so we are just 9 weeks away from the birth of our son. People always ask me "do you miss your family?" I answer "well of course you numb nut"(okay maybe not exactly that way). We miss our family very much and wish we/they could be closer. However, we absolutely love it out here and know this is still where God wants us to be right now. Who knows the future, but at this time He has us here. So yes, we miss our family living here (13-1...a record for the Sox in the World Series, bases still loaded and still 2 outs) but we would miss living here like crazy if we were moved back. Kind of hard to explain.
Truly though, what an opportunity. Not everyone can say that they up and moved across the nation. I/we have been to a game at Fenway (something some people only talk about wanting to see), shopping in Martha's Vineyard, swimming on the Cape, Vermont to see the foliage, canoing and hiking in New Hampshire, rafting and lobster in Maine, apple picking western Mass, I met a 49er player for their glory days, I got a job as a teacher, I was sent to Georgia for a cool conference, and I met Ben Affleck! So one of those I made up, but you'll have to guess which one. Absolutely none of this is meant as bragging. Hardly. I am humbled if anything. I am just thankful that God has given us this experience and that through His peace and grace, He does take some of the sadness of being far away from loved ones away.
Also, I don't want to say our move is directly responsible, but the Sox are in the World Series and look pretty poised to win, the Patriots (whom I don't like but give recognition where it is due) are undefeated and wicked talents (still possibly cheaters) and undefeated, the Celtics look hot this year with some actual big name players, and Boston College has moved up to #2 in the latest NCAA rankings. Just saying is all.
A total side note: I watched High School Musical twice last week. I may need to check my man card, but it wasn't too bad. All my students talk about it so in an effort to know them better the lead teacher and I borrowed and watched it. Now I can't get the songs out of my head (Stick the Status Quo being my fav). Here is the thing, the acting was a nightmare. Worst I have ever seen. But the songs and dancing were well performed and more importantly, it is a good clean show for children. That is a rarity these days. No violence. No sex. No cursing. It even teaches some crazy lesson about being yourself and not going along with the crowd just to be cool. Whacky I know. The only unfortunate scandal are those pics of the lead actress, but at least that is something most of the children have no clue about (unlike say Britney Spears who some how makes the local news sometimes). All that to say if you have a child, this movie is great for them. There are preschool children where I work who know the songs and middle schoolers (and adults). That says a lot.
A total side note: I watched High School Musical twice last week. I may need to check my man card, but it wasn't too bad. All my students talk about it so in an effort to know them better the lead teacher and I borrowed and watched it. Now I can't get the songs out of my head (Stick the Status Quo being my fav). Here is the thing, the acting was a nightmare. Worst I have ever seen. But the songs and dancing were well performed and more importantly, it is a good clean show for children. That is a rarity these days. No violence. No sex. No cursing. It even teaches some crazy lesson about being yourself and not going along with the crowd just to be cool. Whacky I know. The only unfortunate scandal are those pics of the lead actress, but at least that is something most of the children have no clue about (unlike say Britney Spears who some how makes the local news sometimes). All that to say if you have a child, this movie is great for them. There are preschool children where I work who know the songs and middle schoolers (and adults). That says a lot.
Alright, I need sleep. Happy 2 years Boston.
And Go Sox!!!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Week 7 Picks
Almost half way through the season and we still ahve two unbeatens. I expect the Patriots and Colts to stay that way until the two teams meet later in the season. Here are my picks this week:
Bills over Ravens
Bucs over Lions
Dolphins get the upset of the century against Patriots (totally joking, Patriots take it)
Saints over Falcons
Giants over 49ers
Redskins over Cardinals
Titans over Texans
Bengals over Jets
Raiders over Chiefs
Cowboys bounce back against Vikings
Eagles over Bears
Seahawks toast Rams
Steelers over Broncos
Colts over Jaguars in a close game
Last Week: 9-4 Overall: 62-25
Bills over Ravens
Bucs over Lions
Dolphins get the upset of the century against Patriots (totally joking, Patriots take it)
Saints over Falcons
Giants over 49ers
Redskins over Cardinals
Titans over Texans
Bengals over Jets
Raiders over Chiefs
Cowboys bounce back against Vikings
Eagles over Bears
Seahawks toast Rams
Steelers over Broncos
Colts over Jaguars in a close game
Last Week: 9-4 Overall: 62-25
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Iowa Caucus
Little Rock, AR – Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has continued his strong push toward the top of the polls in Iowa, moving into a statistical tie with former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson and leading national frontrunner Rudy Giuliani by 6 percent, according to a poll released today by the Rasmussen Reports.
Rasmussen Reports, the nation's most accurate polling firm during the 2004 presidential election, indicated Romney attracts 25 percent of likely caucus participants, followed by Thompson at 19 percent and Huckabee at 18 percent, “virtually tied for second.”
Huckabee for President National Campaign Manager Chip Saltsman says these numbers are significant for many reasons, including the fact that Romney has spent far more money than other GOP candidates in Iowa.
“This poll is just the latest in a series that show Mike Huckabee gaining more support and momentum as the campaign progresses and reflects what we’re hearing across Iowa,” Saltsman said. “The surge that began with Gov. Huckabee’s stunning second-place finish in the Republican Party of Iowa Straw Poll on Aug. 11 continues as the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses approach.”
The Rasmussen Reports Poll notes that the Iowa race remains “very fluid.”
“Iowans like Mike Huckabee and respect his stand for traditional values, ethical leadership and real reform,” Saltsman said. “They’re going to turn out for him in force on Jan. 3, 2008.”
According to the Rasmussen Report, Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the only other Republican in double digits at 13 percent. Arizona Senator John McCain, once considered by some to be the GOP frontrunner, gets just 6 percent of the vote. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (3 percent), rounds out the field with Congressmen Tom Tancredo (2 percent), Ron Paul (2 percent), and Duncan Hunter (1 percent). Eleven percent (11 percent) are undecided.
A poll summary notes that Romney and Thompson are essentially even among men, but Thompson attracts only 10 percent of the vote from women. In fact, Romney, Huckabee, and Giuliani all outpoll Thompson for the female vote. Huckabee leads among evangelical Christians while Romney leads among those with other religious beliefs.
Rasmussen Reports, the nation's most accurate polling firm during the 2004 presidential election, indicated Romney attracts 25 percent of likely caucus participants, followed by Thompson at 19 percent and Huckabee at 18 percent, “virtually tied for second.”
Huckabee for President National Campaign Manager Chip Saltsman says these numbers are significant for many reasons, including the fact that Romney has spent far more money than other GOP candidates in Iowa.
“This poll is just the latest in a series that show Mike Huckabee gaining more support and momentum as the campaign progresses and reflects what we’re hearing across Iowa,” Saltsman said. “The surge that began with Gov. Huckabee’s stunning second-place finish in the Republican Party of Iowa Straw Poll on Aug. 11 continues as the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses approach.”
The Rasmussen Reports Poll notes that the Iowa race remains “very fluid.”
“Iowans like Mike Huckabee and respect his stand for traditional values, ethical leadership and real reform,” Saltsman said. “They’re going to turn out for him in force on Jan. 3, 2008.”
According to the Rasmussen Report, Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the only other Republican in double digits at 13 percent. Arizona Senator John McCain, once considered by some to be the GOP frontrunner, gets just 6 percent of the vote. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (3 percent), rounds out the field with Congressmen Tom Tancredo (2 percent), Ron Paul (2 percent), and Duncan Hunter (1 percent). Eleven percent (11 percent) are undecided.
A poll summary notes that Romney and Thompson are essentially even among men, but Thompson attracts only 10 percent of the vote from women. In fact, Romney, Huckabee, and Giuliani all outpoll Thompson for the female vote. Huckabee leads among evangelical Christians while Romney leads among those with other religious beliefs.
Monday, October 15, 2007
The Mind of Huckabee
This may very well be my favorite article on Huckabee thus far. Religion & Ethics Newsweekly sat down with Govenor Huckabee to discuss faith, prayer, his life as a pastor, and why he thinks religious conservatives haven't rallied around him. It is a long one, but trust me, it is well worth your time. Side Note: this is a two post day so be sure to check out the previous post regarding a possible trend of the future.
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Q: Well, I'm a little curious how your experience as a pastor is helping you on the campaign trail as you seek the presidency?
A: I think it's a great background in part because there's not any social pathology that exists today that I couldn't put a name and a face to. Doesn't matter whether it's a teen girl who's pregnant, hasn't told her parents, or an elderly couple dealing with one of them being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Those are real people to me. Those are the people I dealt with every single day. So that period of my life where I was literally touching people's lives from the cradle to grave is probably the best way I could have ever been prepared to deal with the job that ultimately is about dealing with people and understanding the incredible frailties and complexities of life.
Q: How does your faith inform your politics?
A: The best way is to say that as a Christian for me the essence of Christian faith is that you treat others as if you wish to be treated. That was the ultimate commandment of Jesus -- to love God with your whole heart, to love others as you would love yourself, and to treat others as you would wish to be treated. That's really the heart of the Gospel. So if a person is in public office your ultimate question is not how should this affect me, but if I were that person how would I want someone to deal with this issue in such a way as to best benefit that person? I think it gets easier for me. Public policy is pretty easy when you ask, you know, what would I have them do unto me?
