Dan Lipka Web Log

Predictions for the next year, some bold, some likely. (Add any of your as a comment) Technology and Science: Next generation DVDs will come out, confuse consumers, and be replaced with a completely new technology by the end of the year. Phones will start coming with Mp3 players built in. Wireless cable television (through local towers, not satellites) will start getting lots of attention. We will discover nothing useful on Mars. The Chinese put a man on the moon. Business: One of the failing airlines with promise to never overbook passengers and will increase their profits. Google will lose a large market share to programs like Coperic that utilize multiple search engine and can search your computer (and network) within seconds. The Stock market will go up, while the economy stays mostly stagnant. The DJIA is currently at 10,800. Government: The US will have less than 50,000 troops in Iraq by years end (currently over 120,000. I’m not counting troops at army bases

A little over 17 days till the wedding and things are coming into place. The little things are finally getting done, like hiring musicians and a DJ. I’m at the point were things simple need to get done; no more time for research and exploration. And to my slight surprise, things are progressing nicely. There is still a lot we have to do, but much of it needs to be done on the days right before the wedding (and on the wedding day). The only remaining item of contention is a family dinner the night before the wedding. I would like a nice dinner with my family and Lindee’s family. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Right now I am reading Charlie Wilson’s War, a book that my brother highly recommended. It is about how the US backed Afghan fundamentalists in their Jihad against the Soviet Union in the 1980’s. If you don’t know much about how the US government works, than you will find this book mind-blowing; however, I am finding it rather mundane. The writing is only average and the author insist

Maybe this will be the test to see if anyone actually reads this anymore. I haven’t written in a while because of the overwhelmingness of life. But in the mist of all the confusion a little miracle happened. Its not often that one can say that something will affect their entire life in a meaningful way, but here it is... Right now, flying in the skies is my darling love lindee. And in the sky, in that plane, in that lindee, there is a molecule of a new life. The little molecule swims around playing and sucking its brand new thumb. It has little eyes, and little fingers, and a little heart that goes “chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga...”. Lindee and I made this little molecule that will grow and grow until one day it pops outs as a glorious ray of sunshine and life. My life will never be the same. If I wasn’t so busy I would be overjoyed and anxious, but I will hopefully have time for that in a little while. For now, we are referring to out little offspring as “the molecule

Today is going to be a good day.

Been away for a long time. So very busy. First, the Dan and Lindy wedding website is up and running. It has information on events, directions, accommodations, stories, and pictures. Also, I recently added a countdown to the wedding day and a message board. Visit the site at... http://www.wedding.kokopop.com/ In non-wedding news, Lindy and I just got back from a weekend trip to California. We went to a wedding (a friend of Lindy’s) on Saturday and spend the rest of the time with my brother Glen, my sister-in-law Katie, and their three sons, Ethan, Jared, and Matthew. We played, we laughed, we rode bikes, we had religious debates, and saw the Incredibles. Ethan, Jared, and Matthew are each so perfect in their own way. I had a great time and I miss them all already.

Today: Do my job, go to school, plan a wedding. Tomorrow: Do my job, graduate, fulfill career ambitions, buy a house, create a new political party in New York. So very busy. Here is an update: The wedding is on! January 15, 2005, George Washington Manor. Go to http://wedding.kokopop.com for more information. The site is still being updated to be patient. The Democrats have put a pro-life proponent as their leader in the Senate. Mr. Reid also sponsored a constitutional amendment that would have banned flag-burning. He is a junior Senator from Nevada, a state known for gamblers, prostitution, and corruption. And with this begins the downfall of the Democratic party. Condoleezza Rice, as expert on foreign relations (specifically Soviet foreign relations (of course there is no more Soviet union) was made Secretary of State after Colin Powell resigned. Would Bush have won the election if Powell publicly said that he planned on resigning? Did anyone know about this

Here is the advice of great philosopher. His followers made him god and than forgot all of his earthy words. “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. “" "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy'. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you.” “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god” "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches).” "Judge not, that you be not judged.” Just

Here are some random thoughts, insights, and questions from the last few days. I called the IRS hotline to try to find out a tax question. I had looked for my answer online and spent several hours over the past week doing so. The IRS seemed like my last resort. As it turned out, the phone was picked up very quickly after only two automated prompts. After explaining what I was looking for, I was transferred to an actual person who picked up right away. He had all my answers and even gave me the exact tax code reference when I asked. He was friendly, informative and efficient. Who would have guessed? Why are US troops attacking Falluja. What is the rush, the insurgents aren't hurting the locals, but not wait until the Iraqi army can handle this. Why occupy a city that doesn't want us. If we are leaving pretty soon anyway, what is the point, what are our goals? Planning a wedding is stressful, but all things can be worked out. I'm trying to remember that ev

Not only does New York only have two Senators even though they are more people in New York that the total population of 16 smaller states (who get a total of 32 Senators), but New York only gets 8o cents on the dollar of Federal Taxes. For every buck we pay, the Federal government gives 20% of that to other states. So I was wondering, who did the states who are paying more towards Federal taxes than they receive, vote for? Could it be that all the States with sweetheart deals voted for Bush? Let's see, here are some statistics from the Census Bureau; Tax Foundation's "State-by-State Tax Burden Allocation . Of the top 13 states are get the least federal assistance as a proportion of what they pay, 11 of the, voted for Kerry. New Jersey has the worst ratio in the country, while New York is 10th. Of the top 13 states that pay the least amount of Federal Taxes and get the most, 12 of them went for Bush. New Mexico and Alaska both voted for Bush and each gets almos

