Dan Lipka Web Log

Last December I made a few prediction for the upcoming year. A few have come true (mp3 players in phones, the Knicks falling from 1st place to finish horribly, the stock market going up while the economy stayed stagnent, discovering nothing on Mars, etc.), while other have not (Chinese man on the moon, wireless cable tv, troop levels in Iraq, and google losing market share). I am still working on controlling the weather and time travel, and thus my ability to predict the future is still a bit off. Nevertheless, here are my predictions for 2006. 1) The Republicans majority in the House of Representatives with decline only from 29 to 16 (which would be a Republican victory considering a lame-duck President and his very low approval rate). The races with be among the dirtiest in history and will end up dividing the Republican party, creating problems in 2008. 2) The Dow Jones will end the year 12,571 (currently 10,798) after dipping to below 9,000 in the spring. The economy will cont

The New York City transit workers went on strike today for a variety of reasons, including higher wages and a better retirement plan. At one of the busiest travel and shopping weeks of the year, the union thought that having a strike now would give them the most leverage in negotiations (even though a strike is clearly against the law). Beyond the legal implications, I think the strike is immoral and non-productive (especially if it lasts longer then a day, which it might not), particularly from a utilitarian standpoint. It is also horrible public relations (for both the union, the city, and government officials (even politicians like Bloomberg and Pataki that are trying to stay out of it, which I believe is also not in the best interest of the city)). However, I believe that there is a much larger business/government theme that will become more prevalent over time, which is the concept of pensions. Pensions have played a very valuable role in society, allowing older citizens to m

Say there is a classroom of five-year-old kids. And I'm pretty sure that three of the kids wants to kill me . However, I can't find which kids it is, so I take a kid with a bad reputation and decide that I should beat the hell out of him. The teacher objects, but I say that he is hiding a gun in his backpack and I promise that he does and show her a picture I took on my camera phone of a bulge in the kid’s bag. The teacher still objects saying that this kid might not even be one of the kids trying to kill me. Ignoring the teacher I try and beat up this little kid. Now I thought I would just kick his ass, but it turns out the kid keeps kicking and punching. I go out to the store and buy a bat , a paintball gun , and cattle pod (I pay with my credit card , even though I am already in debt and my own family could be use some of my attention and resources ). Anyway, I take all my weapons and I am still barely kicking the crap out of this kid (and I accidentally hurt some other kids

Car Shopping Experience With the advent of winter, we decided that Grandma’s Cadillac wouldn’t be the best bad weather car, if fact it is horrible in poor conditions. Thus our search began for what would be my first new car. We wanted something with room, good safety rating, somewhat reliable, and good in bad weather. The car we had always talked about was the Hyundai Tucson, a small SUV that meets all our criteria and is very cheap. Maybe we should have gone with our first instincts and not bothers to experience the “shop around” process; however, that was not to be so. The more we looked the more we were overwhelmed with the choices that were out there. There are over 30 small SUVs, over 50 regular cars that would be acceptable, and dozens of random, yet interesting cars. For example, the Toyota Prius looked promising (great gas mileage, tax, rebate, very reliable; however, one little problem, my knees hit the steering wheel. Toyota spent billions researching a hybrid engine,

Again a huge lapse in my posts, and for that I apologize. Life continues as an unending set of changes and challenges. In the past month, I have started a new job at the Westchester Children’s Association , extended my time at IRC for another month (part-time) as a consultant, searched for and purchased a car (more on that process in another post), had numerous family events, and celebrated Molly’s six month birthday. Overall, I am mostly ok, although I feel too scattered to be really efficient. Hopefully, things will settle into place in 2006. Perhaps I will write a year in review at some point, although the very idea of trying to relate everything that has happened is a bit overwhelming. However, I wanted to write at least part of that now… I am a father. I am still coming to understand what means. All the other parents I talk to always say the same thing about their children, “I love my kids, although this is such a horrible age [no matter what age], but it’s the best thing in the w

“If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview.” - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama After reading a statement like this, I gain overwhelming respect for the Dalai Lama and the believe system and ideals of Buddhism (which he represents). For centuries spiritual and religious organizations have tried to put their own believes into a category of an unquestionable truth that cannot be proved false through worldly proof because the idea is beyond our known scientific world. This type of thinking has proved to install great strength and stability in these believes, but it has also reduced our curiosity and ability to look towards new idea or progress. For example, Sixty-three percent (63%) of Americans believe the Bi

