Dan Lipka Web Log

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