Tales of a Desk Jockey

antje: can’t believe it’s already 20 years ago that the wall...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:53:40 -0500

antje:

can’t believe it’s already 20 years ago that the wall “fell down”.

Spiegel Online

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:59:06 -0500

Spiegel Online

DDR-Grenzbeamte stehen am 11. November 1989 auf der Ostseite der...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:58:05 -0500

DDR-Grenzbeamte stehen am 11. November 1989 auf der Ostseite der Mauer, während Demonstranten auf der anderen Seite ein ganzes Segment des Betonwalls heraushebeln.

Spiegel Online

Bis gegen Mitternacht wird die Öffnung aller Berliner Übergänge...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:56:58 -0500

Bis gegen Mitternacht wird die Öffnung aller Berliner Übergänge erzwungen, teilweise von West-Berlinern. Die Hauptstädter erobern die Mauer, die aus dem Westen helfen denen aus dem Osten, den “antifaschistischen Schutzwall” zu erklimmen.

Spiegel Online

Über den ganzen Platz hallt das Klopfen der...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:55:37 -0500

Über den ganzen Platz hallt das Klopfen der “Mauerspechte”: Sie bearbeiten die den Wall auf der Westseite mit Hacken, Hämmern und Meißeln.

Spiegel Online

Am 12. November ist die Berliner Mauer mit Löchern übersät, an...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:53:24 -0500

Am 12. November ist die Berliner Mauer mit Löchern übersät, an etlichen Stellen sind einzelne Elemente komplett niedergerissen. Dieser West-Berliner prügelt mit einem Vorschlaghammer auf den Wall in der Nähe des Potsdamer Platzes ein. Die Umstehenden applaudieren.

Spiegel Online

Eine Kolonne aus Trabis und Wartburgs rollt am 10. November über...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:51:32 -0500

Eine Kolonne aus Trabis und Wartburgs rollt am 10. November über den Grenzübergang Rudolphstein von Thüringen nach Bayern.

Spiegel Online

Brandenburg Gate — This photo depicts me (Marek Hanusch)...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:44:56 -0500

Brandenburg Gate — This photo depicts me (Marek Hanusch) standing on on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate with two East German border patrol officers. I was seven years old at the time. My step father, Jacek, who took the picture was a political refugee from Poland and had lived with my mother, Rosi, and myself for five years before. I remember how excited both of them were at the time even though I did not fully grasp what was going on.I was very young but I remember that it was a strange feeling standing in between those foreign soldiers - and foreign they were back then. I wonder what they are doing now that we are Landsleute (fellow countrymen). -Jacek Barski

From New York Times

Note that there is also graffiti on the Brandenburger Tor…

east berlin, east germany — Early morning of the 10th on the...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:42:36 -0500

east berlin, east germany — Early morning of the 10th on the east side. -Richard Finn

From New York Times

Berlin, Potsdamer Platz — I climbed up a ladder and sat on the...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:34:04 -0500

Berlin, Potsdamer Platz — I climbed up a ladder and sat on the Wall after the official border opening at Potsdamer Platz on November 12, 1989. This shot is looking into the no-man’s land from the top of the Wall. -Mark Cain

From New York Times

Near Checkpoint Charlie, East Berlin side of the wall, — This...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:31:36 -0500

Near Checkpoint Charlie, East Berlin side of the wall, — This photograph depicts us returning to West Berlin. It was utter mayhem. If you notice the bus, it was filled with American Forces person returning from their shopping. The white Trabant (East German car) was filled with young male East Berliners. When we were side by side they rolled their window down and wanted to trade their car for ours, a Chrysler 5th Avenue. They were very friendly and having a lot of fun and looking forward to visiting West Berlin. Robert Jerkovich

I remember riding the bus after we did shopping in East Berlin at Kaufhof in 1985. My parents got me a diecast firetruck with ladder and a scooter. I still have them both at home in the garage….

From New York Times

Click on photo for larger image From New York Times

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:25:34 -0500

Click on photo for larger image

From New York Times

Brandenburger Tor, 20 years ago and today. For more cool...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:33:34 -0500

Brandenburger Tor, 20 years ago and today.

For more cool pictures, go here

20 years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:32:41 -0500

20 years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell

This is a gorgeous shot from Sandia Peak, ABQ…. tonight’s...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:13:37 -0500

This is a gorgeous shot from Sandia Peak, ABQ….

tonight’s sunset at 10,685 feet by davidteter

via laureola:

Bill Gates: Your program sucks ass

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:44:16 -0500

Microsoft Word won’t let me renumber my footnotes - when I deleted a footnote, it would not renumber the subsequent footnotes. When I tried to move another footnote, Word did not renumber the footnotes.