I am almost finished reading “ The Man Who Loved Only Numbers ”, a biography of mathematician Paul Erdos. “Uncle Paul” was one of the most prolific mathematicians in the 20th century and was relentless in pursuit of finding the truths hidden in numbers. Beyond his personal brilliance, he was also an amazing collaborator and inspiration to an entire generation of mathematicians. When he was just a young man, he was already offering monetary rewards (although usually very small) to people who could proof certain theorems. He always pushed people to “open their mind” to not only finding the solution, but to push themselves to the brink of their own potential. Unlike many other mathematicians who burned-out early in life, Paul continued to conjecture well into his 70s. He spent 19 hours a day with his numbers, calling (and traveling to) colleagues all around the world. Math was his life and he had almost no material possessions (he had two small suitcases and gave his money to charities or

Yesterday I carved my first pumpkin. You might have thought that I would have vast pumpkin experience by now, but alas, I was all too inexperienced. Like many things in life, I went a bit overboard; instead of making my first pumpkin a simple face, I decided to carve a detailed representation of my life. And thus, into the pumpkin I carved (slowly and patiently) a Lipka family portrait. Lindy, Molly, and I holding hands, with all smiles. Furthermore, the combined family also resembles a larger pumpkin face (Lindy and my head as eyes, Molly as the nose, and our hands and the mouth). It took a long time, but I feel that “if you are going to do something, so it right”. Speaking of Molly (how come “writing of Molly” just doesn’t sound right, or is that look right), she is growing bigger every day. This morning I noticed three more molecules on her shoulder. She can almost stay sitting up on her own and loves to stand (when someone will help her balance). She has slowly passed the

When Lindy and I moved to Sleepy Hollow (a suburb of Tarrytown, which is a suburb of White Plains, which is a suburb of NYC) we didn’t know anyone. However, my darling wife deciding to change that by creating a yahoo group for local mothers-to-be. After Molly was born, these mommies would get together, go for walks, to the movies, and so on and so forth. New mothers have lots of stress and lots of questions and I think groups like this are a great benefits to both the parents and the children. Recently, Lindy decided she wanted to somewhat formalize her mommy group into a sophisticated and powerful organization; and the Stroller Mafia was born. Like our babies, the organization is in its infancy. No formal structure exists, but I have subconsciously declared Lindy to be the Don. Although I may one day become Consigliere, I am currently content to be a Capodecina. To officially let the world know that the Stroller Mafia is out there, I created www.StrollerMafia.com . They have pow

Maybe the democrats don't have any leaders, but that doesn't mean they can't do anything to try and save this country. The following should be a minute long commercial, to be played across the entire country. It is just amazing how the democrats don't associate the entire republican party with its leaders. The Republican took the House of Representatives by acting as a single unit and the democrats should now use that idea to bring them down. Here is it... "Republican leader Tom Delay has been charged in Texas with money laundering and conspiracy to violate Texas election laws. Republican leader Trent Lott was forced to step down at majority leader after making racist remarks. Republican leader Bill Frist is under investigation for insider trading for dumping his stock in Hospital Corporation of America Republican Vice Presidential Chief of Staff, I. Lewis Libby has been indicted for making false statements to the grand jury in the C.I.A. leak case Republican

More Life Changes 1/5 score and seven days ago, I embarked on a most fulfilling journey, that now is coming to an end. It was at the time that I joined the International Rescue Committee (IRC), filling the newly created position of Grants Officer. For 80 years, the IRC has been dedicated to helping refugees throughout the world. Four years ago, I scarcely knew what a refugee was, but the IRC needed a writer and I needed to get out of the private sector. Today, I have gained some perspective into the lives and struggles of over 20,000,000 refugees worldwide. These are people who were forced to leave their own country out of a well-founded fear of perspective. A huge majority of refugees are innocent women and children who were a horrible victim of circumstance. The stories I have heard serve both to terrify and well as to inspire. Up to 70,000 refugees get to come to the US each year to be resettled by agencies like the IRC and I am proud to have been part of their work. I use

