Certamen tournament this morning: Sunil showed up, bitching about how he'd stayed out till 4 and it was unreasonable to ask him to be at Churchill at 8.
Blargh to that.
We had a good time. Sunil and I joined with Rachel and some guy (both from Mac) to make a MacLee team. We got third place, which isn't bad considering that there have been no Lee practices at all this year and Sunil and Rachel were both, um, messed up.
Friday I got a 102 on my calculus test. Yay! It's on series. I'm beginning to like series. *smile*
Also Friday, I realised that my English teacher did indeed just give me a 100 last six-weeks. This wouldn't normally be an issue, but: I never turned in the big essay, which was worth 5%. I guess she just gave everyone a 100. Who knows? It just shows her, er, lenience on grades (I think we all know what that really means?).
Hm, what else?
I saw Cat at the certamen tournament. And Matt Bobbitt. He's a cool fellow. Bobbitt 2.0 (Matt) is I think a greatly needed upgrade to Bobbitt 1.0 (Chris). They look and sound identical, though, which is always amusing. I also saw Jordan and Wengler. Weird.
And my very powerful magnets which are about the size of three sticks of gum altogether (there are 4 of them) and yet can each individually Gauss a monitor from two feet came in the mail. Yay! Except I got my finger stuck between two of them, and I swear that motherfucker was trying to break the bone.
Also: Alexis and los rentes played Risk last night. I won. *flex*
That is all. For now.
Cooper [14:55]
Today we (ISA seniors and NESA Creative Writers) went to the Inter-American Bookfair to hear Sandra Cisneros read. Fun fun.
Especially because I got to sit next to my beloved Brittney on the bus. We made the hell out, much to the general entertainment of the bus. Paul and Jay had a running commentary on the action. Jay said we were like porn, 'getting me in the mood'.
I had a good time. Got to see Bryce at the Bookfair, which is always a treat.
My sister Alexis is coming in tonight. She goes to Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and so I don't see her very often. This is happy.
And I hope all of the materials for my science fair project come in soon, because the deadline is 4 December and I have yet to start on the project.
Coolness: April found that the word 'woot' is in Hamlet. It's a contracted form of 'wilt thou', so it means something completely different than the l337 'woot', but this is still cool.
Cooper [17:36]
So apparently now Christine is angry with me. This, I don't really get.
But I shan't comment on that, instead preferring to concentrate on happier matters.
Yesterday and today were Model UN. As the only Lee delegate, I felt very special.
I also feel special because I represented Iraq in the United Nations Environmental Programme. Our topics in that committee were: Ecoterrorism and Sustainable Development.
These are my position papers:
Sustainable Development
The Iraqi people are industrious, hardworking, and efficient. If allowed to do so, and with the support of the international community, they will most certainly be able to produce a sustainable and productive economy.
Yet, the current state of Iraq’s economy is not sustainable because of negative foreign intervention. Forces of the United States and the United Kingdom, nations which in recent years have exhibited nothing by belligerence and hatred toward Iraq’s duly elected government and the Iraqi people, have been in breach of the United Nations charter with the specific intention of preventing Iraq’s economic development.
As a result, what chance Iraq might have of surviving UN sanctions and becoming self-sufficient has been completely dashed by numerous bombings, raids, and daily invasions of Iraq’s sovereign territory. The stated purpose of these actions has been to protect insurgents in the northern and southern parts of Iraq. These insurgents, with the support of the American and British governments, seek to overthrow the legitimately elected government of Iraq. They are notorious terrorists.
Furthermore, UN regulations do not allow Iraq to possess some of the most basic industrial substances and technologies which might help her to achieve sustainability. Instead her workers and farmers toil with outdated, inefficient, and polluting tools.
How can Iraq ever have any development at all, much less sustainable development?
The simple answer is that she cannot until the UN sanctions are lifted and the illegal no-fly zones are eliminated.
To allow the status quo to continue is to contribute not only to the environmental degradation of Iraq but also to the suffering and misery of the Iraqi people.
Eco-Terrorism
The Iraqi people and government have two very different stances on the two separate activities known as eco-terrorism.
The brand of eco-terrorism in which nefarious elements of the underworld calling themselves environmentalists perpetrate criminal acts such as the destruction of private buildings, attacks on government installations, and the sabotage of infrastructure they deplore. However, they recognise that eco-terrorism of this sort is an internal law enforcement matter for the nation involved, and they remain committed to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all individual nations. Iraq believes that when it does occur, cross-border eco-terrorism can effectively be dealt with under current international treaties and law.