Q: What role does prayer play in your decision-making process?
A: Prayer's important, not just as some kind of a metaphysical exercise, but I think it's a way to refresh one's own mind and motive. If you're praying, you're really looking beyond your own personal thoughts and the pressures that are around you. You're trying to get a focus on a perspective that's higher than your earthly one. You're trying to see things that are bigger than you, that are more important than you. You remind yourself that, you know, there was a world here before I came along, and there will be one after I leave. I'm not that important, but the decision I make may be, so I need to make the right one.
Q: Does it affect, though, how you come down? I mean, do you think that prayer has an impact on where you ultimately come down on your decision?
A: Oh, I would hope so. I would hope that prayer certainly lets me see things not so much from a selfish perspective. That's the main thing, to take it away from my own nature, which is that of every person, to look at things from one's own personal perspective as if the world's about me. Prayer reminds me it's not just about me. It's about all the people with whom I share this planet, and all of whom God has created, and all of whom he cares just as much about as he cares about me. He loves me no more than he does anybody else. He loves them no less than he does me. So if I'm a person of prayer, I'm going to be reminded of that because that ultimately is what prayer does. It just takes us to a level of higher thought than our own personal selfishness.
Q: What do you say to people who believe that a minister shouldn't -- a former minister -- shouldn't be president? How do you reach out to potential voters who say, "I can never see myself voting for a former Southern Baptist pastor"?
A: I can't imagine that there's still that much bigotry in this country as it relates to religion. I would hope not. It would be like saying Martin Luther King should have kept his mouth shut 'cause, after all, he should have stayed in the church and not preached justice and righteousness. Do we really say that about him? I've never heard it said. Interestingly, most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were ministers or were very active in their church, but many of them were actual ministers in their church. For us to somehow act like that people of faith are disenfranchised from being in the public square, again, I would find that disturbing, as if there is sort of a unspoken bigotry toward people of faith. And, furthermore, if that's the case then, you know, if I'm not going to be exempted from having to pay taxes and living in the real world like everybody else, then don't shove me to the side. In the case of my particular candidacy, it's not like I've just stepped from the pulpit to run for president. I was a lieutenant governor three years. I was a governor ten and a half. Among the Republicans, I actually have more executive government experience than any other single candidate running for president. Mayor Giuliani sometimes talks about his executive experience. He was a mayor eight years. I was in public office as an elected official for eleven and half, ten and a half of which was the chief executive of my state.
Q: How have you learned as a politician, or what guidelines do you try to employ in your language when you speak about religion so as to include or not alienate people who don't share your particular beliefs?
A: I understand that there's somewhat of an anxiety with certain people because I have an outspoken view on faith. I think I try to disarm people on the front side rather than wait on them to ask the question "how does it affect you?" And sometimes I'll begin speeches in front of audiences that I can sense the tension by just sort of getting it out of the way and talking about look, don't let this be something that you fear, and I'll explain why it's not to be feared, and that is, is because like every other person I'm being honest and open about my faith and how it impacts and how it affects me. I don't worry about people who talk about their faith. I worry about people who say they have it but they refuse to say that it affects them. To me that's disingenuous, or it's somehow indicative of a person who's almost ashamed of his or her faith. If it's real faith it's a part of our lives. We should be comfortable talking about it, just like I'd be comfortable talking about my allegiance to the Arkansas Razorback football team. That's not difficult for me. Why should religion be so difficult for me to talk about? It doesn't bother me if the person says, "I just don't find it important to me. I'm running for office, but I'm an atheist." You know what? I would rather a person be honest and be an atheist than claim to be a Christian but then act like they can't talk about it 'cause they're almost embarrassed to bring it up. That's troubling. If a person says here's a part of my life, it's fundamental to every breath I take, that really defines my world view, and yet I'm uncomfortable discussing it with anybody, I'd worry about a person whose faith is so shallow or so insignificant that they can compartmentalize their entire faith as if it doesn't matter to them.
Q: There actually has been a lot of God talk this campaign season. We're hearing a lot from the Democrats who in the recent past have been a little maybe skittish about dealing with issues of faith. How do you assess the role religion's been playing in this campaign, especially maybe compared to, you know, others in recent history?
A: I think it's healthy. I'm glad to see that Democrats are talking openly about faith, and I don't think it's dishonest or disingenuous. I think it's, frankly, refreshing. In the past it seems the Democrats were afraid to talk about faith from a personal perspective, and I don't know why. I would think that it's something, again, that helps people to get to know you. And whether a person says, "Look, here's my faith and here's what I believe and here's how it affects me" or even to say, "I don't really have much of a faith, so it's not a big issue for me," I think what people look for is candor out of their candidates. They just want somebody to be honest with them. So if a Democrat has faith, and they really personally practice prayer, and they're regular church goers, why shouldn't they tell us that? I think they should, and not a matter of that we ought to vote for them because of that, but just so that we get to know them a little bit. But I welcome it. I think it's a healthy part of the discourse in this campaign.
Q: Does it -- is there a danger that it might hurt some of the Republican base of religious voters?
A: I don't think so, and if it does, it does. It's still a good thing. You know, I was asked early on when there was a discussion that Hillary Clinton had about her faith, and someone asked me about that and did I think it was genuine and I said why wouldn't I think that? She was candid enough to discuss it. I think it plays a very important part of her life, and I respect that and, you know, her faith is practiced in a Methodist Church and mine is in a more contemporary Baptist congregation where we're in some ways more charismatic. But, as I said, some people eat their soup louder than others. It doesn't mean that the soup tastes any better. It's just a matter of how we approach it. That's why I think sometimes it's important for us to talk about it openly. Let people see that there are different, maybe, viewpoints and theologies and worship styles. The key thing, though, is being refreshingly candid so that we can let people look in on us, and if they decide that that makes us a nut because we believe there's a God, so be it. Let them believe that. I'm more than willing to be laughed at for my faith if that's what people wish to do. I've been laughed at before. But what I would, I guess, be more pained by would not be to be laughed at for my faith, but would be to be ignored for it.
Q: What do you -- what does learning about a politician's faith teach the voters? You know, why is that important information for a voter?
A: Mostly to let them know what their value system is. Where do they get their values? Is it from the latest opinion poll? Is it from an academic study which would change with every few years in terms of a new academic study? Or are there some things in a person's life that they believe are inherently right, or things that are inherently wrong? And if so, why are they right or wrong? And what's the basis of believing that? You know, if a person doesn't have some type of sense of moral absolutes and everything is relative, that's a signal to a potential voter that here's a person that no matter what he tells you, just remember that he's willing to adjust as culture and society adjust. If a person has a God-centered view of the world and believes that we really do have accountability ultimately not just to each other but to a Creator God who was here before us and will be here after us, then that does shape, in fact, how we look at life, and I think that's important for voters to know.
Q: Why do you think religious conservatives haven't rallied around you stronger than they have, given that you share so much of what they believe?
A: I think that in some ways the Christian conservative movement has maybe gotten off the track. I think that some of them, frankly, are more intoxicated with power than principle, and I know that's a pretty outrageous if not rather bold statement to make, but I think it's the truth. Some have become so acquainted now with power and have been so close to it that they forget that the purpose for which they got involved in politics was not to be close to power; it was to speak the truth to power. It was to hold those in power, to hold their feet to the fire over issues they said got them involved and motivated. Now I hear some of the so-called Christian leaders say, "Well, we love Huckabee. He really agrees with us, and he's one of us in terms of views. But, you know, we're looking for somebody that we're confident is going to win." Well, two things. First, a lot of these people if they would get behind me I'd be winning right now, and I think I will ultimately without them. But secondly, if they really are principled, it's not about who might win, it's about who stands with us. And, frankly, it's a little disturbing, if not frightening, that some have forgotten the essence of what Jesus taught, and that is if you gain the whole world but lose your soul what does it profit you? And, frankly, some who would say, "Well, the presidency is so important." You know, well, so what? The presidency is not as important as are your values and as are your deep principles from the heart. And I worry about people who have come to this sort of "it's about winning." No. It's about standing for your convictions. And if it's not about that, then I'm afraid that many people got involved for all the wrong reasons.
Q: Do you think they're afraid of losing their place at the table?
A: Yeah, and the tragedy is that what place at the table is there if the people who are elected don't share your convictions and therefore may give you some lip service in order to get elected? They're not going to waste any of their time and capital and energy trying to accomplish your agenda, because it's not their agenda, and that's what's happened to conservative Christians in the past. They worked real hard to get someone elected because the person knows how to go speak to them, but the person doesn't know how to speak for them. A person maybe runs for office, and he goes and presents himself to that Christian community for votes. But there's a difference if that person comes from that Christian community in really understanding it. It comes down to whether the language of the church is a second language for the candidate or if it's the native tongue.
Q: Some of the issues that are so important to that community -- abortion and gay marriage are two that seem to be up there. Are they as important in this election? Should they be that important?