Last week I finished reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X . There is so much to say about the man and the book, but I will try to focus my comments. Reading this autobiography, it is easy to understand many of the extreme choices that Malcolm X made, including his life of poverty, drugs, prison, the nation of Islam, and militarism. One particular telling story (and I’m paraphrasing) was when young Malcolm, a star student and class president of an almost entirely white school, asked his teacher if he could be a lawyer one day and the teacher said that because he was a negro that was unrealistic and perhaps he should consider being a carpenter. This attitude the Malcolm received all the white people in his young life was more then enough to break his spirit and make it seem like the underworld was his only possible escape. Of course, Malcolm X was a brilliant man (even after he kicked his addictions to marijuana, cocaine, and opium) who might have become an excellent lawyer if he

They say that Harriet E. Miers (Bush’s most recent appointment for the Supreme Court) is an unknown; that since she has never been a judge, her views on almost every judicial topic could go either way. However, I don’t believe this is the case. Just like President Bush, Ms. Miers has proclaimed a set values to be more important then the law, personal instincts, modern thought, or science. She is an evangelical Christian. She is pro-life, she is anti-gay rights, she is anti-government regulations. Her faith (if she is like the majority of evangelicals) dominates her thought and she is proud of this. Like President Bush, she has no interest in progress, actually they would both like to see a moral and social regression to a time when religion was the direct authority in society. That is why they believe in a strict interpretation of the Constitution, because they would prefer that the country was like what it was in 1789. So until Ms. Miers declares that her guiding principal is

Sweet, sweet, vacation. A week ago Saturday Lindy, Molly, and I headed off to the west coast. It was our first family vacation and I knew it was going to be different based on the shear size and number of bags we had. Usually, Lindy and I can pack everything we need, for any amount of time into one medium size roller bag (for her) and a gray backpack (for me); however, we had a lot more. Amazing the things that little Molly must need. We left at 4:00am Saturday morning and all was well. We got on the plane to Los Angeles (via a plane switch in Philadelphia) (note: we fly standby, so just getting on a flight is always a worry), and Molly slept or ate the whole time. Lindy hasn’t been back to LA in months and was over-happy to be there, and had tried to design a schedule that would be relatively relaxing, but filled with activities. The highlight of our trip in LA was our visit to Legoland . I have to admit that I was hesitant about going there, but it was really interesting and

For a long time, I have been predicting the Google was going to challenge Microsoft and change the face of the internet. I started to think this when I read an article last year that talked about how Google was actively recruiting PhDs (who many companies ignore because they believe PhDs are only interested in research and not commerce). Google not only hired them, but gave them one day a week to concentrate on creating new products and running with wild ideas. Since then, Google continues to add new, free services, including a satellite mapping service, e-mail, web messenger, web phone service, shopping assistance (froogle), and others. Today, I read that Google is going to release a new service that I was hoping for (kinda). According to CNN , Google is planning to operate a Wi-Fi service. The way I see it, the more people Google can get online the more money they can make. Not much is known about Google WiFi , but I hope they make the tremendous investment and the risk to make the s

Searching for a new car can be a harrowing experience. On a personal level, I just despise the whole process. Nevertheless, it has to be done. The main problem for me is too much selection. Every car has its advantage and disadvantage is in the end, you get the same value regardless. I would like to be a good person and get a hybrid; however, most are too expensive. (Note: at today’s gas prices, the savings Hybrids provide on gas won’t match the additional costs of the car until you have it for 4-5 years). I had high hopes for the Toyota Prius and yesterday we managed to find one to test drive (they are sold out at almost all locations). Everything looked good, except for one little thing, my legs didn’t fit. I couldn’t move my leg from the break to the gas without smashing the steering wheel. At 6’2”, I am tall, actually in the top 10% , but there are a lot of us. Quick calculations tell me that there are approximately 15 million men in the US my height or taller, and none o