Therefore, I had to resort to the brute force approach. Had to delete all the footnotes and start from stratch, copying and pasting from a “saved as” document….

Let it be known thusly, that Bill Gates’ most vaunted program is worthy of being dragged to the shitcan!

"Amis haben sogar die Kanzlerin verarscht"

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:47:38 -0500

“Amis haben sogar die Kanzlerin verarscht”

- Der Bild

Die Nachricht ist ein Schock! General Motors verkauft Opel nun doch nicht an Magna. Was jetzt aus Opel wird ist völlig offen!

Die Rettungspläne? Im Mülleimer! Was für eine Kehrtwende nach einer monatelangen Hängepartie auf Kosten von 26000 deutschen Opel-Arbeitern und ihren Familien.

DER VERLORENE KAMPF UM OPEL IST DIE GRÖSSTE VERARSCHE IN DER DEUTSCHEN INDUSTRIEGESCHICHTE.

xplanes: “Fire fighter jumps from helicopter to fight fire in...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:21:24 -0500

xplanes:

“Fire fighter jumps from helicopter to fight fire in Tucson, May 1961. Photographer: George Silk”

This is the kind of ASSHOLE that I hate to encounter on the...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:37:31 -0500

This is the kind of ASSHOLE that I hate to encounter on the road. There is a bike/pedestrian crossing near my house that I have to go over to get to the bike trail, and EVERY FUCKING DAY there is a car stopped in the middle of the crossing and I have to either 1. stop and wait for said car to move which is not possible because lights on both side of the block are red, 2. carefully weave my bike around the car, or 3. Scream and gesticulate at driver and wave my arms hysterically and scream some more obscenitites at the driver.

Guess which one is my preferred option….

Dr. Thompson is found guilty of all counts in LA road rage trial.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury on Monday found Dr. Christopher Thomas Thompson guilty of assaulting cyclists by abruptly stopping his car in front of them on a hilly Los Angeles County road last year.

Thompson, a former emergency room doctor, was found guilty of six felonies and one misdemeanor and could face as much as five years in prison.

He was remanded and ordered held without bail until sentencing. He was handcuffed in the courtroom after the verdict was read.

Thompson was accused of assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving causing specified bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury and mayhem. The most serious charges stem from a July 4, 2008, incident on Mandeville Canyon Road, the road where Thompson lives, where he was accused of abruptly stopping his car in front of two cyclists. Other charges relate to a similar incident on the same road that did not result in injuries.

In the July 4 incident, the two cyclists hit the rear of Thompson’s car; one slammed through the rear window, the other catapulted over the car into the road. In the earlier incident, the cyclists said they narrowly avoided hitting the rear of Thompson’s car.

Thompson’s lawyer had argued that the cyclists were belligerent and may have fallen because of the inherent instability of bicycles. He suggested that in any case the incident was accidental, not criminal.

Velonews

L.A. Times

thisshouldbeit:iaminlikewithmybike:danij12:

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:16:00 -0500

1. DON’T SWEAT THE PETTY THINGS AND DON’T PET THE SWEATY THINGS.

2. ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR.

3. ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

4. IF MAN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS AND APES, WHY DO WE STILL HAVE MONKEYS AND APES?

5. THE MAIN REASON THAT SANTA IS SO JOLLY IS BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE BAD GIRLS LIVE.

6. I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, “WHERE’S THE SELF-HELP SECTION?” SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

7. WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

8. IF A DEAF CHILD SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?

9. IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?

10. IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

11. WHERE DO FOREST RANGERS GO TO “GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?”

12. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?

13. IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

14. WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

15. WHY DO THEY LOCK PETROL STATION BATHROOMS? ARE THEY AFRAID SOMEONE WILL CLEAN THEM?

16. IF A TURTLE DOESN’T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

17. CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?

18. IF THE POLICE ARREST A MIME, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?

19. WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK MACHINES?

20. HOW DO THEY GET DEER TO CROSS THE ROAD ONLY AT THOSE YELLOW ROAD SIGNS?

21. WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

22. ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON’T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

23. DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?

24. DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?

25. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

26. IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

27. IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

28. IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

29. WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD ‘LISP’ TO HAVE ‘S’ IN IT?

30. WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED “HEMORRHOIDS” INSTEAD OF “ASSTEROIDS”?

31. WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN’T SHOOT AT THEM?

32. WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

33. IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL PERSON IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES, DO THEY BECOME DISORIENTED?

34. CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?