A: They're important from the standpoint of giving people an understanding of where your values are and where your convictions come from. Again, if you believe that there are certain moral absolutes in the universe, then you have to believe that to take an innocent human life for one's own convenience sake would be immoral. And yet I think also the pro-life community of which I'm a part has to grow up and also articulate that being pro-life is not just saying that we care about a child as long as it's the womb, but as soon as it comes out, "Hey, kid you're on your own, and if you're sleeping in the back of a car, if you're getting the daylights whacked out of you by an abusive parent, well, that's not of issue to us." Well, it better be, because pro-life means more than just life inside the womb and during the gestation period. It means whether that child is living in a safe neighborhood, whether its schools are properly preparing him for a world out there, whether he's hungry, whether he's got a blanket over him at night. And so in many ways one of the things that I try to do is to articulate that being pro-life is not just about being anti-abortion. It's being pro-life. It's not articulating what we're against but more focusing on that for which we are for, and that is the worth and the value and the importance of every single human life -- that each person has intrinsic worth in and of themselves not tied to somebody else's worth, but their own unique worth and value. That's what separates us as a culture, as a people. It's what makes us care about six miners in the womb of a coal mine in Huntington, Utah. But it also ought to make us care about that unborn child in the womb of a mother.
Q: Some evangelicals are trying to broaden the political agenda to include more than these issues and you've -- sometimes a lot of your language seems like you're doing that as well. Where do you see that, you know, broadening the values agenda?
A: Well, we had better broaden, 'cause I think Jesus did. Jesus was more concerned about people being impoverished and people being mistreated and exploited. Those are real issues, and if we as Christian believers, particularly those of us who get involved in public policy, if we turn a deaf ear to people whose lives are being exploited, whether it's in some easy credit scheme, whether it's in the fact they're exploited for their labor and they work real hard for a company only to see the CEO take off with a $200 million bonus while they lose their paycheck and pension, for me that's a moral issue. How can you justify a hedge manager making 2200 times that of the average worker or a CEO making 500 times that of an average worker? You know, I'm a capitalist, but capitalism doesn't have to also equate with greed. And what we see in some cases today is not simply the good kind of capitalism that built a strong American economy. But it's the raw, unadulterated, sheer greed that says I'm going to be a super winner, and I don't care if all the people who help me get there are going to be super losers and can't even feed their families. That ought to be a moral issue. And there are other things. We ought to be, as Christian believers, we ought to be concerned about the environment. I think, frankly, the Christian community has a lot to answer for, for not being stronger advocates of better care of the planet for the simple reason that if I'm true to my faith, I don't believe this world belongs to me. Last time I checked it wasn't mine. It belongs to the Creator, and I get to live here. I'm, let's say, a guest, a visitor, but I don't have the right to tear it up, not leave it in good shape for the next generation.
Q: I'll move overseas. I know you've talked about the value -- the war against Al Qaeda in Iraq has a real, you've said, theological aspect to it. What do you mean by that?
A: Well, part of this war is not geopolitical. Most wars are fought over borders and boundaries and maybe over political leadership --who's going to get to be the king or who's going to get to be the, you know, the dictator? This is not fought that way. This is really a war without national boundaries. We're not fighting in a particular geographical location. Al Qaeda's alive and well in cells all over the world, on every continent and in every country. And what I mean by a theological war, it's been driven not by a goal simply to establish a geopolitical base for a country and a constitution, it's being fought over by religious fanatics and jihadists who believe that there is total marriage between religion and state and that to implement one is to implement the other. That's quite foreign to the American who doesn't really sometimes understand what we're up against and what the nature of the fight is about. Because they tend to want to westernize this whole war and make it like we would understand a war. Well, it isn't, and if we don't get that, it's going to be a long and painful process for us.
Q: Some American Muslims are a little uncomfortable when they hear language about "the jihadists." You know, they worry about how -- the impact of that language on them in their community. Well, you know, how do you -- what do you say to them?
A: Right after 9/11, I was governor [of Arkansas], and I called all the religious leaders of the Muslim faith to come and join me at the capitol for a meeting at the governor's conference room, and I held a press conference, and I asked the people of Arkansas don't hold these people responsible for what radicals within their greater umbrella of faith are about. I think you'd find an incredible of level of support in my home state among Islamic leaders because they know that no one was quicker nor more strong to their defense after 9/11 than I was. What I think that the Islamic leaders need to do -- the legitimate and serious and moderate leaders -- is to take a very bold and public stand against the jihadists. Nobody can do it with more credibility. No one can better help to show that there is a real difference between the radical jihadists and people who practice Islam as a matter of personal preference than could the imams and others who can articulate that.
Q: I'm wondering what you miss most about Beach Street Baptist Church [in Texarkana]?
A: I think probably the, just the sort of closeness of the community that one has in a local church. And as a pastor you really were such a part of the fabric of people's lives, the best and the worst of moments. And there was a sense of belonging that was based not on people who are questioning your every statement and every move, but who loved and wanted you to be a part of their life. The big difference between politics and pastoral ministry is that in both cases you're on a pedestal. But my wife once said it best when she said that you're on a pedestal both places, but in the church they want you to be on that pedestal. They appreciate you're being there, and they fight to keep you there. They want you to do well. In politics you're on the pedestal, and all kinds of interests are doing everything they can to knock you off of it, so you're constantly sort of having to be on your guard or fear of what's out there.
Q: Are you able to get to church very often on a campaign trail? How do you try to do that?
A: Yeah. I try to always make it a point to be in worship. When I travel, I typically will try to make sure that I can be in a church on Sunday. If for some reason I'm traveling on Sunday and can't, you know, there are times it's unavoidable. But if I'm home in Little Rock I'm always in my own home church [The Church at Rock Creek], which I wish I could be at more often, because I absolutely love my church. We have a magnificent congregation. It's only about 11 years old. It started with 25 people. It now has over 5,000 people worshiping there every weekend and just a phenomenal group of people who reach out to about everybody imaginable. And it's quite a homogeneous church of people that I often say you just will find the greatest level of diversity there, and that's what I think attracts me to it so.
Q: When you're on the campaign trail and there's so much pressure and everything, how do you keep your own spiritual fires burning?
A: I try to maintain a daily time of devotion in my own life, prayer and meditation, and try to read a chapter in the Bible every day. One thing I've done since I was 18 is read a chapter in Proverbs every day, and with 31 chapters you go through the whole book each month, and it's a great source of wisdom to stimulate your thought and to make you think thoughts higher than what you're going to get from the front page of the paper. But I also find that it's just important to be surrounded, too, by people to whom you're accountable, and there are several close friends that have been my friends long before I ever got into politics who have a sort of unfettered access to me and the right to challenge me personally, who will contact me either by phone or by e-mail or however they can get a hold of me and just to check up on me, and that's important.
Q: What has running for president taught you spiritually?
A: Well, I guess the main thing I've learned spiritually is that it requires an extraordinary level of stamina that I don't naturally have, and I don't think anybody does. But the other thing I've learned maybe from a spiritual standpoint in running for president is that nobody has all the answers. People sometimes expect if you're running for president you can answer every question about everything -- that you're going to know everything. The truth is no one of us do, and I think rather than fake it sometimes it's just important to say I don't know. I don't know. And that's the best answer, because it's the most honest one.
Copyright 2007 Religion & Ethics Newsweekly
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week1106/interview.html#right
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Q: Well, I'm a little curious how your experience as a pastor is helping you on the campaign trail as you seek the presidency?
A: I think it's a great background in part because there's not any social pathology that exists today that I couldn't put a name and a face to. Doesn't matter whether it's a teen girl who's pregnant, hasn't told her parents, or an elderly couple dealing with one of them being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Those are real people to me. Those are the people I dealt with every single day. So that period of my life where I was literally touching people's lives from the cradle to grave is probably the best way I could have ever been prepared to deal with the job that ultimately is about dealing with people and understanding the incredible frailties and complexities of life.Q: How does your faith inform your politics?
A: The best way is to say that as a Christian for me the essence of Christian faith is that you treat others as if you wish to be treated. That was the ultimate commandment of Jesus -- to love God with your whole heart, to love others as you would love yourself, and to treat others as you would wish to be treated. That's really the heart of the Gospel. So if a person is in public office your ultimate question is not how should this affect me, but if I were that person how would I want someone to deal with this issue in such a way as to best benefit that person? I think it gets easier for me. Public policy is pretty easy when you ask, you know, what would I have them do unto me?
Q: What role does prayer play in your decision-making process?
A: Prayer's important, not just as some kind of a metaphysical exercise, but I think it's a way to refresh one's own mind and motive. If you're praying, you're really looking beyond your own personal thoughts and the pressures that are around you. You're trying to get a focus on a perspective that's higher than your earthly one. You're trying to see things that are bigger than you, that are more important than you. You remind yourself that, you know, there was a world here before I came along, and there will be one after I leave. I'm not that important, but the decision I make may be, so I need to make the right one.
Q: Does it affect, though, how you come down? I mean, do you think that prayer has an impact on where you ultimately come down on your decision?
A: Oh, I would hope so. I would hope that prayer certainly lets me see things not so much from a selfish perspective. That's the main thing, to take it away from my own nature, which is that of every person, to look at things from one's own personal perspective as if the world's about me. Prayer reminds me it's not just about me. It's about all the people with whom I share this planet, and all of whom God has created, and all of whom he cares just as much about as he cares about me. He loves me no more than he does anybody else. He loves them no less than he does me. So if I'm a person of prayer, I'm going to be reminded of that because that ultimately is what prayer does. It just takes us to a level of higher thought than our own personal selfishness.