Last week I finished “ Around the World in 80 days ” by Jules Verne and “Slapstick” by Kurt Vonnegut. Around the World was a nice little book. I can see how it would be very popular in its time; however, today, television and movies have taken away from the intrigue of distant lands. Nevertheless, it was generally well-written and fun. Although it was short and could be read very quickly, I found that it could not have sustained itself for much longer. Overall, I give it a C+ and would recommend it to older children and those who just want a quick escape. “ Slapstick ” which was almost (and should have been) called “Lonesome No More” was another fun book. Kurt Vonnegut is clearly my favorite author and I find his style to be inspiring and poetic. There have been several Vonnegut books that have another style as Slapstick, namely that the story starts right after a very interesting thing happened or predicts something very interesting is about to happen, and then never rally goes

Recently, I have been wondering how long Congressional Republicans will back every single policy of the Bush administrations. Clearly, from the beginning, Bush’s strategy is that if all republicans act as a single, unwavering unit, that they will be able to achieve their goals, while deflecting any criticism. And this has worked; the republicans have gotten some of the things they always wanted (lower taxes, hawkish foreign policy, and a more faith-based system); however, I honestly do not belief that the majority of republicans wanted these things to the extremes that Bush has taken them. Nevertheless, the republicans stand by their President even after his approval rating slips below 40%. I believe that Bush republicans are different then other republicans. Here is my little chart. sorry so small, blogger won't let me post a larger image So will the classic republics let Bush destroy their reputation (note: I usually disagree with most republican ideology; however, I believe most

The 2008 Presidential campaign could have started last week, in the wake of Katrina. I have been waiting for a Democratic leader to step forward. Sure, several Congressmen and Senators have complained about the administration’s failures, but real leadership also includes providing inspiration and motivation. The same holds true for Iraq, where democrats can point out our shortcomings, but nobody wants to be accountable for new, specific ideas. Bill Clinton’s actions recently have been nice and I don’t know why Hillary isn’t with him (actually in front of him) every step of them. I would even be happy to see Al Gore back in the fold. But speaking of Hillary, I now believe that it would be a mistake for her to run for president in 2008. The reason is that if she runs, the race will become about her (her gender, her family, her religion, her finances, her husband) and not about how republican strategies have consistently led to higher unemployment, higher debt, lower GDP, increased

After seeing my Blog on Serena Williams’s less than generous offer to victims of Katrina, Hillary Duff has donated $250,000. This teenage nickelodeon star deserves some serious credit. Residents of New Orleans continue to wallow in horrible conditions, while their city lies underwater. How is this still happening? The broken levy should have been fixed within 48 hours. There is a hole, fill it! Sink a ship, get steel barriers, do something. I saw that they were using sand bags? Go to NASA and say, "you have 24 hours to find a solution to fill that hole, and another 24 hours to get it completed or else we are slashing your funding by 50%". They will find a way to get it done. Offer ten million dollars to any person or company that has a solid plan to fill the levy within 48 hours. Let a little pressure and motivation stimulate some progress. I understand there are many, many problems and this is going to very hard, but we need to start moving towards action. The government sho

Hurricane Katrina has left tens of thousands homeless. Serena Williams offered to give $100 to related charities for each ace she serves. Last night, she had two aces ($200), while donning 8-carat diamond earrings. I think her gesture is a little underwhelming. Should Serena, who makes millions each year be responsible to helping? yes, of course she should, morally and socially. However, it is our government who is legally responsible. Forget congressional hearings about steroids in baseball, missions to Mars, and stem cells; let’s remember the basics of what government is really supposed to concentrate on - “Establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Helping those who suffered at the whim of Katrina certainly fits under the guise of justice, domestic tranquility, general welfare, and posterity. Congress should quickly look at the federal budget for the

East of Eden : Not since the World According to Garp have I been as depressed after reading a book. Perhaps that is the point and the pleasure for some people, as the idea of finding happiness through your own suffering is a major theme in the story. From a literary standpoint it is a very well written book, although too long at times. The descriptions of early California are eloquent and beautiful, but the characters are hyperbole and shallow. The book prepares the reader to learn something, but fails to deliver anything positive. Of course, the book has a point, but the point is misery. Overall, I give East of Eden a C-. There is more I could write, but I’d rather never think of this book again. I’ve read several serious books in a row (Khrushchev biography, Portable Nietzsche, and East of Eden) and I think I need something light-hearted. Usually, I would grab the nearest Kurt Vonnegut book that I haven’t read, but I might have read them all. Any recommendations? Note to w

