Colorless Green Ideas

Well you can tell by the way I use my glock I'm an assassin no time for talk Music loud and women strong I've been kicked around since I was born Now its alright Its okay The policeman looks the other way We can try to understand The New York Times Effect on Man Whether you're an operative or brother You're stayin' alive Feel the city breaking and my hand is shaking So you're stayin' alive Now I aim low and I aim high and if I can't a shot I use the knife Got the wings of heaven tattooed on my boob I'm an assassin I just can't lose Life going nowhere Somebody help me

It's dark in Hawaii - a wave from Santiago from an 8.8 on the Richter scale as the source is a quake epicentered 200 miles off Santiago and will hit on the wrong side of Hawaii for the deepwater break (Jaws) that anyone (Laird Hamilton) could ride. Waves fade off from something called a 1/r-squared law - and its based on the medium. This side of the pacific is notoriously warm water and the wave will be in my predicted range of about 5 feet. A cold water aleutian islands quake with an epicenter nearer to the island - hitting the north shore would be a different beast altogether. This wave will travel at about 330 m/sec or about 900 miles an hour so my numbers put the hit on Hawaii (if the thing hit at 3:30 am in Santiago ) at or around the next 15 , 20 minutes. Update: I didn't factor in the real world loss factors. Looks like the wave will hit Hawaii at 4 pm, it was travelling at 400 mph (not 900 - thats actually the ideal case). I also miscalculated the height - it wi...

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal - by Christopher Moore - is one of those books that I'm not sure I'm going to get my kids. I've listed others here - but they were made up. Books such as Harold and the Purple Thing. Snow White and the Seven Vertically Challenged Persons. My son will head over to a former schoolteacher in whom he has found in her son a best friend. She, however, has voted with her feet in regard to school systems. My state being 49th out of the union in educational rank - If I were a teacher I'd probably consider homeschooling. The head of the homeschooling association in her neighborhood, and the person she works with - is the evangelical wife of a college math professor. I had the pleasure of going on a cub scout campout with them once. It was great up until we got to the point where the kids tried to explain that erosion doesn't exist because God reshapes the mountains. It was at that point that I decided ...

When I was young I left an Island Paradise to return to the madness that was the States - and I tried to run from it. At first scoring the high score on a game was good enough -the adrenaline kept you focussed enough. But then it began to dawn on me that I was just a spot on the map in the Florida that I had been growing up. If I had been closer to the ocean, this might not have been the case - but my father chose to move our family out into the outer edge of the city where I couldn't bike to the beach to go surfing. This usually meant about 30 , 40 miles back in those days. Every now and then I'd wander up from the Rathskellar to some other part of the College. It seems like thats where I spent my freshman year in high school. Either in a Junior College, or the University close to where we were. Other kids were borrowing the car to go out. I borrowed the car to drive over to the computer lab. I borrowed it to go play video games when I wasn't writing them. I would blo...

I have a beginning and an end When I imagine I have no boundary I dream of a sphere Walking circumvirate To you That we would meet, is fate That I could be your friend A choice But falling in love Over this I have no control I suppose its kind of like flatland never understanding the dimensions never really knowing But every now and then Intuition tells us it whispers something that keeps us going. Time to make the donuts

Alvaro Uribe's re-election bid hangs by a thread and seems likely to be sunk by the Constitutional Court. Come August 7th, Colombia will have a new President and that brings me unending joy. Colombia's highest court will uphold the rule of law by tossing the Presidential referendum on technical grounds - campaign finance laws were broken and Uribe's supporters (it is important to note that Uribe was not directly involved in the re-election bid) violated, perhaps unintentionally but violated nonetheless, a number of other election laws. While I would have preferred the Court to uphold the constitutionality of term limits instead of sidestepping the issue, I expect the Court to firmly declare that elections in Colombia cannot be bought by the highest bidders. It's not often that one gets to see two political systems debate such core issues, and somewhat overlapping ones at that (there is also a healthcare debate ongoing), so intensely, closely and simultaneously. Colom...

I admire cats they hunt make the kill and sleep A sort of business ideal I know that you are a huntress a handful a lady So I spent part of this morning finding a place where I can sit to watch and wait Calmly where the squirrels play Its five am and its dark my fingers are cold so I will finish this puzzle and then let you go Huntress let us be Poema 20 by Pablo Neruda I hope you understand this I have no way of knowing if you're crazy But please certainly count on me being lazy I don't cheat or sleep around I don't like to do anything other than work and sleep passing out Its obvious I don't have enough to do So Like the Black Eyed Peas say Let's get it started in here A riddle for you how to meet a guy who doesn't drink beer Lady there is an avalon A place where we can meet I hope you understand I'm only looking for someone with whom I can share a patch of sun Lick your fur bite you when we make love c...