Q: What do you say to people who believe that a minister shouldn't -- a former minister -- shouldn't be president? How do you reach out to potential voters who say, "I can never see myself voting for a former Southern Baptist pastor"?
A: I can't imagine that there's still that much bigotry in this country as it relates to religion. I would hope not. It would be like saying Martin Luther King should have kept his mouth shut 'cause, after all, he should have stayed in the church and not preached justice and righteousness. Do we really say that about him? I've never heard it said. Interestingly, most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were ministers or were very active in their church, but many of them were actual ministers in their church. For us to somehow act like that people of faith are disenfranchised from being in the public square, again, I would find that disturbing, as if there is sort of a unspoken bigotry toward people of faith. And, furthermore, if that's the case then, you know, if I'm not going to be exempted from having to pay taxes and living in the real world like everybody else, then don't shove me to the side. In the case of my particular candidacy, it's not like I've just stepped from the pulpit to run for president. I was a lieutenant governor three years. I was a governor ten and a half. Among the Republicans, I actually have more executive government experience than any other single candidate running for president. Mayor Giuliani sometimes talks about his executive experience. He was a mayor eight years. I was in public office as an elected official for eleven and half, ten and a half of which was the chief executive of my state.
Q: How have you learned as a politician, or what guidelines do you try to employ in your language when you speak about religion so as to include or not alienate people who don't share your particular beliefs?
A: I understand that there's somewhat of an anxiety with certain people because I have an outspoken view on faith. I think I try to disarm people on the front side rather than wait on them to ask the question "how does it affect you?" And sometimes I'll begin speeches in front of audiences that I can sense the tension by just sort of getting it out of the way and talking about look, don't let this be something that you fear, and I'll explain why it's not to be feared, and that is, is because like every other person I'm being honest and open about my faith and how it impacts and how it affects me. I don't worry about people who talk about their faith. I worry about people who say they have it but they refuse to say that it affects them. To me that's disingenuous, or it's somehow indicative of a person who's almost ashamed of his or her faith. If it's real faith it's a part of our lives. We should be comfortable talking about it, just like I'd be comfortable talking about my allegiance to the Arkansas Razorback football team. That's not difficult for me. Why should religion be so difficult for me to talk about? It doesn't bother me if the person says, "I just don't find it important to me. I'm running for office, but I'm an atheist." You know what? I would rather a person be honest and be an atheist than claim to be a Christian but then act like they can't talk about it 'cause they're almost embarrassed to bring it up. That's troubling. If a person says here's a part of my life, it's fundamental to every breath I take, that really defines my world view, and yet I'm uncomfortable discussing it with anybody, I'd worry about a person whose faith is so shallow or so insignificant that they can compartmentalize their entire faith as if it doesn't matter to them.
Q: There actually has been a lot of God talk this campaign season. We're hearing a lot from the Democrats who in the recent past have been a little maybe skittish about dealing with issues of faith. How do you assess the role religion's been playing in this campaign, especially maybe compared to, you know, others in recent history?
A: I think it's healthy. I'm glad to see that Democrats are talking openly about faith, and I don't think it's dishonest or disingenuous. I think it's, frankly, refreshing. In the past it seems the Democrats were afraid to talk about faith from a personal perspective, and I don't know why. I would think that it's something, again, that helps people to get to know you. And whether a person says, "Look, here's my faith and here's what I believe and here's how it affects me" or even to say, "I don't really have much of a faith, so it's not a big issue for me," I think what people look for is candor out of their candidates. They just want somebody to be honest with them. So if a Democrat has faith, and they really personally practice prayer, and they're regular church goers, why shouldn't they tell us that? I think they should, and not a matter of that we ought to vote for them because of that, but just so that we get to know them a little bit. But I welcome it. I think it's a healthy part of the discourse in this campaign.
Q: Does it -- is there a danger that it might hurt some of the Republican base of religious voters?
A: I don't think so, and if it does, it does. It's still a good thing. You know, I was asked early on when there was a discussion that Hillary Clinton had about her faith, and someone asked me about that and did I think it was genuine and I said why wouldn't I think that? She was candid enough to discuss it. I think it plays a very important part of her life, and I respect that and, you know, her faith is practiced in a Methodist Church and mine is in a more contemporary Baptist congregation where we're in some ways more charismatic. But, as I said, some people eat their soup louder than others. It doesn't mean that the soup tastes any better. It's just a matter of how we approach it. That's why I think sometimes it's important for us to talk about it openly. Let people see that there are different, maybe, viewpoints and theologies and worship styles. The key thing, though, is being refreshingly candid so that we can let people look in on us, and if they decide that that makes us a nut because we believe there's a God, so be it. Let them believe that. I'm more than willing to be laughed at for my faith if that's what people wish to do. I've been laughed at before. But what I would, I guess, be more pained by would not be to be laughed at for my faith, but would be to be ignored for it.
Q: What do you -- what does learning about a politician's faith teach the voters? You know, why is that important information for a voter?
A: Mostly to let them know what their value system is. Where do they get their values? Is it from the latest opinion poll? Is it from an academic study which would change with every few years in terms of a new academic study? Or are there some things in a person's life that they believe are inherently right, or things that are inherently wrong? And if so, why are they right or wrong? And what's the basis of believing that? You know, if a person doesn't have some type of sense of moral absolutes and everything is relative, that's a signal to a potential voter that here's a person that no matter what he tells you, just remember that he's willing to adjust as culture and society adjust. If a person has a God-centered view of the world and believes that we really do have accountability ultimately not just to each other but to a Creator God who was here before us and will be here after us, then that does shape, in fact, how we look at life, and I think that's important for voters to know.
Q: Why do you think religious conservatives haven't rallied around you stronger than they have, given that you share so much of what they believe?
A: I think that in some ways the Christian conservative movement has maybe gotten off the track. I think that some of them, frankly, are more intoxicated with power than principle, and I know that's a pretty outrageous if not rather bold statement to make, but I think it's the truth. Some have become so acquainted now with power and have been so close to it that they forget that the purpose for which they got involved in politics was not to be close to power; it was to speak the truth to power. It was to hold those in power, to hold their feet to the fire over issues they said got them involved and motivated. Now I hear some of the so-called Christian leaders say, "Well, we love Huckabee. He really agrees with us, and he's one of us in terms of views. But, you know, we're looking for somebody that we're confident is going to win." Well, two things. First, a lot of these people if they would get behind me I'd be winning right now, and I think I will ultimately without them. But secondly, if they really are principled, it's not about who might win, it's about who stands with us. And, frankly, it's a little disturbing, if not frightening, that some have forgotten the essence of what Jesus taught, and that is if you gain the whole world but lose your soul what does it profit you? And, frankly, some who would say, "Well, the presidency is so important." You know, well, so what? The presidency is not as important as are your values and as are your deep principles from the heart. And I worry about people who have come to this sort of "it's about winning." No. It's about standing for your convictions. And if it's not about that, then I'm afraid that many people got involved for all the wrong reasons.
Q: Do you think they're afraid of losing their place at the table?
A: Yeah, and the tragedy is that what place at the table is there if the people who are elected don't share your convictions and therefore may give you some lip service in order to get elected? They're not going to waste any of their time and capital and energy trying to accomplish your agenda, because it's not their agenda, and that's what's happened to conservative Christians in the past. They worked real hard to get someone elected because the person knows how to go speak to them, but the person doesn't know how to speak for them. A person maybe runs for office, and he goes and presents himself to that Christian community for votes. But there's a difference if that person comes from that Christian community in really understanding it. It comes down to whether the language of the church is a second language for the candidate or if it's the native tongue.
Q: Some of the issues that are so important to that community -- abortion and gay marriage are two that seem to be up there. Are they as important in this election? Should they be that important?
A: They're important from the standpoint of giving people an understanding of where your values are and where your convictions come from. Again, if you believe that there are certain moral absolutes in the universe, then you have to believe that to take an innocent human life for one's own convenience sake would be immoral. And yet I think also the pro-life community of which I'm a part has to grow up and also articulate that being pro-life is not just saying that we care about a child as long as it's the womb, but as soon as it comes out, "Hey, kid you're on your own, and if you're sleeping in the back of a car, if you're getting the daylights whacked out of you by an abusive parent, well, that's not of issue to us." Well, it better be, because pro-life means more than just life inside the womb and during the gestation period. It means whether that child is living in a safe neighborhood, whether its schools are properly preparing him for a world out there, whether he's hungry, whether he's got a blanket over him at night. And so in many ways one of the things that I try to do is to articulate that being pro-life is not just about being anti-abortion. It's being pro-life. It's not articulating what we're against but more focusing on that for which we are for, and that is the worth and the value and the importance of every single human life -- that each person has intrinsic worth in and of themselves not tied to somebody else's worth, but their own unique worth and value. That's what separates us as a culture, as a people. It's what makes us care about six miners in the womb of a coal mine in Huntington, Utah. But it also ought to make us care about that unborn child in the womb of a mother.
Q: Some evangelicals are trying to broaden the political agenda to include more than these issues and you've -- sometimes a lot of your language seems like you're doing that as well. Where do you see that, you know, broadening the values agenda?