It is the day after. Nothing has changed. This country is now capable of electing a president based solely on morals and faith. I am not proud of this or the actions of my fellow citizens. I am saddened, but that is no solution. I am angry, but that is no solution. I want change, but wanting is reactionary. As I described the two basic ideologies permeating this country in a previous post, I now belief that the faith-based one will continue to grow and spread throughout this country. Supreme Court Justices will be appointed, wars will be fought, faith will replace evaluation. And this government is supposed to be represented me, and it does better than any other country in the world, but that is not enough. The only solution is that a new country be formed, starting with New York state and invited any other who wish to join. A new country which will be responsive to the needs of the people. A country self-sufficient to provide for its defense, provide education, provide

Today is the big day. Election Day. The day when the United States is supposed to lead by example. Our leaders say that we want to spread the democracy throughout the world, but our democracy has come down to a few days a year for most of the population. George Bush contends that democracy is enough to make a country flourish, that it will lead to equal rights, free speech, and other wonderful things that this country enjoys. But in reality, modern democracy (many call it a republic) is about elected an official to make the decision for you and nothing more. Those leader can give rights or take them away will equal legitimacy. Today this country is choosing the their most important official, their President, based on ideology. This is significantly different than when Presidents were chosen because of their success, looks, policies, name, experience, wisdom, or anything else that has to do an actual individual. This election is not about George Bush and John Kerry, it is about being

In the unending pursuit of all things pure and right in the world there are moments when everything comes together. Smart people revel in its glory, while those who would be adventurous grab it from the air and hold on to it for the rest of their lives. On October 17 2004, 4.54 billion years after the earth was created, Lindy and Dan decided they would celebrate their love by getting engaged. Of the billions of people on earth, the odds were that at least one of them would put up with Dan, but what were the odds that he would meet her, seduce her, find she was intelligent, insightful, and creative, and they would fall desperately in love with each other? Yin and Yang, earth and fire, passion and logic, one who can spell and one who can add, west coast and east coast; Dan and Lindy complete each other. But they are more than an addition of their separate strengths, they love the same things, respect the same things, believe in the same things. They are the same. (Just ask them). S

American Voters may not understand, but I have to hope that our Congressmen do. George Bush’s policies are not good for this country. They are not good for Republicans. They are only good for evangelicals and businessmen. If Bush wins again, I am predicting a quick impeachment with moderate Republican support (especially fiscally conservative republicans). This will happen in the fall of 2005. Chaney will be made President and change the course of the administration. I don’t think it will be for the better, but it will be different. In particular, Chaney will not cater to the evangelicals since he doesn’t need their support and they aren’t his friends. However, I could also see Chaney stepping down and retiring back to Snake Mountain, a carven fortress made of polished black basalt, which has a giant stone snake coiled around it. Snake Mountain is located on the Dark Hemisphere of Eternia. And thus, John Dennis Hastert will be President of the United States. Hastert is a relative

The Soviet Union put the first satellite in space, the US put the first man on the moon, exploded the first atomic bomb, and built the Internet. Scotland cloned the first animal, Japan made the first reliable, affording cars. There are probably a hundred examples. There are major technological advances about every 5 years that an entire country seems to embrace. It is my prediction that China will be credited for one of the next three advances. Here are some predictions of what they will be... 1) Man lands on another planet. 2) Mass produced alternate fuel engine. 3) Cloned human 4) Cure/Vaccine for HIV 5) World's largest building 6) Space-based laser weapon system (alla Real Genius) Americans are great inventors because we are motivated by greed, but the Chinese are motivated by nationalism. Both are relentless in their power to succeed at all costs. What do you think the great technological leaps of the next 10 years will be (scanning your brain into a computer a

I've been saying it all season, but the "best closer of all time" (Mariano Rivera) is hittable. He used to throw that high fastball that no one could touch, but now he only has one pitch (a ridiculously devastating low inside cut fastball). I was not surprise that the Red Sox scored off him and than won the game, which bring me my next point. Now the Red Sox have hope, they worst thing that could have possible happened. Red Sox fans should have be happy with their quick death, but no, now they think they can win the series. In fact, they might win the next two games, they might even make it to the world series. "Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. Because now when the Red Sox lose it will be so much worse. A horrible tragedy for a team that brought hope only to get crushed in the end. I wonder if the entire Red Sox organization is just the victims of a 80 year reality show in which they can never w

Ahhh, sweet democracy. Here is my idea, make people earn their day off for Election Day. Most people get a paid day off to vote, if they don't get paid the government should re-reimburse them; however, there is a catch. It order to get paid, voters must attend a mandatory voter education class. In the class, there will be a video or person explaining each candidate or issue on the ballot. Each candidate can have someone read a short description of them or they can show a video (distribution of videos will be paid for by the government). Presidential candidates will get three minutes, Congressman will get 2 minutes, and everything else gets a minute. In most states, classes should be less than 30 minutes. People will also have the option to take the classes anytime before Election Day. After the class is over, people can take literature on issues and are told where the nearest library is in case they wanted to do more research. In addition to getting a day's wage for voting (if

Here are the 10 Questions I would the candidates if I got the opportunity at the next debate (supposedly town meeting style). If you have other questions please add them as a comment. 1) “How to you justify spending billions of dollars of a single submarine when that money could be used to protect women who are being gang raped and child who are being massacred?” 2) “As president, if you received a bill to raise taxed on every American by 1% under the condition that every cent be used to protect victims of genocide, would you sign it?” 3) “Have you tried cocaine more than 20 times in your life?” 4) “Mr. Kerry, if the world refuses to help in Iraq, how will your plan differ from the current plan?” 5) “What are you plans to address the concerns of angry muslins besides killing them and invading their countries?” 6) “Mr. Kerry, why are you taking money from regular people and the government to run your campaign? You’re rich, use your own money and avoid pressure by public interest