To be perfectly honest, I enjoy the general daily routine of my life. I am not financially levelled out (when I was young, I lived amongst the kind of people who could have considered themselves to be at the top of their game - I grew up in Palm Beach, Fla. ) - nor am I emotionally or physically levelled - I could be stronger, wiser, more stable. I could certain have more cash. This may change on May 23. But I have discovered that I have wants, and needs and that I would love to be loved. The very feeling of the possibility of love sends shockwaves through me. I have recently discovered in myself that in love I am afraid to lose - a controlling sort of behavior happens when I realize I might not be in full control. I find that I want to rig the game. It is not appropriate for me to pretend that I can use the same kind of techniques I have developed as an activist - to succeed in my personal life. A woman wants and deserves to be heard. Oddly, despite the allegation that I am n...

Charles Lemos of MyDD posted a really excellent critique of Obama today. The GOP seeks to make healthcare reform Obama's 'Waterloo'. I thought that one of the many high points of Charles' article - was this embedded clip he'd somehow found of now Sec. of State Clinton to then critique such policy and the substance of Obama's latest speech. Check it out: Obama has people like this all around him. And I don't exactly mean Hillary, because she's been bought out by Big Insurance (at least in part). But she knows the ropes. I'm saying - Mr. Obama you probably don't want to try for a 3 point half court - healthcare reform looks like its going to need a layup - everyone has blocked for you. Please take the shot . The context of your victory will be the recovery of the entire world. Go for it.

This economic recovery is stalling out - I am holding off on my annual blue chip buy to see if there is going to be some bite out of the first quarter numbers. A quick look at the housing market indicates the short term pop we got out of the policy decision by the Obama administration (that by the way, really really helped me to sell my home!) has faded. The economy crashed mostly because there was a helluva lot of corruption in the system. One of the worst instrments of corruption were mortgage backed securities - these are things that in order to be transactable - require a somewhat stable real estate market. However, the back end of that market - where mortgages were actually issued - adopted, through the Bush Administration - a libertarian view towards who could qualify. There was a large spike upward in homebuying, and mortgage underwriting - and as a result the home prices spiked upward. Everyone thought they were rich , and so they took out more credit. What ended up happe...

You're going to read this one day. I don't know who you are, and I am not sure that you really know who I am. You might be another brother, mother, father, lover, friend. Whoever you are, you'll read this one day. It's too easy to find things on the net. It's too easy not to think anymore - just search or copy or block everything out with nonstop lights music and sound. So you'll stumble across this one day, and I wanted you to know a few things that I couldn't tell you anywhere else. First, try to understand this place is here because we can be fooled more easily than we think - we can be misled - and we can simply leave truth hanging on the wall and head over to style over substance - we are all weak. Then, if you can - I want you to take a look around and see some aspect of nature - some element of the real world. Look carefully. All things are the cooperating causes of all things which exist - elements transmute and do not struggle against eac...

Alright, I have had nearly enough of the issues that have plagued the american cellular market and I am almost ready to throw in the towel. Last month, Google announced they will launch the Nexus One, and it will be unlocked. This means what? That it will work with any cell carrier. But as it turns out, this phone only works with two carriers that charge extra for their data plan. Help me understand. Is this unlocked? There are five major carriers. How difficult is it, to transplant a radio circuit board. Not very. So I went over to Boost Mobile to find out why the Nexus One was not on their very prominently displayed list of cellphones that I would have to purchase in order to sign up for their service. Their answer was that the phone doesn't support IDEN, to which I replied - you're both CDMA and IDEN network - and you have two models of phone working on your band in the CDMA band. Why not the CDMA version of the Nexus? The guy behind the counter glibly responded that un...

It is not the quantity of the work that counts, it is the quality. Rock on. Given that I've ridden over 60 miles this week on a mountain bike trying to find a good used car, the plan for today is to work hard. Get a weeks worth of work done in a day (it's possible) and head out to the river on Saturday while someone is tuning up my new set of wheels. Guess which kind. =) Late last night (technically, at around 2 am this morning) I took my wedding ring off. It didn't come off easily. I had to turn it three times. I tied a piece of silk to it and locked it in a briefcase. I did this for alot of reasons. But not entirely because my wife is gone. Again. For the third time in two years. Grrr.. This weekend is going to be the first healthy, stress-free, happy weekend in a long time but not before I hit work as hard as I can today.