A: Well, we had better broaden, 'cause I think Jesus did. Jesus was more concerned about people being impoverished and people being mistreated and exploited. Those are real issues, and if we as Christian believers, particularly those of us who get involved in public policy, if we turn a deaf ear to people whose lives are being exploited, whether it's in some easy credit scheme, whether it's in the fact they're exploited for their labor and they work real hard for a company only to see the CEO take off with a $200 million bonus while they lose their paycheck and pension, for me that's a moral issue. How can you justify a hedge manager making 2200 times that of the average worker or a CEO making 500 times that of an average worker? You know, I'm a capitalist, but capitalism doesn't have to also equate with greed. And what we see in some cases today is not simply the good kind of capitalism that built a strong American economy. But it's the raw, unadulterated, sheer greed that says I'm going to be a super winner, and I don't care if all the people who help me get there are going to be super losers and can't even feed their families. That ought to be a moral issue. And there are other things. We ought to be, as Christian believers, we ought to be concerned about the environment. I think, frankly, the Christian community has a lot to answer for, for not being stronger advocates of better care of the planet for the simple reason that if I'm true to my faith, I don't believe this world belongs to me. Last time I checked it wasn't mine. It belongs to the Creator, and I get to live here. I'm, let's say, a guest, a visitor, but I don't have the right to tear it up, not leave it in good shape for the next generation.
Q: I'll move overseas. I know you've talked about the value -- the war against Al Qaeda in Iraq has a real, you've said, theological aspect to it. What do you mean by that?
A: Well, part of this war is not geopolitical. Most wars are fought over borders and boundaries and maybe over political leadership --who's going to get to be the king or who's going to get to be the, you know, the dictator? This is not fought that way. This is really a war without national boundaries. We're not fighting in a particular geographical location. Al Qaeda's alive and well in cells all over the world, on every continent and in every country. And what I mean by a theological war, it's been driven not by a goal simply to establish a geopolitical base for a country and a constitution, it's being fought over by religious fanatics and jihadists who believe that there is total marriage between religion and state and that to implement one is to implement the other. That's quite foreign to the American who doesn't really sometimes understand what we're up against and what the nature of the fight is about. Because they tend to want to westernize this whole war and make it like we would understand a war. Well, it isn't, and if we don't get that, it's going to be a long and painful process for us.
Q: Some American Muslims are a little uncomfortable when they hear language about "the jihadists." You know, they worry about how -- the impact of that language on them in their community. Well, you know, how do you -- what do you say to them?
A: Right after 9/11, I was governor [of Arkansas], and I called all the religious leaders of the Muslim faith to come and join me at the capitol for a meeting at the governor's conference room, and I held a press conference, and I asked the people of Arkansas don't hold these people responsible for what radicals within their greater umbrella of faith are about. I think you'd find an incredible of level of support in my home state among Islamic leaders because they know that no one was quicker nor more strong to their defense after 9/11 than I was. What I think that the Islamic leaders need to do -- the legitimate and serious and moderate leaders -- is to take a very bold and public stand against the jihadists. Nobody can do it with more credibility. No one can better help to show that there is a real difference between the radical jihadists and people who practice Islam as a matter of personal preference than could the imams and others who can articulate that.
Q: I'm wondering what you miss most about Beach Street Baptist Church [in Texarkana]?
A: I think probably the, just the sort of closeness of the community that one has in a local church. And as a pastor you really were such a part of the fabric of people's lives, the best and the worst of moments. And there was a sense of belonging that was based not on people who are questioning your every statement and every move, but who loved and wanted you to be a part of their life. The big difference between politics and pastoral ministry is that in both cases you're on a pedestal. But my wife once said it best when she said that you're on a pedestal both places, but in the church they want you to be on that pedestal. They appreciate you're being there, and they fight to keep you there. They want you to do well. In politics you're on the pedestal, and all kinds of interests are doing everything they can to knock you off of it, so you're constantly sort of having to be on your guard or fear of what's out there.
Q: Are you able to get to church very often on a campaign trail? How do you try to do that?
A: Yeah. I try to always make it a point to be in worship. When I travel, I typically will try to make sure that I can be in a church on Sunday. If for some reason I'm traveling on Sunday and can't, you know, there are times it's unavoidable. But if I'm home in Little Rock I'm always in my own home church [The Church at Rock Creek], which I wish I could be at more often, because I absolutely love my church. We have a magnificent congregation. It's only about 11 years old. It started with 25 people. It now has over 5,000 people worshiping there every weekend and just a phenomenal group of people who reach out to about everybody imaginable. And it's quite a homogeneous church of people that I often say you just will find the greatest level of diversity there, and that's what I think attracts me to it so.
Q: When you're on the campaign trail and there's so much pressure and everything, how do you keep your own spiritual fires burning?
A: I try to maintain a daily time of devotion in my own life, prayer and meditation, and try to read a chapter in the Bible every day. One thing I've done since I was 18 is read a chapter in Proverbs every day, and with 31 chapters you go through the whole book each month, and it's a great source of wisdom to stimulate your thought and to make you think thoughts higher than what you're going to get from the front page of the paper. But I also find that it's just important to be surrounded, too, by people to whom you're accountable, and there are several close friends that have been my friends long before I ever got into politics who have a sort of unfettered access to me and the right to challenge me personally, who will contact me either by phone or by e-mail or however they can get a hold of me and just to check up on me, and that's important.
Q: What has running for president taught you spiritually?
A: Well, I guess the main thing I've learned spiritually is that it requires an extraordinary level of stamina that I don't naturally have, and I don't think anybody does. But the other thing I've learned maybe from a spiritual standpoint in running for president is that nobody has all the answers. People sometimes expect if you're running for president you can answer every question about everything -- that you're going to know everything. The truth is no one of us do, and I think rather than fake it sometimes it's just important to say I don't know. I don't know. And that's the best answer, because it's the most honest one.
Copyright 2007 Religion & Ethics Newsweekly
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week1106/interview.html#right
Old Fashioned Robot Lovin'
I really figured animals would be legalized before this, but hey I'm the old fashioned guy who likes marriage between a (biological) man a woman.
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Sex and marriage with robots? It could happen!
Robots soon will become more human-like in appearance, researcher says.
By Charles Q. Choi
Special to LiveScience
Updated: 6:05 p.m. ET Oct 12, 2007
Humans could marry robots within the century. And consummate those vows.
"My forecast is that around 2050, the state of Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize marriages with robots," artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience. Levy recently completed his Ph.D. work on the subject of human-robot relationships, covering many of the privileges and practices that generally come with marriage as well as outside of it.
At first, sex with robots might be considered geeky, "but once you have a story like 'I had sex with a robot, and it was great!' appear someplace like Cosmo magazine, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon," Levy said.
The idea of romance between humanity and our artistic and/or mechanical creations dates back to ancient times, with the Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion falling in love with the ivory statue he made named Galatea, to which the goddess Venus eventually granted life.
This notion persists in modern times. Not only has science fiction explored this idea, but 40 years ago, scientists noticed that students at times became unusually attracted to ELIZA, a computer program designed to ask questions and mimic a psychotherapist.
"There's a trend of robots becoming more human-like in appearance and coming more in contact with humans," Levy said. "At first robots were used impersonally, in factories where they helped build automobiles, for instance. Then they were used in offices to deliver mail, or to show visitors around museums, or in homes as vacuum cleaners, such as with the Roomba. Now you have robot toys, like Sony's Aibo robot dog, or Tickle Me Elmos, or digital pets like Tamagotchis."
In his thesis, "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners," Levy conjectures that robots will become so human-like in appearance, function and personality that many people will fall in love with them, have sex with them and even marry them.
"It may sound a little weird, but it isn't," Levy said. "Love and sex with robots are inevitable."
Sex with robots in 5 years
Levy argues that psychologists have identified roughly a dozen basic reasons why people fall in love, "and almost all of them could apply to human-robot relationships. For instance, one thing that prompts people to fall in love are similarities in personality and knowledge, and all of this is programmable. Another reason people are more likely to fall in love is if they know the other person likes them, and that's programmable too."
In 2006, Henrik Christensen, founder of the European Robotics Research Network, predicted that people will be having sex with robots within five years, and Levy thinks that's quite likely. There are companies that already sell realistic sex dolls, "and it's just a matter of adding some electronics to them to add some vibration," he said, or endowing the robots with a few audio responses. "That's fairly primitive in terms of robotics, but the technology is already there."
As software becomes more advanced and the relationship between humans and robots becomes more personal, marriage could result. "One hundred years ago, interracial marriage and same-sex marriages were illegal in the United States. Interracial marriage has been legal now for 50 years, and same-sex marriage is legal in some parts of the states," Levy said. "There has been this trend in marriage where each partner gets to make their own choice of who they want to be with."
"The question is not if this will happen, but when," Levy said. "I am convinced the answer is much earlier than you think."
When and where it'll happen Levy predicts Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize human-robot marriage. "Massachusetts is more liberal than most other jurisdictions in the United States and has been at the forefront of same-sex marriage," Levy said. "There's also a lot of high-tech research there at places like MIT."
Although roboticist Ronald Arkin at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta does not think human-robot marriages will be legal anywhere by 2050, "anything's possible. And just because it's not legal doesn't mean people won't try it," he told LiveScience.