Is success something to fear? More specifically, why should one be afraid of reaching their full potential? Is there something safe in the status quo that we all feel from doing something that we know we can do. Do we each feel a need for progress or is that just greed and a risk to what you have? I believe that it is all part of a very special kind of fundamental choice. And it is one of those things that only humans encounter. The wolf had neither the desire for nor the ability to become more than it already is. The wind is in different weather it becomes a breeze or a hurricane. But people are different. believe that all people have this choice and it is bound to haunt our souls if left untamed. Perhaps to avoid this is one reason that people flock towards and are dedicated to religion, party, community, or country. Institutions remove the choice that I speak of and replace it with a regulated system. No longer does a person have to worry about success for they are part

I am a Zionist in the sense that I believe that the state of Israel should exist for the Jewish people. I have many reasons for this, personally, philosophically, and historically, but I wanted to write that I support Israel’s decision to leave Gaza. Israel claimed Gaza, in war, to protect themselves (by creating a buffer zone) against foreign invasion (which was a real threat since they had been attacked by many nations in the 60s and 70s. However, times have changed. Israel’s military advancements in the last 20 years have made it almost unfathomable that a neighboring country would attack. The new dangers are from terrorists who attack Israelis on a daily basic. Every single day bombers are caught with explosives trying to get in Israeli cities. Gaza has become a breeding group for poverty and therefore terrorism. Although, the people in Gaza are Arabs, neighboring Arab counties (some very, very wealthy countries) have made no effort to invest in these people, instead using

I really stopped listening to music a few years back. There wasn't anything new that I liked and I grew out of the music I listened to when I was younger. Today, Lindy and Molly were dancing to the IMF (the international music channel) and they left it on when they went to take a bath. Anyway, it's really good. I like almost all the songs (about half of them are in English), so maybe I'll start to listen to music again. Regaurdless, I am not getting an iPod.

Molly is sleeping through the night about every third day. This marks good progress. She continues to grow and do new things. This morning she had completely turned herself around in her crib (I think so that she could be closer to her mobile). Molly is almost three months old and I think she is the best baby in the history of the universe. All is well in this, the marathon, of being a parent. I started reading East of Eden, which reminds me to write a book review on “The Portable Nietzsche ”. Even more, it reminds me that I have to last novel published and must finish my next one (which I haven’t touched in over a year). Writing like everything else is about habit. Back in the day, I would write at least two or three pages a day and knocked out my first novel in less than a year. I need to find my rhythm again.

The other day Molly laughed for the first time. She was sleeping and than there is was; 20 solid seconds of out loud, happy happy, joy joy laughing. I wonder what she was dreaming of? My guess is that it was a political pun relating to international economic reform she heard on the Daily Show. Speaking of the greatest show ever, on the Daily Show Joe Biden said that he would happily run with John McCain for President and that he had asked McCain to run with John Kerry. I think Biden might have some better luck, running as VP on the McCain ticket. The problem would be winning the nomination (Biden-McCain could win for the Dems, but McCain-Biden would lose for the Republicans.) I suggest the McCain and Biden make a public deal with America. McCain will run as a Democrat under the assumption that Biden will be his VP choice. If they win the nomination and than the presidency, after the first term is over, Biden will run as President with McCain as the VP. John McCain is currentl

In 2008, hundreds of millions of Americans will be ignored by the Presidential candidates because their vote is already decided. I, as a New Yorker, have no value to either democrats or republicans. They both see the state as voting democratically and all the electoral votes going that way. However, it doesn’t have to be this. States can decide to split their votes. Here is my great compromise (actually a series of deals). Too easy: New York and Texas both decide to split their internal electoral votes. Texas does have three more votes than New York so this is a small advantage for the democrats, but this would force politicians to campaign in both states. Who is Texas or New York would be against this. Hell, to make the votes exactly even, Vermont (3 votes) will also split their vote. Those other states: Hawaii (D-4) and Alaska (R-3) should also make a pact to split the votes. Geography: Illinois (D-21), Indiana (R-11), and Kentucky (R-8). All three are next to each other.