The other so-called brand of eco-terrorism, that is, the military use of tactics that damage the environment, the Iraqi people and government do not see as a form of terrorism. They object strongly to the use of the term eco-terrorism to describe this activity. Iraq has been called the exemplar of eco-terrorist tactics for her burning of the oil fields of Kuwait and southern Iraq during the Persian Gulf War. This action of the Iraqi military was nothing more than a sound military decision. It is true that oil leached into the soils of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and into the Persian Gulf. Yet, the only victims of this action were a number of birds and other wildlife. The Iraqi people and government affirm that their actions in Kuwait, because they harmed no person, cannot and ought not be considered war crimes.
Indeed, the Iraqi military’s actions in the Kuwaiti oil fields was an entirely justified and necessary military tactic to stall military forces from the United States and the United Kingdom which were then attacking Iraqi forces. The fires and spills which Iraq set up halted the invasion of Iraqi territory by these belligerents and saved the lives of countless Iraqi civilian men, women, and children.
Iraq’s people and government believe firmly and expect the international community to affirm that the lives of humans are far more important than the lives of animals and plants. Iraq intends to defend the sanctity of her borders and the integrity of her sovereign status by whatever means of legitimate warfare should become available, including so-called eco-terrorism.
She opposes any UN action on the topic of eco-terrorism.
Iran and I ended up getting a resolution almost passed (we fell a vote or two short of the two-thirds required) which condemned 'economic sanctions, embargos, no-fly zones, and all other actions which prevent several nations from participating in sustainable development'. This we accomplished by being very diplomatic and courting the whole of South America. If only Egypt had supported us--as she should have, given that the ENTIRE ARAB LEAGUE did so, we could have passed it. I would have muchly enjoyed that.
Instead the UNEP passed no resolution on sustainable development. And then we moved to Eco-Terrorism, in which again we did not pass a resolution.
Sunil and Ben (the chairs) were being weird and gave the US the best delegate award, even though she did not know about the US' own use of chemical defoliants in Colombia and Southeast Asia. Yeah. Not so happy about that one.
Cooper/Iraq received an honorable mention award for the UNEP room. This is happy.
Cooper also was invited to MUNterrey, the Model UN in Monterrey, Mexico. A number of the delegates to MUNSA were also participants in MUNterrery, and they were on the prowl for good delegates, so receiving the information/recruiting CD is considered quite an honour. Hopefully Cooper will get to go.
Yesterday,(yes, I know, not exactly chronological) I received my acceptance letter from Michigan State University. Also a $1000/year scholarship because my dad went there. They should be sending me more scholarship info soon, as well as info on their Honors College.
Last night I helped Brittney with calculus. Related rates and implicit differentiation. Basically the best part of differential calculus. Fun stuff.
She told me she loved me. I smiled, and when I was moved to do so by my own emotions, I responded in kind. I am a bit leery of telling her I love her, because I realise that it is very early in our relationship and that it's been a rather short time since I was in love with someone. I'm trying to refrain from saying it to her as a response to her saying it to me. But when it becomes absolutely unbearably true, then I tell her.
*smile*
Cooper [20:35]
Just got home from Houston.
That was quite fun. Went to a couple of classes: Linguistics 200 and some math that had to do with something. Donno quite which course it was. The lesson was on manifolds and vector matrices.
From Car Talk:
Tom: I'm astounded by the bogosity of that diagnosis.
Ray: Bogosity? Or bogusity?
Tom: No, it's bogosity.
Ray: Why not bogusity?
Tom: It's bogosity. It changes because it's second declension.
*smile*
And I'm adding a picture of Brittney and a link to her LiveJournal. Isn't she cute?
Cooper [17:59]
Well.
I'm at Rice University. Cool.
My sister's friends apparently all go here. I'm staying in Jake's dorm room, and I just came back from the 'sex tour' with Pam, wherein she showed me all of the places on campus where it's customary--or at least cool--to have sex. Including in the main gallery of the James Baker III Center for Public Policy.
The second and third floors are set up like opera booths; they even have these nice curtains for your privacy. Plus the joy of fucking where Vladimir Putin, Nelson Mandela, and George H. W. Bush have walked.
Also, there are three granite slab scultpures known as 45, 90, and 180, for their angles relative to the ground. They, too, are on the sex tour. Frankly, 90 scares me. Seems like you'd fall off a lot.
So I'm having a damn great time here. Tomorrow I'm attending two classes, eating lunch, and getting an interview at the admissions office. Should be quite interesting/fun.
One problem with Rice: it's a bitch to drive to Houston on 10. I was going 85 mph in the right lane and people kept getting up in my ass all the time anyway.
I miss Brittney.
Cooper [01:37]