"Humans are very unusual creatures," Arkin said. "If you ask me if every human will want to marry a robot, my answer is probably not. But will there be a subset of people? There are people ready right now to marry sex toys."
The main benefit of human-robot marriage could be to make people who otherwise could not get married happier, "people who find it hard to form relationships, because they are extremely shy, or have psychological problems, or are just plain ugly or have unpleasant personalities," Levy said. "Of course, such people who completely give up the idea of forming relationships with other people are going to be few and far between, but they will be out there."
Ethical questions
The possibility of sex with robots could prove a mixed bag for humanity. For instance, robot sex could provide an outlet for criminal sexual urges. "If you have pedophiles and you let them use a robotic child, will that reduce the incidence of them abusing real children, or will it increase it?" Arkin asked. "I don't think anyone has the answers for that yet — that's where future research needs to be done."
Keeping a robot for sex could reduce human prostitution and the problems that come with it. However, "in a marriage or other relationship, one partner could be jealous or consider it infidelity if the other used a robot," Levy said. "But who knows, maybe some other relationships could welcome a robot. Instead of a woman saying, 'Darling, not tonight, I have a headache,' you could get 'Darling, I have a headache, why not use your robot?' "
Arkin noted that "if we allow robots to become a part of everyday life and bond with them, we'll have to ask questions about what's going to happen to our social fabric. How will they change humanity and civilization? I don't have any answers, but I think it's something we need to study. There's a real potential for intimacy here, where humans become psychologically and emotionally attached to these devices in ways we wouldn't to a vibrator."
Levy is currently writing a paper on the ethical treatment of robots. When it comes to sex and love with robots, "the ethical issues on how to treat them are something we'll have to consider very seriously, and they're very complicated issues," Levy said.
Levy successfully defended his thesis Oct. 11.
© 2007 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.
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Sex and marriage with robots? It could happen!
Robots soon will become more human-like in appearance, researcher says.
By Charles Q. Choi
Special to LiveScience
Updated: 6:05 p.m. ET Oct 12, 2007
Humans could marry robots within the century. And consummate those vows.
"My forecast is that around 2050, the state of Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize marriages with robots," artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience. Levy recently completed his Ph.D. work on the subject of human-robot relationships, covering many of the privileges and practices that generally come with marriage as well as outside of it.
At first, sex with robots might be considered geeky, "but once you have a story like 'I had sex with a robot, and it was great!' appear someplace like Cosmo magazine, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon," Levy said.
The idea of romance between humanity and our artistic and/or mechanical creations dates back to ancient times, with the Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion falling in love with the ivory statue he made named Galatea, to which the goddess Venus eventually granted life.
This notion persists in modern times. Not only has science fiction explored this idea, but 40 years ago, scientists noticed that students at times became unusually attracted to ELIZA, a computer program designed to ask questions and mimic a psychotherapist.
"There's a trend of robots becoming more human-like in appearance and coming more in contact with humans," Levy said. "At first robots were used impersonally, in factories where they helped build automobiles, for instance. Then they were used in offices to deliver mail, or to show visitors around museums, or in homes as vacuum cleaners, such as with the Roomba. Now you have robot toys, like Sony's Aibo robot dog, or Tickle Me Elmos, or digital pets like Tamagotchis."
In his thesis, "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners," Levy conjectures that robots will become so human-like in appearance, function and personality that many people will fall in love with them, have sex with them and even marry them.
"It may sound a little weird, but it isn't," Levy said. "Love and sex with robots are inevitable."
Sex with robots in 5 years
Levy argues that psychologists have identified roughly a dozen basic reasons why people fall in love, "and almost all of them could apply to human-robot relationships. For instance, one thing that prompts people to fall in love are similarities in personality and knowledge, and all of this is programmable. Another reason people are more likely to fall in love is if they know the other person likes them, and that's programmable too."
In 2006, Henrik Christensen, founder of the European Robotics Research Network, predicted that people will be having sex with robots within five years, and Levy thinks that's quite likely. There are companies that already sell realistic sex dolls, "and it's just a matter of adding some electronics to them to add some vibration," he said, or endowing the robots with a few audio responses. "That's fairly primitive in terms of robotics, but the technology is already there."
As software becomes more advanced and the relationship between humans and robots becomes more personal, marriage could result. "One hundred years ago, interracial marriage and same-sex marriages were illegal in the United States. Interracial marriage has been legal now for 50 years, and same-sex marriage is legal in some parts of the states," Levy said. "There has been this trend in marriage where each partner gets to make their own choice of who they want to be with."
"The question is not if this will happen, but when," Levy said. "I am convinced the answer is much earlier than you think."
When and where it'll happen Levy predicts Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize human-robot marriage. "Massachusetts is more liberal than most other jurisdictions in the United States and has been at the forefront of same-sex marriage," Levy said. "There's also a lot of high-tech research there at places like MIT."
Although roboticist Ronald Arkin at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta does not think human-robot marriages will be legal anywhere by 2050, "anything's possible. And just because it's not legal doesn't mean people won't try it," he told LiveScience.
"Humans are very unusual creatures," Arkin said. "If you ask me if every human will want to marry a robot, my answer is probably not. But will there be a subset of people? There are people ready right now to marry sex toys."
The main benefit of human-robot marriage could be to make people who otherwise could not get married happier, "people who find it hard to form relationships, because they are extremely shy, or have psychological problems, or are just plain ugly or have unpleasant personalities," Levy said. "Of course, such people who completely give up the idea of forming relationships with other people are going to be few and far between, but they will be out there."
Ethical questions
The possibility of sex with robots could prove a mixed bag for humanity. For instance, robot sex could provide an outlet for criminal sexual urges. "If you have pedophiles and you let them use a robotic child, will that reduce the incidence of them abusing real children, or will it increase it?" Arkin asked. "I don't think anyone has the answers for that yet — that's where future research needs to be done."
Keeping a robot for sex could reduce human prostitution and the problems that come with it. However, "in a marriage or other relationship, one partner could be jealous or consider it infidelity if the other used a robot," Levy said. "But who knows, maybe some other relationships could welcome a robot. Instead of a woman saying, 'Darling, not tonight, I have a headache,' you could get 'Darling, I have a headache, why not use your robot?' "
Arkin noted that "if we allow robots to become a part of everyday life and bond with them, we'll have to ask questions about what's going to happen to our social fabric. How will they change humanity and civilization? I don't have any answers, but I think it's something we need to study. There's a real potential for intimacy here, where humans become psychologically and emotionally attached to these devices in ways we wouldn't to a vibrator."
Levy is currently writing a paper on the ethical treatment of robots. When it comes to sex and love with robots, "the ethical issues on how to treat them are something we'll have to consider very seriously, and they're very complicated issues," Levy said.
Levy successfully defended his thesis Oct. 11.
© 2007 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Quick Picks
WEEK 6 Picks
Vikings over Bears
Browns over Dolphins
Packers upset Redskins
Bengals over Chiefs
Bucs over Titans
Eagles over Jets
Jaguars over Texans (too much defense for this young squad)
Ravens over Rams (make this a formula "x over Rams = always)
Cardinals over Panthers
Cowboys over Patriots (really more of a who I want to win selection. will it happen?)
Chargers over Raiders
Seahawks over Saints
Giants over Falcons
Last Week: 11-2 Overall: 53-21
Vikings over Bears
Browns over Dolphins
Packers upset Redskins
Bengals over Chiefs
Bucs over Titans
Eagles over Jets
Jaguars over Texans (too much defense for this young squad)
Ravens over Rams (make this a formula "x over Rams = always)
Cardinals over Panthers
Cowboys over Patriots (really more of a who I want to win selection. will it happen?)
Chargers over Raiders
Seahawks over Saints
Giants over Falcons
Last Week: 11-2 Overall: 53-21
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Huckabee in Newsweek
Huckabee was interview by Newsweek in their latest web edition. Because of the length I will not repost the entire article here, but will include some of the Q&A. In the article, Govenor Huckabee talks about his campaign finances, Hilary Clinton, and why he is in the race against such tough competition. As always, Mike Huckabee answers the questions amazingly well.
Be sure to check out the full article here.
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Oct. 11, 2007 - Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee seems well-suited to win a core Republican constituency: conservative Christians and other “values” voters. The Arkansas preacher and former governor is pro-life and opposes same-sex marriage. He’s also articulate and amiable, and he plays a mean bass guitar. So why doesn’t he get more backing from hard-core conservatives? Even as his poll numbers inch up—he’s at 12 percent in Iowa, and has 7 percent support nationwide in a recent Gallup poll, up from 4 percent in August—he hasn’t attracted significant financing. He raised only $1 million in the last quarter, compared to $11 million for the front runner, Rudy Giuliani. Recently, Huckabee met with a group of correspondents and editors in NEWSWEEK’s Washington bureau to make his case. Excerpts:
Why don’t you seem to be doing better with the Christian conservative crowd?