I think I hit the metaphysical wall. Today I read about how there was no evidence that Iraq was a threat to anyone, that 75% of this country wants a president of “strong religious faith”, and “House and Senate negotiators approved a sprawling corporate tax bill that would shower corporations and farmers in politically sensitive states with new tax cuts.”, and new research on how T-rex may have lived. This depresses me so much. I am overwhelmed with a feeling of global failure that seems to be seeping into my own bloodstream. The race for President is ridiculous; it is being contested by two multi-millionaires who cannot be trusted. People say that if you don’t think something in this country than you should get out. That makes me sick, why can’t something good still get better. But can it get better, can this country every prioritize what is important. People say that they want a religious President, but both nominees say how their main goal is to kill certain people. We giv

Osama Bin Laden is dead, he has been dead for over a year. Of course I have no proof, except that he was old, in poor health (kidney problems) and was rushed into a life on the run. The new leader of Al Qaeda is Ayman al-Zawahrii. He is the one making the threats, he is the one in the new tapes, he is the new leader. Additionally, it was reported that al-Zawahri's wife and children were killed in Afghanistan in 2001 by the US, so he has nothing to lose and is out for blood. Bin Laden will never be found, any evidence of his death was surely destroyed. Don't chase a ghost, chase the terrorist doctor. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4555901/

The first debate between John Kerry and George Bush occurred last night. It was an interesting debate and I was glad to see that each candidate often had to address the other candidate and not just spew campaign rhetoric. Here is what I got out of the evening. 1) Jim Lehrer did a good job of moderating and allowing for extra responses; however, his questions clearly favored Kerry. 2) George Bush is still an idiot and did not do well. He kept saying the same thing over and over again, but they lost a lot of their impact early on. Also, when he is not talking, Bush looks like a cartoon monkey. 3) Kerry did well, but missed on a few big opportunities and did not do anything to dispel the idea that he is a flip-floppers. a. Lehrer set up Kerry by asking what lies Bush has told. This was a huge opportunity for Kerry and he blew it. He concentrated on things Bush said that were misleading, like WMD. However, Kerry should have just stuck with Bush quotes and nothin

In a contest of what organization is run worse, who would win; the United States under George Bush or the New York Mets under Fred Wilpon. I think I have covered the case for Bush, now lets looks at the Mets. They are about to finish the season with the 3rd worse ratio of money spend on players to amount of total wins. They are in second to last place, only ahead of the pathetic, low budget Expos. Of course, the Mets just hired a new General Manager to run their team. You ask, did they get someone from a winning team or even a decent team? No, they got the guy from the Montreal Expos, the only team that finished behind the Mets. Do you know that Mo Vaughn is still on the Mets payroll (for $17 mil/year). That Mike Cameron is batting .233 and has more strikeouts than hits (only $4.3mil). Richard Hildalgo is batting .228, also with more strikeouts than hits ($12.5mil!). Jason Phillips, batting .220, Todd Ziele, .234; Cliff Floyd, .260. The Mets don't have a single player

The biggest missed opportunity is this election wasn't John Kerry's chance to say that he would have voted against the war, or Bush's inability to come up with a good plan for Iraq. The biggest missed opportunity was by Laura Bush. She could have won the election (and done the right thing) if only she has shown some genuine compassion. Remember last week, when a woman snuck into a speech by Laura. The woman's son was killed in Iraq and she wore a shirt that said, "George Bush killed my son". After she started to protest, she was thrown out by security and ended up being handcuffed and arrested. Now imagine if this would have happened... As the woman is being dragged out the building, Laura steps to the microphone, "Get your hands of her, let her go!" the first lady demands. Than she invites the woman onto the stage to tell her story. After the woman speaks of how her son died for no reason and it is the President's fault, Laura would respon

(Don't forget to Enter contest #4, Scroll down a few posts) I may have missed a book review in between this and the last one, but I'll eventually get to any I missed. The first is my book review of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre . This was a book recommended by my father. It is a fictional first person account of a stock operator the first 20 years of the 20th century. Overall, the book was very well written and does an amazing job of only focusing on one part of his life without making you feel that you are missing all the context. Even though he talks about a time when there are only a few hundred publicly traded stocks and the regulations were much looser, there is still a tremendous corollary between his theories and encounters 100 years ago and what they would be now. To top things off, his life was very interesting, including going from millions to bankruptcy a few times. The writing is straightforward and well thought out and utilized and c

John Kerry must have the first sentence of what I've been writing because he finally stood up for himself. However, he didn't read the rest of what I had to say and he stood up for the wrong thing. Note: He stood up for what he believed, which is honorable; however, he did not stand up for a winnable Presidential campaign. My take from his big speech yesterday is that 1) The war was wrong 2) Saddam was not a threat and 3) He will pull our soldiers out unless the UN helps. John Kerry is now officially an anti-war candidate. Politically, this is not good. Bush can attack him too easily by saying things like "Saddam would still be killing hundreds of thousands of women and children if it were up to you" and "Next time there is a threat, you will wait for the UN and by than it could be too late", and "John Kerry would pull out our soldiers before their job is done, thus making 1,000 US soldiers die for nothing." And all this would be accurat