In the election of 2008, a decision was put before the American people that for all its outward appearances gave the voters a distinctive choice. Do we, as citizens, follow the arc of so-called conservatism - under the control of Bush Republicans who had spent more than any American government in history - or do we follow the arc of so-called change under the leadership of a younger president, powered by an online community. The landslide election of Barack Obama was possible owing largely to the fact that unlike other candidates - he came with little record of playing into the hands of the lobbyists. However, the political process in the Senate has shown the American people that their agenda , laws and direction are disconnected from the statesmen they bring to power. And for all outward appearances, Obama seems to have fallen into the trap of allowing the lobbyists to write legislation. Such legislation has been a very real issue with our country - often and almost always bloated ...

My father was a snowman, but he melted. All that's left is his eyes -- two pieces of coal -- that sit on my kitchen table and watch me as I walk around the room. I ate his nose a long time ago.                                                                      -- SPARROW

We met the marriage counselor in a room in the public library. She took notes, listened to us and then assigned both of us work. My homework assignment is to describe the ideal wife. The purpose of the exercise is to base the idealization largely on experience and elements of the person who seems to be inhabiting wifespace. My ideal wife is a balance of temperance, intellect, spirit and beauty. She is daring, kind of outdoorsy, brave, and loves children. The small moments of the morning are part of her domain. It's important not to be too specific here, because a day with my ideal wife is like a journey that ends in night - where we're onto each other like two minx. She is fair to the children, and to others - and is not harsh or severe in her judgement. She likes to take apart ideas, statements - and at the same time trusts her heart and spirit enough to leave a few of them together and let them work. She listens to the kids and they respect her - but she does not h...

Ok I thought by now I would have the Tesla but they're still not shipping the S-Class until as late as 2012. So, its time to get a new car. What's a good car to buy ? I'm looking for something that handles well, low maintenance. It has to be a four door, because I have two small kids. I yearn for a hot sportscar . But in the end, a car is simply a device to get you from point A to point B. I will be paying cash, of course. My ideas have been so far: Volkswagen Golf, Toyota (non-recall years), Acura or Honda (in the standardized parts years). The '90 Volvo was a great deal, it worked fine and then went on to its new owner with a little extra money for me. Bane: Jaguar (most model years, esp. late eighties, to mid 90's - also don't like the ford rework of the low end Jag), Hyundai, Kia, Most American brands with a few models from Ford being the sole exception ( ie. the Freesytle , the Mustang and the Focus). So, what car should I buy?

The average cost of a 3 min. phone call from San Francisco to New York in the 19th century. In the 1970's this call cost dropped to 2.10. Today many people place phone calls to India at long distance rates near 2c a minute. As my wife prepares to leave for India again, and leave me with two small children - again - I reflect on this fact. In the middle of the night.

We laid low and used the wood blasted the enemy where he stood ours is not to reason why ours is but to do or die My son and his new friend Jorge made snow angels I concentrated firepower on the teenagers Later that night he said the trees all look like the internet

Drawing the cut on the speech competition, my son made it into the top 20. His final round speech is this Sunday. The final form of his speech and idea to change the world became 'Geocaching and Rivers' - create a series of geocaches whose theme is river cleanup. Hide cool stuff in them, but also test kits and reporting kits. Many people will say - "I wouldn't drink a glass of LA (New York, Atlanta, substitute your city here) water from one of its rivers" but they would say "If you went high enough up into the mountains I would". So at what point does the river become polluted? And there are strange things happening - in some places in New England fish are changing from male to female and back again. Finding the source of the pollution is a first step, and geocachers like easy trails - they hate smashing through thorny woods to get to their cache. They are also the kind of people who, if given the chance to walk along a rivers edge - would be the...

Speechlessness is a speech phenomenon that can rapidly strike any living male over the age of five within as many feet of a beautiful woman. If her name happens to be Amber, long silences struggling to be able to articulate any sound at all - coupled with nervousness, increased heart rate, and ice cubes rolling off your forehead may result. I volunteer to perform a scientific study of this mysterious phenomenon - if you happen to look like the person above - please feel free to contact me, to participate in the study. All study participants will be eligible for free dinners, long walks on the beach and a back massage. Its just a back massage. Honest. I promise.

