The Old Blog

Daniel Goldin backed out of the President position at Boston University just before a vote was to be held by the Board of Trustees to determine his future. Goldin also got a $2 million severance package for a job he never had–that’s $2 million more that John Silber has cost the University he abuses like a red-headed stepchild.

Dr. Aram Chobanian, the dean of the BU Medical School, will be the interim president as the search begins anew. Silber supposedly stepped down as chancellor/fuehrer (don’t know how to do umlauts, so I added the “e”) and as a Board of Trustee member at the meeting, but I won’t believe his iron hand has let go of the Unversity until I see his death notice in the paper. And even then, it might take driving a wooden stake through his icy heart to convince me.

For another alumnus’ perspective, check out this letter to the editor, with which I completely agree.

After repealing the motorcycle helmet law in 1998, Kentucky’s motorcycle fatalities increased 58%. Of course, most of Kentucky probably doesn’t believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution, anyway.

I would normally choose the dopes in California who are staying in their homes while the state burns around them, but they can be idiots of the day any time this week. Plus, they might be getting a little rain.

Today’s idiots are the two guys who thought it would make sense to bring a gun–even if it was plastic and part of a Halloween costume–into a congressional office building that requires people to put the things they carried in with them through an X-ray machine.

Bush’s campaign got half a million bucks from companies who ended up getting contracts to rebuild “freed nation #1″ (Afghanistan) and “freed nation #2″ (Iraq) that are worth 8 billion dollars.

It should go without saying that Republicans received much more than Democrats.

The supermarket tabloid The Globe is revealing the name of Kobe Bryant’s accuser. Now, anybody with ten minutes on the Internet would be able to find her name, but identifying the woman and printing a picture of her hiking up her dress at prom is too far. I haven’t commented much on the Kobe case, partially because it gets me angry when an adulter/accused rapist gets a standing ovation while guys who do tons of charity work get normal applause, but this is an injustice and the most shameful thing I have seen a tabloid do in years.

Whoever made the decision to run this story should be ashamed, and then fired.

Some dumb Californians think God is going to save them from the fire, even though it’s closing in on their town from three directions.

The best juxtaposition of quotes in the article is the following:

“There are two things keeping us here,” Rik Hardesty said, “faith, and the fact that the firefighters here are the baddest in the world.”

Mark Peterson, a firefighter with Big Bear Lake Fire Department, called those who refused to leave “crazy.”

I’ve mentioned it before in relation to Christian Scientists and their silly anti-doctor ideas, but the following story is analogous to the above morons, too:

A town in Israel was flooding after heavy rains. In fact, the water got so high that it covered the first floor of people’s houses. The town’s Rabbi didn’t want to get wet, so he moved up to the second floor of his three-story home. A boat full of townspeople floated by, and they called for the Rabbi to join their float to safety.

“No,” said the Rabbi. “I will stay here and pray. God will save me.”

The rains came down harder, and the water rose another story. The Rabbi was now on the third floor of his house. Another boat came by, and again the people asked the Rabbi to join them. Again, the Rabbi declined, saying, “No, I will stay here and pray. God will save me.”

The rains continued. Finally, the Rabbi’s house was almost completely underwater. He was perched on his rooftop as another boat went by. The people asked the Rabbi to save himself and join them, as they were the last people out of town, but the Rabbi refused.

“No,” said the Rabbi. “I will stay here and pray. God will save me.”

The rains kept pouring and eventually the flood rose higher than any building. The Rabbi drowned. When he got to heaven, he finally got the chance to meet God. Upon seeing the creator, the Rabbi asked a question.

“God,” he said. “I was a good man, a holy man. I prayed and prayed and prayed for you to save me. Why did you let me die?”

To which God replied, “I sent three boats.”

Everybody is all giddy about the news that the US economy grew 7.2% in the third quarter.

However, as my coworker Dave said, “That’s like being 0-for-5, and then getting a hit and celebrating how high your batting average went up.”

Exactly.

Not only is the Boston University Faculty Council Executive Committee “embarrassed by the action of the Board of Trustees concerning the presidency of the university,” but the New York Times reported that Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was a member of the Board because his kid goes here, stepped down from his post last week because, someone said, he “saw this mess coming.”

Another BU Mess
The Brown Sugar Cafe, my favorite Thai restaurant, caught fire last night. At least there’s another location near Fenway.

Somebody found my blog today while using the following search string on google:
Goldin Silber asshole

Bonus Fun
Say it while holding your tongue!

Minneapolis, Minnesota is the most fun city in the country, according to a study done by Bert Sperling for the Cranium Company.

According to Sperling, Minneapolis “has more theaters than Boston, more parks than Denver, more golfers per capita than any other city in America - and, with 10,000 lakes in the state, Minnesota has more coastline than California, Florida and Hawaii combined.”

Second place? The OC. Last (of 56)? Niagara Falls.