1) "Bush let Osoma Bin Laden get away, I will catch him no matter what." 2) "[Insert name of American solder who died that day in Iraq] died today because the Bush/Cheney have the wrong plan and refused to change. Your son could be next." 3) "All women who respect autonomy over their own bodies should understand that if Bush/Cheney wins they will destroy a women's right to control her own body." 4) "In 2003, George Bush donated only $68,360 to charities. In 2003, Teresa donated over $45 million. Bush spends his money to buy baseball teams, we spend our money on the community." 5) "My plan for Iraq is [insert plan, any plan, please. My suggestion is "When I am President, I will implement an operation I designed with General Wesley Clark and other experienced Generals that will realign our soldiers so they can crush those who oppose us. One city at a time, we liberate Iraq once and for all." (I am so depressed when I think

I know that space exploration is important and many wonderful things have come about from the work that NASA has done, but why can't Congress (as a representative of the people in this country) add a stipulation to the NASA budget that says "Unless NASA finds a cure or vaccine for HIV, though either self research or contracting, they will be receive only 25% funding for any new projects. If the cure is found within one year, NASA's original budget will triple, within three years it will double. However, if nothing is found in three years, their funding at 25% will continue indefinitely". The scientists at NASA are the most creative and brilliant that this country has to offer. The continually achieve goals that were considered impossible. If this country gives NASA the resources and motivation (similar to when we first went to moon, an event considered 30 years ahead of its time), that I believe that they can do more than launch satellites, invent Velcro, and l

You know those anti-smoking commercials that talk about the fact we live in “crazy land”, well I think they might be more accurate then we could have imagined. That commercial is paid for by a company who produces the product (cigarettes) in which the commercial is protesting. So this contest is to come up with the most ridiculous thing that has happened that makes you think that the world has just lost its concept of reality. For example, the fact the both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura are (or were) Governors of major US states. Or just the idea of a treadmill. Next time you pass a gym, watch a person running as fast as they can and going nowhere. And this person paid good money for the privilege of using the run and get nowhere machine. So the contest is to come up with the most ridiculous thing that everyone just seems to think is acceptable. Entries are limited to 5 per person and each one can be no longer than 20 words. Note: Last time I held a contest,

And thus my vacation was over. And when I came back to work everything was the same. Everything always seems to be the same. I know I have talked about the current administration that tries to run this country into the ground, but in truth my life is exactly the same as it was before. I wonder how often things change for people in general, moments when they say “wow, this is different.” I don’t think I’ve ever really endured a radical change in my whole life. Sure, I have made choices that affected which path my life headed towards, but they never have they changed the direction of my life. All I seem to be doing to cleaning up the details and growing up along the way. I don’t know if this bad or good, but I know that it is a choice I make everyday. Tomorrow I could jump on a plane and move to Tibet, or try to hitchhike to Peru, or stop speaking, or dedicate myself to creating a mechanical, mobile fishtank so that not-fluffy can control and move around a room. I think that if

Yesterday, Iran's defense minister, Vice Adm. Ali Shamkhani, has warned that Iran may resort to pre-emptive strikes to prevent an attack on its nuclear facilities. He said. "Some military commanders in Iran are convinced that preventive operations which the Americans talk about are not their monopoly. Any nation, if it feels threatened, can resort to that." There are so many things utterly disturbing about this. 1) Any country can now feel justified in attacking another as long as they have the same evidence that the US had, which is none. 2) Saddam Hussein said he didn’t have nuclear weapons and in fact didn’t, however, we invaded. Iran admits they are working on nuclear weapons, but we haven’t done anything. Weren’t they our allies a few months ago? Eurasia, Eastasia? Whatever. 3) Will Israel let Iran complete building a nuclear weapon? They have sent bombers in a few times to other countries over the last 20 years to destroy nuclear facilities

President Bush, sidestepping a promise, is allowing the ban on assault rifles and oversized clips to expire on Sept. 14. Bush had said, "It makes no sense for assault weapons to be around our society." This country’s gun policies are one of the most embarrassing and problematic laws that we have on the books. I will never understand it. People who say they want to defend their homes wouldn’t need a gun if they knew that criminals didn’t have guns either. Given a choice of both with guns or both without guns, why choose something that might accidentally kill your kid. Those who say that they want freedom and personal protection from our government, well guess what, an uzi ain’t going to help you against a tank. Those who say hunting is a sport, well than might it a fair sport. Shooting a dear with a high power rifle from 100 yards away is not a sport, and I say those people are cowards. You want a sport, take a hunting knife and try to take down a dear using your stea

Once upon a time, there was a newborn rant about websites that don't provide any phone numbers to call for customer service. It continued to go delve into the anger of being subjected to layer after layer of automatically phone prompts if and when you ever to get to call. It was a good rant with many fine points. However, as it was about to be born upon this blog, the Internet Explorer demon decided that it was not "authorized", and thus the infant rant was dissolved forever. Poor rant, poor poor rant. It lived its life like a candle in the shower.

It all starts with the coach. Larry Brown said the team wasn't ready and that he wasn't confident. This is not a way to lead a team. Brown sat on the sideline and pouted the whole game, he was pathetic. The players, didn't do much better, but they were designed like an all-star team and not a winning team. Get some rebounders (Ben Wallace, Brad Miller), some three point specialists (Michael Redd, Brent Berry), and some "knock you in your ass" players (Artest). Basically, the team would be vastly improved if it traded any player (except Duncan) for Fred Hoiberg. That's right, Fred is more valuable than Iverson, Lebron, or any of the others. Sure if Shaq, Kobe, McGrady, and Garnett were on the team, it wouldn't matter, but they are not, deal with it. And for god's sake, run the fast break every single play and wear the other team down.

Last night on the John Stewart show (which is one of the best shows on TV), John Stewart discussed the exact same issue that I did in my previous post. After showing John Kerry re-affirm that he still would have voted to give Bush and Cheney the authority to attack Iraq, John Stewart asked the picture of Kerry “Are you trying to lose? Is that it?"