I was going to see if I could create a photo mosaic for Molly, when I saw this. http://www.andreaplanet.com/mosaic/starrynight/ . "The image is a photomosaic of the famous painting 'Starry Night'. The image is made with over 210.000 tiny photographs and a total size of over 1.500.000.000 points in other words it is a 1.5 Gigapixel Image. Click over the image (Zoom In) until you start to see the tiny images. " After you zoom in, give the computer a few seconds (depending on your connection) to sharpen the image. This is truly amazing.

This week I had to do some work on the soft and giant ring that I build. The springs under the cushions we coming loose (they were partly held down with duct tape, which the glue had melted a little in the heat). I also am making Lindy's giant engagement ring rust proof so we can keep it outside (the original plans had the ring living outside, although there might be a big problem in the diamond is not completely waterproof. For now I'll keep in on the deck, away from the heavy rain until I know for sure). So the question is, should I have another building project. True, I have no time and many other responsibilities, but should that stop me? I think the sofa and the ring were great successes. I would love to build a new sofa, incorporating lessons learned from the first one. This time I would actually have some appropriate tools (for both the ring and the sofa, I only used a hammer, screw drivers, skill saw, staple gun, the blade of a hack saw, and an electric drill). Now I ha

How far is technology from taking the next leap in atomic manipulation? We can already turn one atom of iron into one atom of gold. How long before we can easily turn a pound of iron into a pound of gold. Or coal into diamonds (by just changing some carbon bonds). Look around and a huge percentage of things you see are made of a combination of just a handful of elements. I would say 20 elements make up 98% of the things around us. Imagine if we could master controlling and changing those elements. Out entire existence would change. Creating items that have been rare throughout the history of the planet (clean water, iron, wood, steel, grain, energy, plastic, gems, gold) would be easy and indefinitely replicable. Imagine building a house when you can get all the building materials for the house by transforming the dirt it was built on. There would be no more things to buy or sell, there would only be services to provide. And with the advent of more productive robots, the se

Just some excerpts for a NYTimes.com Op-ed , relating to the media's coverage of genocide in Darfur. The real failure has been television's. According to monitoring by the Tyndall Report, ABC News had a total of 18 minutes of the Darfur genocide in its nightly newscasts all last year - and that turns out to be a credit to Peter Jennings. NBC had only 5 minutes of coverage all last year, and CBS only 3 minutes - about a minute of coverage for every 100,000 deaths. In contrast, Martha Stewart received 130 minutes of coverage by the three networks... If only Michael Jackson's trial had been held in Darfur. Last month, CNN, Fox News, NBC, MSNBC, ABC and CBS collectively ran 55 times as many stories about Michael Jackson as they ran about genocide in Darfur... The BBC has shown that outstanding television coverage of Darfur is possible. And, incredibly, mtvU (the MTV channel aimed at universities) has covered Darfur more seriously than any network or cable station. When MTV disp

I always find it hard to write in this thing when I haven’t posted in a while. So I will take this one Daily Show style. Headlines (Applause) - The Molly Web Site is back up and running. - Video game grand theft auto is getting in trouble because of hidden sex scenes. I guess the unhidden parts of the game (killing cops, beating up old ladies, soliciting prostitutes and then shooting them) were acceptable, but actual sex (something legal) has caused an uproar. George Bush nominates a cliché to the Supreme Court (insert picture from a tiny tunes episode where Dan Quayle took Buster Bunny to Congress and somebody put a pump in Buster’s ear and filled him up will air, while scores of Congressmen began to sing “fill-a-buster, fill-a-buster). He is a 50 years old son of an executive, Harvard Collage, Harvard Law, with a bad, no horrible, no atrociously conservative haircut. Warning!! Mini-rant. Actually, I will re-write what was going to go here as part of my next segment... Back in Black

Before I continue, I just want to say that I know Molly’s website is down. Which leads into my rant of the day. My brother, who makes the website possible, just moved, but the internet company is having problems setting up his service. What a surprise... We are all familiar with the utility companies. Whenever we move, we have to get our telephones, televisions, electricity, and other services set up. The theory is that capitalism pushes competing companies to excel; however, since utilities have little or no competition, these companies seem to lack basic functionality. Here are just a few of the issues I’ve had in the past few weeks. When I moved I signed up for Internet, VOIP, and Cable though Cablevision, but quickly we decided we hated VOIP because it only occassionally works properly. I tried to cancel it, only to find that if I canceled VOIP, my bill would actually be higher. I asked how much it would be if a new customer wanted just Internet and Cable and they said it would be