At first we both thought pathogens were the big problem with drinking water. His subject is how he can clean it all up. So he wanted to do the whole genetic engineering thing to eat up the bad bugs. But as it turns out, the problem was bigger than we thought + the bugs are not the main problem. E. Coli, for example, doesn't live long in the water. He's going to lead off with something pretty alarming - but in fact, true. One out of every two streams in the US are polluted. 90% of all China's city water is polluted. 14,000 people die every day due to water pollution. 700 million people in India do not have access to a proper toilet. His speech, due within the next two days - is going to be about cleanup using iron dust. Surprisingly, powdered iron rusts quickly in water and the rust process pulls tons of bad stuff out of the water. And then you can just pull it out with magnets. And he's going to talk about how he cleaned up streams and lakes by himself. Its ...

I am deeply conflicted right now about my marriage and my career. Scrabble is needed. Badly. As is some form of gaming. Wii is just not cutting it. Ok, except for wakeboarding, where I'm clocking 1300 points a run. I'm sitting on pins and needles wondering if I'm going to win review on my grant. And at the same time, looking for a job in the meantime. Yes, I'm supposed to be heading up a small company but the fact is the company is stuck on one last bug before the product is released and I have nothing to do with it. Add to that my general apprehension about joining this society I've been thinking of joining. I've been kindly informed that my initiation will take place this week, and would I please show up two hours early. It will only take 5 hours total. If they ask me to masturbate in a coffin....

Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke - is a moderate length novel set in the modern day. Although he wrote the book in the late 50's, his prescient style incorporated most of the elements of modern life to paint a picture that with minor modifications - remains resonant. For example, instead of a 'radio teleprinter' readout , we are probably going to either be getting a mail (email), or a fax (fascimile transmission). That said, with very few exceptions the story would call for an adaptation to screen. But it has a dark secret. The book touches on themes encountered in religion, and it is a somewhat dark story. I am not all the way through it yet, but surprisingly - despite the allure of the big iron HD sitting in my living room I've actually been more interested in this book than the blues I've been collecting. The story is told from the perspective of the Secretary-General of the UN, and a member of the race of beings that contact us and go into a geo-s...

My son is getting ready for a contest at his new school (which rocks, btw). Its a contest 'How I Can Change The World'. He chose the topic of ending pollution. When he was young, a year earlier - he cleaned up a lake - as a good deed. It took us both about a half hour, and when he was done some old lady asked what he was doing and he told her. She asked why - and he said, because its my good deed for the day. She flipped. But just as climate is not weather - (weather is what you see around you, if you open the window and its snowing or raining - climate is how hot or cold the entire earth is on a global basis measured by ocean temp.) So too cleaning up a river or stream isn't changing the world. His solution is pretty simple. He's going to make his speech about engineering a superbug that eats up e coli in the river water and makes polluted river water safer to drink. Then he's going to post the genetic code on the internet. Not fucking bad for a nine ...

The truth tends to be something that can be more easily maintained. I was told once that "I'm not extramarital affair material". Its not entirely true. In a kind of fantasy life - I suppose I could be cheating on anyone and everyone. The fact that I never really have - emotional affairs nothwithstanding - doesn't tend to change the picture. I could. Its more fun for me, however, to be on the straight and narrow - if simply for the fact that its more easily maintainable. I have secret desires. For example, right now a major desire of mine is to see "District 19". But like all desire, it can be made subject to will - I refuse to buy anything that isn't down to the floor in terms of DVD or BluRay Price. Thats how I was able to collect 1,700 films. And its also why I gave them all away. Looking over my collection, I suppose its safe to say every film I've ever watched has been some kind of search for some sort of truth. "The Fountain".. ...

My fingers calloused over, even the fingertips. I loaded 10 trailer loads full of stuff, filled four entire dumpsters - and a haul-away, donated five trailer loads of items to goodwill - filled an entire 17' uhaul , twice - lugged a 250 pound file cabinet up two flights of stairs and then furnished a three story with what was left over, including hauling away a trailerful of stuff - garden statues, a stove, a fridge, and a freaking 150 pound bird bath. I am used to my left hand and fingertips getting hard but this is the first time I could tap on a desk with my fingertips and hear the sound as if it were the tips of my nails. I am past strategic inflection point, about 7k away from being completely debt free,and very nearly cash positive on the small business and my personal income portfolio. I plan my Dave Ramsey scream in about three months. I find myself closer to the city, next to a swimming pool, a running trail, and have left suburbia far behind. The work still on the...

Things are looking good. Still more work to do. News at 11.