John Kerry continues to do whatever he can to avoid having any of his own ideas or thoughts. He refusing to run a campaign on his own merits, instead he is running on Bush's mistakes. The most recent example is when John Kerry was asked if he has the chance to go back in time and vote again to authorize the President with the means to attack Iraq, would he still vote yes. And Kerry said that he would. Now I understand that if he said he vote have changed his vote than the Republicans would have said he is a flip-flopper and that if Kerry had his way Saddam would still be running Iraq. However, Kerry should have said "Hell no, If I knew how horribly and incompetent the administration was, I would never have let them take actions that have killed hundreds of American soldiers. Bush might say that I would be appeasing Saddam, but I would have saved American lives and billions of taxpayer's dollars. I was misled by the President, he lied to me and to this country, and it has d

Currently the world is spending significant time, money and energy to make sure that countries like Iran and South Korea do not make their own nuclear weapons. Although this is a great thing to focus on, why is that we can’t convince/bribe Russia to either destroy of relocate their nuclear weapons. It would much much easier to steal a bomb than to build one. Give Russia a choice; pay them to disable the weapons or offer to build them state of the art weapons depots where they can guard them more easily. Russia can’t afford to guard the weapons and I don’t see why they would be against this. And if the smaller former Soviet countries don’t agree to such an offer, than we should destroy their facilities by force. An unguarded nuclear missile depot in Kazakhstan is a much greater threat to my life that Saddam Hussein ever was. And the US should lead by example, we should say that we will reduce our nuclear capabilities so that we can only kill every person on earth three times. Th

Does anyone else think it is wrong that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Senators Kerry and Edwards are completely neglecting their official responsibilities so that they can campaign all around the country? Either they should quit their elected positions, or they should all get back to work trying to fix: the economy, the war, our schools, the national debt, and a thousand other things. These politicians have responsibilities to their office and I think that President Bush should spend every waking doing his job, or at least from 9-5, being President (maybe he should go to Iraq and see what it is like first hand, or go to an inner city school and see what they are like). I would be in favor of a law that would require to Presidents to work on President related things at least 10 hours a day and the same for Senators. These people are important, they took on a huge responsibility, and I think they should focus on that. Of course, they don't care about doing a good job tod

My girlfriend and I have two extra tickets to Much Ado About Nothing in the park tonight (Saturday August 7). Since we thought selling free tickets was a little unethical, we decided to have a contest to see who needs them the most. So, if you are interested please go to http://danlipka.blogspot.com/ and post a comment that best describes why you want/need the tickets. The stories can be made up, but you have to specifically say if it is fictional (true stories carry more weight than fiction, but creativity is also a good thing). If you have any questions post them on the blog or email them to me. Tickets can be picked up on the upper east side or by the theater. Contest ends at 6:00 unless something changes, (well maybe at 5:30). Good Luck. 6:14 - It's all over. We have selected and contacted the winners. I’m sorry to all those who weren’t chosen, as you all were deserving of the tickets. To those couples that couldn’t get to go, I say to spend the night together, have a roma

As many of you know, I've been going to graduate school full time at Columbia for the past year (while working full time). First of all, Columbia may have a good reputation, but the program I'm in (supposedly an Executive Masters) is horrible. Anyway, I have two semesters left and in my quest to be done with school, I have the option of finishing after next semester. This would require me to take 3 classes on Saturday, 2 night classes during the week, and 1 independent study. Needless to say, this would be a lot. So the question is...Should I just suck it up and get it over with, or should I take my time, get good grades (current GPA 3.8), and graduate on time?

When the knicks hired Isaiah Thomas to run the team, it was equivalent to the Democratic National Party putting Jeb Bush as their chairman. Thomas was the enemy over the last 20 years. Although a great talent, he was a dirty underhanded player who was not respected by anyone in the league, even his teammates. And now, as the Knick's GM (he was hired after Indiana fired him because he was so bad), he keeps making trades to get rid of their youth and take on more and more long-term, bad contracts. For the next seven year, he has basically guaranteed a Knicks team that will never get past the first round of playoffs. And just today, he took on another huge contract of another point guard (even though he already have a better point guard signed to a huge, long term deal). If the Knicks are Isaiah’s team, than they are not my team.

Is it too much to ask that firefighters don't put a skull and crossbones on the front grill of the fire trucks? (and you thought this was going to be about the Skull and Crossbones secret society. Now why would I write about a secret elite group whose member include both John Kerry and George Bush.)

Come on, he's not even bending the truth anymore, he just makes his own new truth. The following are quotes bush has made in the last week. "When it comes to improving our economy and creating new jobs, results matter." -The U.S. economy has lost 2,100,000 jobs under the Bush administration. -In 2004, the budget deficit has hit $465 billion, by far the largest deficit ever. "When it comes to health care reforms to give families more access and more choices, results matter." -Individuals spend, on average 25 percent more on health care than when Bush took office in 2001. -Since George Bush took office 3.7 million more Americans without health insurance. "When it comes to better securing our homeland and fighting the forces of terror, results matter." -Bin Laden and all the top Talaban leaders are still free. -According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Al Qaeda's ranks have swelled to 18,000 with members op

Well my experiment with not advertising me second contest was a complete failure; however, we do have a winner. And the winner is...wait, that can’t be right...a republican? Really? Yes, the winner is one of my only republican friends, Ross Blum. He image of a cat saying “I’m a big pussy that won’t shut up” is the winning logo. Although not too popular with me, it was the only entry that qualified for the contest. What does this prove? Are democrats all talk, while republicans are actually willing to do something (no matter how stupid it is). Which is better, bad action or no action, too much talk or no talk at all? I was disqualified because I couldn’t narrow my choices of logo down from the following...Calculator, Owl, Anna Kournikova, a visualization of the word stredegery, the earth, a confederate flag with a line through it, a diploma, Jesus riding the old donkey, or a cupcake with frosting depicting George Bush being shot in the back with arrows - falling off a cliff –