They’re out there saying they are desperate for a candidate; they don’t like Giuliani or other people. You seem to fit in most ways what their ideal candidate might look like. And yet when we raise your name with them, they say, “Well, he can’t win.”Well, you keep telling them that and that will help a lot. [Laughs.] It’s beginning to change: In Iowa I’m tied with [Fred] Thompson; I’m several points ahead of [John] McCain. People are beginning to realize that with a very limited level of resources, we’re in the same hunt as these guys ... Sometimes people will pose the question to me: is it disappointing about the money you’ve raised? And I say, “No, from my perspective, I’m amazed at how far we’ve gotten. When I look at how much money some of these guys have spent, if I were them, I’d have to be on a couch getting some serious counseling, because it would be very depressing to [have spent] tens of millions of dollars …” In some cases they’ve written checks out of their own accounts for a bunch of dough, and they’re barely polling ahead of a guy who has been tagged as "he’s not raising much money."
What were your dealings with Hillary?
Personally, I didn’t have a lot of dealings with her; I had more with her husband. And even those were somewhat limited, because it wasn’t like we were hanging out together. But I understand something about some of her passions and priorities. I know a lot of the people she was very close to. Arkansas is a small enough state so that everybody knows everybody. Heck, most everybody is kin to everybody, so it even gets more intimate than that. So, I know her to be a person of incredible discipline, extraordinary focus. Very different from her husband, who is the ultimate accommodator. She is not a natural accommodator. She may evolve into that for the campaign, but it is not her basic nature to accommodate the opposition … You know I always had, frankly, a decent and good relationship with her and with Bill Clinton and see no reason that I wouldn’t continue to, even if we were opponents. It doesn’t have to be uncivil. But I do think the Republicans tend to underestimate her, because I hear a lot of them say things like, “I hope she’s the nominee; boy, that will energize the base.” What they don’t understand is it will energize her base, too, and that’s a pretty good-sized base.
You’re behind in money and polls in a big way: what is your path to leapfrog past Romney and Giuliani and McCain and everybody else.
You say you’d be great against Hillary Clinton, but how do you get there?First of all, people forget: four years ago it was Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt duking it out for first and second place in Iowa, and when A and B start fighting, C often wins. And so, I like being C. It’s a much better position than being the dead carcass of A or B … I mean I’ve got as much cash on hand right now as John McCain and no debt. Has he raised more money than me? Sure he has. But he’s spent more money, and I’m ahead of him in many of the national polls and certainly in the Iowa polls. So am I better off or worse off than he is? I’d say I’m better off. I haven’t laid anybody off, I haven’t fired anybody. I didn’t have to borrow money.
Read the full article here.
Be sure to check out the full article here.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Oct. 11, 2007 - Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee seems well-suited to win a core Republican constituency: conservative Christians and other “values” voters. The Arkansas preacher and former governor is pro-life and opposes same-sex marriage. He’s also articulate and amiable, and he plays a mean bass guitar. So why doesn’t he get more backing from hard-core conservatives? Even as his poll numbers inch up—he’s at 12 percent in Iowa, and has 7 percent support nationwide in a recent Gallup poll, up from 4 percent in August—he hasn’t attracted significant financing. He raised only $1 million in the last quarter, compared to $11 million for the front runner, Rudy Giuliani. Recently, Huckabee met with a group of correspondents and editors in NEWSWEEK’s Washington bureau to make his case. Excerpts:
Why don’t you seem to be doing better with the Christian conservative crowd?
They’re out there saying they are desperate for a candidate; they don’t like Giuliani or other people. You seem to fit in most ways what their ideal candidate might look like. And yet when we raise your name with them, they say, “Well, he can’t win.”Well, you keep telling them that and that will help a lot. [Laughs.] It’s beginning to change: In Iowa I’m tied with [Fred] Thompson; I’m several points ahead of [John] McCain. People are beginning to realize that with a very limited level of resources, we’re in the same hunt as these guys ... Sometimes people will pose the question to me: is it disappointing about the money you’ve raised? And I say, “No, from my perspective, I’m amazed at how far we’ve gotten. When I look at how much money some of these guys have spent, if I were them, I’d have to be on a couch getting some serious counseling, because it would be very depressing to [have spent] tens of millions of dollars …” In some cases they’ve written checks out of their own accounts for a bunch of dough, and they’re barely polling ahead of a guy who has been tagged as "he’s not raising much money."
What were your dealings with Hillary?
Personally, I didn’t have a lot of dealings with her; I had more with her husband. And even those were somewhat limited, because it wasn’t like we were hanging out together. But I understand something about some of her passions and priorities. I know a lot of the people she was very close to. Arkansas is a small enough state so that everybody knows everybody. Heck, most everybody is kin to everybody, so it even gets more intimate than that. So, I know her to be a person of incredible discipline, extraordinary focus. Very different from her husband, who is the ultimate accommodator. She is not a natural accommodator. She may evolve into that for the campaign, but it is not her basic nature to accommodate the opposition … You know I always had, frankly, a decent and good relationship with her and with Bill Clinton and see no reason that I wouldn’t continue to, even if we were opponents. It doesn’t have to be uncivil. But I do think the Republicans tend to underestimate her, because I hear a lot of them say things like, “I hope she’s the nominee; boy, that will energize the base.” What they don’t understand is it will energize her base, too, and that’s a pretty good-sized base.
You’re behind in money and polls in a big way: what is your path to leapfrog past Romney and Giuliani and McCain and everybody else.
You say you’d be great against Hillary Clinton, but how do you get there?First of all, people forget: four years ago it was Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt duking it out for first and second place in Iowa, and when A and B start fighting, C often wins. And so, I like being C. It’s a much better position than being the dead carcass of A or B … I mean I’ve got as much cash on hand right now as John McCain and no debt. Has he raised more money than me? Sure he has. But he’s spent more money, and I’m ahead of him in many of the national polls and certainly in the Iowa polls. So am I better off or worse off than he is? I’d say I’m better off. I haven’t laid anybody off, I haven’t fired anybody. I didn’t have to borrow money.
Read the full article here.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Huckabee and the Debate
Since the debate's always seem to focus more on three other canidates, here are some remarks regading Huckabee's performance last night:
Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post: "Judged by who can offer a serious approach to economic policy, the hands-down winner in the Republican race so far is Huckabee, who combines intelligence, candor and comfortable familiarity with the issues and a practical approach anchored in solid conservative beliefs."
Amber Arellano of the Detroit News: "Huckabee offered up sensible policy ideas on energy and terrorism. He also scored major points among many of us in the Rustbelt -- and anyone concerned about the downward economic pressure on the Middle Class -- when he pointed out the future need for unionism."
Blogger Bull Dog Pundit from Ankle Biting Pundits: "Mike Huckabee: Another good performance. Like McCain he really taps into the economic anxiety that many people feel, especially in Michigan. I almost wish Huckabee had more money, because I think he could compete with the big boys and give them a run."
Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone: "That Mike Huckabee hasn’t caught just a little bit of fire is a mystery to me. He’s charming and funny, and always seems reasonable..."
David Brody, CBNNews.com: "Mike Huckabee was good tonight. He struck many populist themes and his trademark humor was on display. What may have been the key moment tonight for him though was his answer on congressional war approval. He made clear that he would be decisive in determining what to do if war was imminent. Huckabee was forceful in his answer."
--------------------------------------
I posted two other articles in the past 24 hours so please be sure to check those out as well!
Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post: "Judged by who can offer a serious approach to economic policy, the hands-down winner in the Republican race so far is Huckabee, who combines intelligence, candor and comfortable familiarity with the issues and a practical approach anchored in solid conservative beliefs."
Amber Arellano of the Detroit News: "Huckabee offered up sensible policy ideas on energy and terrorism. He also scored major points among many of us in the Rustbelt -- and anyone concerned about the downward economic pressure on the Middle Class -- when he pointed out the future need for unionism."
Blogger Bull Dog Pundit from Ankle Biting Pundits: "Mike Huckabee: Another good performance. Like McCain he really taps into the economic anxiety that many people feel, especially in Michigan. I almost wish Huckabee had more money, because I think he could compete with the big boys and give them a run."
Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone: "That Mike Huckabee hasn’t caught just a little bit of fire is a mystery to me. He’s charming and funny, and always seems reasonable..."
David Brody, CBNNews.com: "Mike Huckabee was good tonight. He struck many populist themes and his trademark humor was on display. What may have been the key moment tonight for him though was his answer on congressional war approval. He made clear that he would be decisive in determining what to do if war was imminent. Huckabee was forceful in his answer."
--------------------------------------
I posted two other articles in the past 24 hours so please be sure to check those out as well!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Texas Tech Bans Shirt
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech has banned the sale of a T-shirt bearing the likeness of Michael Vick hanging the dog mascot of rival Texas A&M.
The red and black shirts, with text that says "VICK 'EM" on the front in an apparent reference to the Aggies' slogan "Gig 'em," was created by a Tech student who was trying to sell them before Saturday's game in Lubbock.
The back of the shirt shows a football player wearing the No. 7 Vick jersey holding a rope with an image of the mascot Reveille at the end of a noose. Vick, who faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal dogfighting charge, is suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
Tech officials late Tuesday announced the fraternity that sold the shirts was suspended temporarily and will face judicial review for allegedly violating the solicitation section of the students' code of conduct.
The school said it wouldn't allow the sale on campus of items that are "derogatory, inflammatory, insensitive, or in such bad taste."
No more shirts are being produced, the school said in a release.
A&M officials, in a statement, thanked Tech administrators for "their response and action regarding this matter."