How many voices are in your head? I have at least two, maybe three. Several years ago, I first released that they are each independent and capable of concurrent, unique thought. I was golfing and I kept forgetting the correct techniques and thus lost many a golf ball. However, I realized that I can have one voice repeating “keep your head down” and the other say “hit through the ball” at the same time. Lately, I’ve been thinking about this more. I’ve been practicing counting up numbers and saying the alphabet at the same time (one voice for each). Although these are very simple things, it is quite a mental challenge (note: I’m not thinking 1,2,A,3,B,C,4,5; I am thinking the numbers in my seemingly more prominent thought and the letters in a background, yet both are completely simultaneous (imagine literally hearing two voices). I do think that the two voices are not equal, but I can’t yet describe how, except to say that my initial thought patterns is always “louder” and more f

"Well, let me tell you something, Johnny. That the first 90 years or so, they go by pretty fast…Then one day you wake up and you realize that you're not 81 anymore"

If the United Nations or some Alien species asked each country to submit one item that would be reflect the best (the ideal) of each country, what would the US submit. For example, Italy could submit the Sistine Chaple; Austria could submit a Mozart CD; Japan could submit an inexpensive, high quality car. So what would the US submit. There are many options; we could send a light bulb (a great achievement of ingenuity and energy), the declaration of independence, or a picture of the first man on the moon. Of course we could go another direction and send a nuclear weapon, wall street journal, or some modern art. However, in the end, I think the best the US has to over, something that incorporates all the great qualities and history that would make this country great is something more simple. If it were up to me, I would send a School House Rocks DVD. Math , Science , History , Freedom , Creativity , Diversity , Rock-n-roll , education , beauty , philosophy , exploration , it has

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a city can force people to give up their homes if it would result in the economic development of the community. Historically, cities could force people to move only if it serves the public good; but that definition has now been expanded. The case in question involved a group of Connecticut families and small business owners who are being forced (although given “fair compensation”) to leave their home so that they (the homes not the people) may be destroyed in order to build a mini mall and some corporate real estate buildings. Some of these people have been in these homes for more than 70 years. The city agues that the new buildings with bring in jobs and tax revenue. The people argue that the government get the f%*k outta their homes. I have to agree with the people. How can you say that economics outweighs sociology. What about the little apartment in the movie Batteries Not Included, when now the government can just throw Jessica Tandy

They just realized the top 100 movie quotes of all time and sadly they missed a few. I don’t know who these people are (who make the list), but they should open their eyes to the genius of... Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth! There is only one place you have not looked, and it is there, only there, that you shall find the master. Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die. I can’t help being the biggest and the strongest. Bats, f$cking, bats. I say, I, I, I, want the kniiiiiiife. WHAT is your favorite color? I’ll cross all the Ts and dot all the...lower case Js. I want you in my belly. Just what I need; a Drewish Princess. Mongo only pawn in game of life Where the white women at? S%$T C&C# A$$S TI%%IE$ B*%#R B(^&H MUFF P@$$^ C&$K B$^^H&LE BARBARA STREISAND! Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your daughter... 's wedding... on the day of your daughter's wedding. And I

The avenue of the first breakthrough from stem cells (i.e. adult or embryonic ) will have significant political and social consequences. Who is buying all of these houses for $700,000 . The middle class is not growing, neither is the upper class (in terms of number of people). Don’t they have to pay the mortgage? Will hard-core atheists ever organize themselves into a proactive, evangelical cult? The NBA just agrees to ban players from being drafted unless they are 19 years old. How is this legal? The current perception is that 18-year-old stars will go to collage for at least a year, but I think they will go where the money is. Watch for prep stars to sign million dollar, short-term contracts in Europe. Oil is at $60/barrel and there is no crisis. Hydrogen cars are not necessary, there are already prototype electric cars that get 500 miles to the gallon. Check this out, “ Avida is an auto-adaptive genetic system designed primarily for use as a platform in Digital or Artificia