This is meant for all the people that plan on voting for George Bush because they think that faith, morality, or god is more important that policy, reason, or logic. Well, George Bush may say he is a good Christain, but he is not. He is lying to you as he knows that god is so important to you that you will ignore everything else he does if you think that he is a good Christian. He continues to manipulate you for your votes and support. Don’t be a fool, look at him for what his is. If you really believe that Jesus’s teaching were the right ones, do some research, and see how Bush doesn’t care one bit about morality. His words make promises, but please look at his actions. I tried to be objective in this judgement, I really did, but the facts speak for themselves. Although George Bush says that he is a good Christian, he can’t even follow the ten commandments. In fact he has viciously violated commandment 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10. And these are the big ones and don’t even includ

I don't know if other presidential candidates have ever announced their cabinet members, but I feel that John Kerry should.  He should act like he is going to win and show some cohones.   I know what those in his cabinet would suffer politically if Kerry lost, but it's worth their suffering to gain the votes.  Now, Kerry shouldn't say that these people have accepted or that he has even asked them, just that he has a short list of possible cabinet members and this is on the top for each post.  Secretary of Health - Dr. Howard Dean (I miss Dean's passion) Secretary of Defense - General Wesley Clark Secretary of Environment , Al Gore (i know it's a step down, but it's better than what he's doing now) Secretary of Labor , Dick Gephardt (maybe Nader can go here) Secretary of Veteran Affairs , Sen. Bob Graham (Florida) Secretary of Homeland Security, Former UN ambassador and current Governor   Bill Richardson; (another great choice is Rudy Giuliani)

If only the Democrats would have released this three week ago.  "Although the city of Boston is a beautiful, historical, and appropriate location for a national convention; Democratic leaders have decided to move our national convention one hour outside of the city.  This was done to avoid possible dangers to convention goers and to regular citizens.  Additionally, the costs of extra security and police are millions of dollars and we think that money would be better spent on helping homeless children.   The convention will still be open to the public and we will provide free buses from the city to the new convention center.   Of course, proper security will be put in place to ensure the safety of all who attend.  Any party that would hold their convention in a city that would further make it a possible target, simply isn't thinking about the regular Americans that have to live and walk those streets.  We won't do that."

I know Nader doesn't like the Democrats that much, but he also understands what will happen if Bush wins again.  Since his campaign began, the Republicans have actually been spending a lot of money promoted him (i.e. taking away votes for Kerry).   Wouldn't it be nice if 2 weeks before the election Nader says, "Hey Republicans, that's for all the free press and attention you bought to issues I care about, but I'm not really running for President, I fully support John Kerry and urge all my supporters to vote for him."   In other Nader related thoughts, why don't the Democrats fund a well regarded man-of-God (maybe even an evangelists) to run for President on the "Jesus Saves" ticket.  His main focuses will be to oppose gay marriage, oppose the separation of Church and State, oppose big business, oppose abortion.  He will support prayer in school, fighting evil foreigners, farmers, and States' rights. 

"When Bush and Kerry accept $75 million apiece in public money for the fall campaign, as they are expected to after they are nominated at the party conventions...."  And this is on top of the $400 million that they have raised privately (Bush raising more of it than Kerry).  Here is my suggestion for Bush: Take more, more, more, greed, greed, greed, it's what your best at, and obviously your constituents don't care.   For Kerry:  Don't take a cent, actually return any dollar that was donated to you.  Use your own money (well your wife's money) to run your campaign.  Bloomberg did it in New York and Corzine in New Jersey to great success.  It makes your argument that Bush is owed by business leaders much more compelling.   Here is the text for a 30 second commercial...   "Unless you make more than $200,000 a year, the four years since Bush and Cheney took office have been really hard.   Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and vital social

Why does the Democratic Party have a jackass (aka donkey) as their logo?  Ok, there is an official story and it may have seemed reasonable at one time, but that time is gone.  So what should the new Democratic Party logo be?  Contest #2 demands that you submit an answer in the form of an actual logo or a good description of a logo.  I also encourage Republicans to submit their ideas as to what they think the Democrats are best represented by.  All submissions will be voted on by the general public to determine the winner.  The deadline is August 1, 2004.  Submissions: You can post descriptions or links to a site with the logo on it.  Also you can email a picture to me at danlipka@gmail.com (yes I bought an account for $2, but it has plenty of room to files of almost any size).  As always, you can submit your logo via snail mail, fax, messenger pigeon, sky writing, invading my dreams, binary c ode, or subpoena.  Good luck. Good Luck.  Assuming I don’t win (again), prizes will b

No one is here. Where did everyone go? Maybe I should stop writing web log? Maybe I should concentrate on novels?

I was about to buy an invite to get a Gmail account (google's 1GB email free system) for $4, when I saw something else. It's called spymac. Although the name of site is horrible (people are terrified of spyware), it seems to be a free 1GB email service (plus other features, like blogs and 250mg picture section). The site is utterly cluttered with adds and options, but if you can get over it, it seems like something to look into. I'll test it for a while to see if it tries to screw me over. Feel free to try it yourself. http://www.spymac.com/ danlipka@spymac.com (for testing purposes)

Accoding to my survey, 54% of respondants think that world was coming to an end. Well, I now have prove that they were right. This morning I found out the Kennith Lay, ex-Chairment of Enron, was indited on 11 counts of screwing over the millions of consumers on the west coast and riuning the lives of hundreds of employees (the 11 actual enditments are varing types of fraud). Ken Lay has been a close friend of Bush for years and I was sure that he would never see jail time (despite the overwheling evidence against him). Will justice actually be served? Will Bush Pardon him if he gets the chance? Can the his punishment be to push one of those huge wheels (Conan the Barbairain style) 20 hours a day, and manually create some free energy?