To read the rest of this article click here
The red and black shirts, with text that says "VICK 'EM" on the front in an apparent reference to the Aggies' slogan "Gig 'em," was created by a Tech student who was trying to sell them before Saturday's game in Lubbock.
The back of the shirt shows a football player wearing the No. 7 Vick jersey holding a rope with an image of the mascot Reveille at the end of a noose. Vick, who faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal dogfighting charge, is suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
Tech officials late Tuesday announced the fraternity that sold the shirts was suspended temporarily and will face judicial review for allegedly violating the solicitation section of the students' code of conduct.
The school said it wouldn't allow the sale on campus of items that are "derogatory, inflammatory, insensitive, or in such bad taste."
No more shirts are being produced, the school said in a release.
A&M officials, in a statement, thanked Tech administrators for "their response and action regarding this matter."
To read the rest of this article click here
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Huckabee Knows What He Likes and Likes What He Knows
Below is an article on Huckabee's website about this weekends Iowa Poll. It is probably something that news stations/sites will neglect to mention, but that is what we're here for! Congrats Huckabee!
------------------------
Little Rock, AR - Former AR Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee today "welcomed news" that a new Des Moines Register poll ranks him No. 1 among registered Republican voters in Iowa who have "made up their mind" in the 2008 presidential election - and No. 3 among GOP candidates overall.
"This victory is really good news," said Huckabee about the October 7 poll of likely caucus participants. "This poll confirms that the field is wide open - and that my campaign continues to surge among likely voters."
Huckabee scored first among the voters (about one-fourth of those polled) who have made up their mind, with 19 percent, and third place among all potential Republican voters, with 12 percent. The former Arkansas governor also scored very well among religious conservatives, coming in third with 18 percent.
Huckabee has surged since his strong showing in the Aug. 11 Iowa Republican Party Straw Poll. Support for the other GOP presidential contenders who were included in a Des Moines Register poll taken last May has essentially flat-lined or eroded.
"Voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina - and all across America - are looking for a strong conservative leader with a consistent message, results-driven record and positive vision for America's future," said Huckabee. "This new poll reflects what we're feeling on the ground: that my campaign is on an upward trajectory in Iowa and other key battleground states."
---------------------------------------------
In other Robert Land News, we returned today from our three day trip to beautiful Jackson, NH. The trees had begun to turn brilliant colors and we had a great time there as we always do. We stayed again at he Snowflake Inn which is by far the nicest place I have ever been. The owners take care of everything you could possibly need. Saturday, we walked across the street to a restaurant and the hostess was uber rude so we left. When we returned, the front desk lady asked how our meal was so I told her what happened and then turned my attention to their swell DVD selection. As I was looking, the front desk lady went and told the owners (who live on site). Momma Owner quickly stormed out and placed a call to the mean restaurant and chewed them a new one. I only felt slightly bad that someone may have gotten in trouble (though the hostess at the mean restaurant was an older lady who should know better) these feelings quickly passed as I watched Robin Williams in "Man of the Year".
Another great thing about Jackson/Conway, NH is the gluten free restaurants. Rafferty's has an entire gluten-free menu identical to the "normal" menu. We went there 3 times and I was able to order pizza, chicken tenders, onion rings, dessert....ahh to feel normal again. There was also an Italian restaurant, but we didn't make it there due to being so full from Rafferty's.
We also went canoing (sp) and on a short hike to Glen Ellis Falls, both of which were a lot of fun. I will post pics later this week!
And congrats to the Boston Red Sox who wicked embarrassed the Angels this week. It is really funny. I was never a major baseball fan. I liked the Astros (still do) but was never obsessed wit them. I had interests if they made the playoffs, but just watched for a score on the news. Loved going to the actual games though. Since moving here though, I have turned into a huge Sox fan. I know the player's names, I keep up with their rotations, I checked the scores everyday, watched the games online (not live, but that little updater thing sites have) and this Wednesday I did the unthinkable...I listened to the first playoff game on the radio as I drove home from school. Even honked when they hit a homer. What has become of me? Red Sox fever, like I said back when we went to the game. Maybe it is from being exposed to it on a daily basis or because people are so into it here or because Bryan bought me a hat before a moved. Either way, I hope they win it all.
------------------------
Little Rock, AR - Former AR Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee today "welcomed news" that a new Des Moines Register poll ranks him No. 1 among registered Republican voters in Iowa who have "made up their mind" in the 2008 presidential election - and No. 3 among GOP candidates overall.
"This victory is really good news," said Huckabee about the October 7 poll of likely caucus participants. "This poll confirms that the field is wide open - and that my campaign continues to surge among likely voters."
Huckabee scored first among the voters (about one-fourth of those polled) who have made up their mind, with 19 percent, and third place among all potential Republican voters, with 12 percent. The former Arkansas governor also scored very well among religious conservatives, coming in third with 18 percent.
Huckabee has surged since his strong showing in the Aug. 11 Iowa Republican Party Straw Poll. Support for the other GOP presidential contenders who were included in a Des Moines Register poll taken last May has essentially flat-lined or eroded.
"Voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina - and all across America - are looking for a strong conservative leader with a consistent message, results-driven record and positive vision for America's future," said Huckabee. "This new poll reflects what we're feeling on the ground: that my campaign is on an upward trajectory in Iowa and other key battleground states."
---------------------------------------------
In other Robert Land News, we returned today from our three day trip to beautiful Jackson, NH. The trees had begun to turn brilliant colors and we had a great time there as we always do. We stayed again at he Snowflake Inn which is by far the nicest place I have ever been. The owners take care of everything you could possibly need. Saturday, we walked across the street to a restaurant and the hostess was uber rude so we left. When we returned, the front desk lady asked how our meal was so I told her what happened and then turned my attention to their swell DVD selection. As I was looking, the front desk lady went and told the owners (who live on site). Momma Owner quickly stormed out and placed a call to the mean restaurant and chewed them a new one. I only felt slightly bad that someone may have gotten in trouble (though the hostess at the mean restaurant was an older lady who should know better) these feelings quickly passed as I watched Robin Williams in "Man of the Year".
Another great thing about Jackson/Conway, NH is the gluten free restaurants. Rafferty's has an entire gluten-free menu identical to the "normal" menu. We went there 3 times and I was able to order pizza, chicken tenders, onion rings, dessert....ahh to feel normal again. There was also an Italian restaurant, but we didn't make it there due to being so full from Rafferty's.
We also went canoing (sp) and on a short hike to Glen Ellis Falls, both of which were a lot of fun. I will post pics later this week!
And congrats to the Boston Red Sox who wicked embarrassed the Angels this week. It is really funny. I was never a major baseball fan. I liked the Astros (still do) but was never obsessed wit them. I had interests if they made the playoffs, but just watched for a score on the news. Loved going to the actual games though. Since moving here though, I have turned into a huge Sox fan. I know the player's names, I keep up with their rotations, I checked the scores everyday, watched the games online (not live, but that little updater thing sites have) and this Wednesday I did the unthinkable...I listened to the first playoff game on the radio as I drove home from school. Even honked when they hit a homer. What has become of me? Red Sox fever, like I said back when we went to the game. Maybe it is from being exposed to it on a daily basis or because people are so into it here or because Bryan bought me a hat before a moved. Either way, I hope they win it all.
Week 5 Picks
Week 5 Picks
Houston wins in Miami
Jaguars stop pathetic Chiefs
Patriots bring Browns back to reality
Manning 2 and the Giants win over Jets
Steelers manhandle Seahawks
Cardinals keep Rams winless in whacky NFC West
Skins over Lions
Titans spank Falcons
Colts beat Bucs despite injuries
Broncos continues Chargers woes
Ravens defense beats Niners defense
Packers keep the dream season going against Bears
and Cowboys toy around with Bill on Monday Night Football
Last Week: 10-4 Overall: 42-19
Houston wins in Miami
Jaguars stop pathetic Chiefs
Patriots bring Browns back to reality
Manning 2 and the Giants win over Jets
Steelers manhandle Seahawks
Cardinals keep Rams winless in whacky NFC West
Skins over Lions
Titans spank Falcons
Colts beat Bucs despite injuries
Broncos continues Chargers woes
Ravens defense beats Niners defense
Packers keep the dream season going against Bears
and Cowboys toy around with Bill on Monday Night Football
Last Week: 10-4 Overall: 42-19
Monday, October 01, 2007
Huckabee & Robert's Land Join Forces!
Robert's new Land has officially become a "Mike Huckabee Blog"! Don't believe me? Go to his site and select "Blogs". Scroll down and you will eventually see Robert's New Land on the right side bar. And while you're there, why not look around and see what Mike Huckabee is all about.
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/
Since Governor Huckabee's people were so kind to add me, I thought I'd post another video. This video states his views on the Sanctity of Life. Also, check out the post from September 27. I put in a link to numerous Huckabee stance videos, but posted my NFL picks kind of quickly so a lot of you may not have seen it. Enjoy!
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/
Since Governor Huckabee's people were so kind to add me, I thought I'd post another video. This video states his views on the Sanctity of Life. Also, check out the post from September 27. I put in a link to numerous Huckabee stance videos, but posted my NFL picks kind of quickly so a lot of you may not have seen it. Enjoy!
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