I don’t go to the movies often, but I felt that there was enough talk about Fahrenheit 9/11 that I should be properly informed. Before the movie, I had mixed feelings on Micheal Moore; I absolutely hated his book (it simply only told half the story), but I really liked Bowling for Columbine. In his book, you can see that Micheal Moore is really an over-the-top idelist that makes the facts fit his preconcieved thoughts. But Bolwing for Columbine was a poinent, extremely honest exporation of a contraveial subjuct. Fahrenheit 9/11 was 75% like the book and 25% like his previous movie. It completely lacked the sense of honestly, seriosness, and thoughfulness of Bowling for Columbine, but nevertheless did provide some very insightful information. Additionally, focusing on the Saudi/Bush connection did not have much of a point. There is as much prove that the Saudi government was involved in 9/11 as leaders from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Indoneisa or any other country that doesn’t really

What a crazy week. Two proposals due at work, school sucking the life out of me, and a ridiculous TV repairman situation this morning. I apologize for lack of new information on the Log, but here I go. Also, has anyone being having problems accessing this site? Do you need to refresh at least once to enter? John and John, just like peas and carrots. So John Kerry, the man many of us are counting on help save this country from anymore fiscal, moral, or international disasters has selected John Edwards as his VP candidate. Although I am relatively pleased with this choice, I do not know if it is consistent with the Kerry strategy. In case you don’t know, his strategy is to do nothing, say nothing, attack Bush, and hope that more people vote against Bush than vote for Bush. But Edwards probably won’t lie down like that, he’ll want (and get) attention when he talks. He is also an easy target (He does have very little experience in government and it pretty much unqualified to b

And the Winner is... Me! 1st Place – “Diameter - 12,756.3km; mass - 5.976e24kg, nickel-iron core, one moon, mostly dirt and pigeons.” 2nd Place (team Dandy) – “The world is the forgotten playtoy of some random god with ADD.” 3rd Place (Elizell) – “Collective of intellectually underdeveloped secular humanists, covetous egoists, homosexuals, and religious fanatics.” Congratulation to me, I knew I could do it. I have known me for a long time and I can honestly say that I deserves this. Equal congratulations to team Dandy (of which I am ½ of) for their fine work. They will receive a medal or trophy or something else ridiculously valuable. And finally, congratulations to Elizell. I have no idea who you are, but we are all very proud of you. If you disclose yourself as a person, I will send you your prize. I’ll put the full details of the results as a comment. Thank you all for participating. Rock on!

Watch and see what the day with bring. Today will discus Fahrenheit 9/11, Vice President Edwards, help me cure my fish, and the final results of Contest #1 (still time to vote, see below). I know you'll be waiting.

"Politics is just a word we use to explain the system we voluntarily put in place to control us." random note: I am trying to change the code on this blog's template so that the text uses all of the space on the page. If anyone thinks the can help please let me know.

I have engineered an online voting system to decide the winners of the first ever Dan Lipka Blog contest. As a reminder, the contest to was “Explain the current state of the entire world in 12 words or less.” The rules of the election are similar to the American voting system, meaning that the most votes win, unless I (acting as the Supreme Court) decide to change the results for political reasons beyond anyone’s understanding. Barring that, I will publish the results when I feel than no one else is going to vote. Vote Once, Vote Hard, Vote Your Conscience. Click here to Vote or http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=15095542731 join the revolution

I know the world was waiting eagerly for the results of Contest #1, but I have decided to extend the deadline by 24 hours. Additionally, I am trying to set up a public online voting system. If it works, I will post and email the link. And even if you don't vote, go to the link because there are other entries (including my own) that have not been posted yet.

I think that I'm going to start posting what I think of books as I finish them and what I’m reading now. I think this will have some purpose. The last book I read was the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I was looking forward to this book since I got some very high reviews from friends and I really liked Rand's first book "We the Living". In all, I found the Fountainhead terrible disappointing. It was so long and it spends so much time developing character trait only to have the characters do things that made no sense for them to do at all. Additionally, her use of exaggerated characters makes the point of the novel (which is the validity if individualism) unrealistic and I was unable to identify with anything or anybody. From a pure writing standpoint I thought it was adequate; she was creative in many ways, but also used literary tricks and shortcut to describe complex feelings and traits. If you want a further review please let me know and I'll post them a

From a NYTimes.com editorial... "as he prepared to leave Iraq, Mr. Bremer listed reduced tax rates, reduced tariffs and the liberalization of foreign-investment laws as among his major accomplishments. Insurgents are blowing up pipelines and police stations, geysers of sewage are erupting from the streets, and the electricity is off most of the time — but we've given Iraq the gift of supply-side economics." I think this idea can be applied to the entire Bush Presidency. However, to show that I judge all actions without bias, I would like to say that handing over authority to the new Iraqi (puppet?) government a few days earlier was pretty smart. Last thing, I see that Bush's ratings are down again this week in almost all criteria. Than again, maybe the polling firm is just a front for terrorists who hate America and should be locked away in a Cuban prison forever. join the revolution

I am announcing an essay contest for all to participate in. Wonderful prizes and acclaim will be given to the winners. Here it is... Explain the current state of the entire world in 12 words or less. You can write your answer as a comment or email them to me at danlipka@hotmail.com. The deadline is June 30 and I will post the top three essays on July 1. Be creative, feel free to use made up words or other languages, and good luck. join the revolution

China has always fascinated me. I’ve read about China’s economy boom, its stable government (even peacefully changing leadership), flourishing education system (at least for the privileged), vicious nationalism, and technological achievement and I have little doubt that it will soon become the other world superpower. I believe that although China is already a major world factor they are laying low and biding their time. And they will wait for maybe 10-15 more years before than finally make a stand. And the US or any other country will be virtually helpless to do anything; the world will depend of the Chinese economy as much as ours and their military will be equal to ours. But I don’t think that will be enough for China, I believe that they want their country to be the most powerful and most respected in the world. To achieve the latter, they have an opportunity start a new era of humanitarian services. 10 years from now I’ll wake up and in the NY Times the headlines cou

Note: I just realized that this log had a default setting and said that only registered users can leave comments. I have since changed that to allow comments without the three minute bother to get a username. Since you don't have to have an account, I would appreciate if you sign any comment (if you choose to be accountable for what you say. Thank you.

As requested, I went about seeing how many years, since the Declaration of Independence, this country has been at war. I looked at five different websites (from official US military sites to historical sites). I defined war as a large US government military action against another country or region (I did count the Civil War though) in which there were many casualties. My research has shown that the US has been at War for 97 out of 230 years (42% of the time). However, I further researched to include smaller wars and conflicts, such as taking over the Philippines, pro-active battles against the Indians, basically all US military actions that we caused, in which at least 100 soldiers on our side died and at least 1,000 people died overall. This does not include any small single battled or actions taken to defend US soil. With this standard, the US has been at war or in an armed conflict for 150 out of 230 years (65%). Since 1900, the rate has increased to 91% and does not reflect

The US Civil War started in 1861 as the Confederacy States left the Union of the United States. The war itself was fought to force the Confederacy to stay part of the Union. In fact the Union never recognized the Confederacy as any kind of separate legitimate government. In 1864, President Lincoln was up for re-election, running against George McClellan of New Jersey. None of the Confederacy states voted in the election and Lincoln won with 55% of the popular vote and 91% of the electoral vote. Here is the point...Why didn’t the southern states re-join the Union in 1964 and help elect McClellan who was seen as a better alternative to Lincoln (from the southern perspective). Than, after the election, they could just leave the Union again.

If you include the Cold War, the US has been at war for about 55 of the last 65 years. Isn’t this a bad thing? By the way, eight of the ten years of peace were under President Clinton. Maybe it was a coincidence that was also a huge boom in out economy and world prestige. Not that I think War is wrong as an idea, but they should at least accomplish something morally productive.

This seems like a reasonable segway from yesterday’s discussion about the merits of being able to change your mind in light of new information. The Sopranos is Awful! When that show first started, I agree that it was a great work of writing, acting, and directing; it had it all. It used to have the quality of a full length movie production every Sunday night. It’s unique approach to the life and times of the “family” was worthy of all the accolades it received. Naturally, the show built a very loyal fan base, too loyal. Please listen carefully...Open your mind....The show has been terrible for more than two years. Yes, of course, there are moments in each episode that you can focus on and say it is good, but you are forgetting about the other 57 minutes each week. There are new plots every week and even more plot holes. Although the acting is still good, the content is simply awful. The following is a dramatization of how it all started two years ago. Location: H

My boss actually mentioned this to me. http://www.johnkerryisadouchebagbutimvotingforhimanyway.com/

Glen says: Kerry is a flipflopper. In other words. He changes his mind when given new information. Is this a bad or a good thing? Dan says: It depends on what the information is. If it's "john, we just got new accurate information that says your tax plan could be better if you switched to this new one" than its ok. However, if it's "john, the polls came back and the people changed their minds and want this other plan." than it's not good Glen says: Well, then flipflopping is not bad. Only flipflopping for a bad reason is bad Dan says: yes Glen says: And someone who NEVER flip flops can neither change their mind for a good or bad reason Glen says: Which is better...someone who MIGHT change their mind for a bad reason or someone who CANT change their mind for a good reason Dan says: Some one who will not accept the possibility of changing is very bad Dan says: if you refuse to change, that is the worst Glen says: so bush is wo

I was randomly thinking of random things as I walked down the street yesterday and I remembered an idea I had a while back. Basically, it a camera system for street security that takes the best of big brother and combines it will the best of civil liberties. Here is how it works... Put digital video cameras all over the city, starting with high crime areas, but expanding to just about everywhere. These cameras are self-contained (no wires, no wireless transmissions) and will have a build in hard drive capable of recorded one month of video. After one month the video will start to record over the beginning of the tape and so on. No one will have access to the video without an official warrant and the police would than only be allowed to look at a specific time frame as stated in said warrant. Being video taped is not a violation of privacy or civil rights. The tape itself can not do anything, it is only when people look at the tape that there is a worry. Therefore proper

Dear John, I feel I can call you John because if you don’t change your campaigning style than you will become President Kerry. You will be left behind after a brutal defeat and a country doomed to four more years of fiscal and international irresponsibility. This country’s need for a new administration is so great that a successful Kerry campaign is in the interest of national security and prosperity. Although your current campaign of “let Bush make mistakes and you campaign as a middle of the road alternative to Bush” has pulled you virtually even with Bush, this is far from a victory in November. In fact, unless you become a “better” alternative, you will be in a campaign controlled by your adversary. George Bush will not gently accept an impending loss in November, he will do whatever it takes to create a positive public image. He will remove troops from Iraq, he will lower taxes, promise surpluses, blame others, embrace executive patriotism, arrest terrorists; he will cre