Awwwwwww...... poor baby, that Ideafarm........ I guess freedom of speech only applies to him, huh?

I fully agree with Ideafarm on his message, not his methods. He's making a statement on the pre-2008 mentality that led to the economic disaster, and he has a good point.

He doesn't really have a right to use obscenities in his public campaign though, does he? That's where I break with the guy; although I love that he's adding a bit of flavor to our homogenized and politically-correct upper-middle class MV existence... he could get his messages across in a more effective and empathetic way.

But why Mountain View? I can think of a lot more "selfish" places to proselytize... Los Angeles?

Hopefully someone soon will get rid of his objectionable signs. He's a nut, based on what he writes here and on his signs.

I'd like to thank the Voice for not showing a photo
of the Ideafarm-guy. As the officer suggested it just
encourages him to continue sharing his 'Badideas'.
While he rants about the selfishness of others, his own
selfishness, in this case a poor choice of words and a meaningless
vigil on a street corner, really do nothing constructive to address
his complaints. Go figure.

With Ideafarm not being in the Voice for several weeks, I predicted he'd do something outrageaous to get back in the paper. The sergeant is right, media coverage is what he is looking for and now he has it.

who's life has been adversely affected by the guy? No, really? Seems to me people don't like the idea of a kooky guy so in their mind he must be purged from view. "How dare I have to see him in my eyes for 8 seconds. He must be removed...locked up!"
People are funny but I suggest those who make such a huge deal over our local kooky guy are a bigger threat to our society in the long run than a man with some signs on the corner will ever be.

RUN THIS LOSER OUTA TOWN ON A RAIL!!!!

I'm afraid to comment because 'they' will come for me next.

He thinks he is helping!!??? He is the definition of selfish!! What about all of the elementary school kids who can read his signs that use profanity and words for male body parts!
Sick Sick selfish man!

If this man truly cared about peace and lack of selfishness he himself would be peaceful and not selfish. What a hypocrite!

Okay, so I'm trying to understand this. This guy who posts signs such as F**K the Los Altos Police Dept is somehow helping educate and make people less selfish?
Thank you to the brave couple who tried to get out the true message of the season. Merry Christmas everyone.

This idiot needs to go.

He is a total waste of space, and time.

Mountain view is worse off for having him here.

I used to have a HS teacher who asked if we thought we were TRULY free.
We all assumed yes, but then he said "What do you think would happen if you stood in front of a store with a sign that said "I hate the Police"
Various suggestions from arrest to social persecution by irate citizens came up. Some 30 years later he's still teaching me about tolerance and
not caring about what doesn't really matter wrt what others do.
I sure wish some of my fellow Mtn View citizens sat with me in that St Francis classroom. There's quite a lot of people on this earth with much bigger problems than a guy with a sign and words you don't agree with. All I can say is you folks are BLESSED to have the luxury of this being a big irritating issue for you
RIP Mr Urban, a great teacher who's still teaching me.

Americans won't get their priorities straight until some country with an air force does to us what we have done to so many countries. A little carpet-bombing tends to clear the mind.

IdeaFarm is a divorced wife-beater with "issues". Don't try to paint him as some sort of Don Quixote character fighting for ideals, truths, etc.

As we all learned or should have learned in Civics 101, free speech does not mean that you can post your signs on public property or use vulgarities in public. IdeaFarm has willfully done both of those then whines and threats others when he is stopped.

IdeaFarm just needs to grow up. He needs to realize that he cannot act like a greedy, spoiled brat who has to scream his messages to communicate with others. He needs to realize that hitting women is not an OK way to deal with issues.

Bravo to this couple who took time during this busy time of year to shield children from the foul-mouthed rantings of self-absorbed lunatic. Merry Christmas to them and to all the hard working, totally unselfish people of Mountain View who "love thy neighbors" and don't dedicate their lives to judging and harrassing them.

USA, I wasn't commenting on IdeaFarm, but I'm not surprised he has issues.
I was commenting on the sad state of the very uptight people in this town who, though have never been really affected by him, need him "run out on a rail" and such.
Why not just scream "Burn the witch!" and get it done with.
The lesson here is the intolerance of others regarding people who have dissenting opinions from the rest...and class looks to be still in session with many.

And to Anon, I found it funny you wrote about people who "who "love thy neighbors" and don't dedicate their lives to judging and harassing them." Well, Ideafarm is our neighbor(issues and all), looks like he's already been judged by many here and harassed by the couple who needed to confront him.

Live and let live I say, and Peace be with all of you.

He should be renamed "IdeaToilet"...

Merry Christmas Liz

Dear Mtn. View,

We will trade you Victor F. for Ideafarm.

Love,

PALO ALTO

Definition of people who have never heard the F-word: those not yet taught to read.

Some people out there need to finally make their escape from the 1950s.

The Supreme Court in Cohen vs. California, decided a similar case. A 19-year-old department store worker expressed his opposition to the Vietnam War by wearing a jacket emblazoned with "F___ THE DRAFT. STOP THE WAR" The young man, Paul Cohen, was charged under a California statute that prohibits "maliciously and willfully disturb[ing] the peace and quiet of any neighborhood or person [by] offensive conduct." Cohen was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail. In an opinion by Justice John Marshall Harlan, the Court reasoned that the expletive, while provocative, was not directed toward anyone; besides, there was no evidence that people in substantial numbers would be provoked into some kind of physical action by the words on his jacket. Harlan recognized that "one man's vulgarity is another's lyric." In doing so, the Court protected two elements of speech: the emotive (the expression of emotion) and the cognitive (the expression of ideas).

I can understand the criticism of many people on this nutjob ideafarm. But you all should be more outraged by the crooks in the city council and the outrageous salaries and benefits the police and fire fighters are making. how people spend more time at trivial issues instead of the crooks running our city and robbing millions from taxpayers like us.

"Ideafarm, who said that the couple were violating his right to free speech with their act,"

And you violated there's by telling them where they can post their signs. So they happened to be in front of yours. It is what it is. You're lucky this city allows you to do what you do. To me you are a huge nuisance. You tend to block peoples paths and you present a very bad image of Mountain View. Again, you are lucky this city has a sympathetic police department. How many people's rights have you violated?

I don't know, a little bit of local color is always enlivening. Instead of talming about him, there was a discussion here above about free speech and so forth, which is always good among citizens of a democracy. This guy doesn't matter (except, again, to make the trip down the El Camino a little more interesting if you're bored), but at least the presence of anyone like him strikes up conversations like this, so in THAT way at least the weirdness is doing us all a favor. And as long as any protester isn't violent, that's good. Let people protest as long as they don't get in the way of ambulances and the like (like the bike protests up in SF) or start tossing Molotov cocktails. It's part of living in the US - that right, so I support the right of this guy or whoever to strand around with signs. And profanity is allowed speech, though the message WILL get lost if profane speech is used, typically, so it's rather stupid. Whatever though - it's part of living here, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. :)

And pardon any typos above please.. proofreading, not big on my list right now, a little busy. Sorry.

Ideafarm is free to express himself and the couple are free to express themselves too. Ideafarm has no reservation on that corner and he is a hypocrite for calling the police.

Forget the message, Ideafarm is down right dangerous to drivers. A few months ago I was driving down El Camino to work. Along the way there was a blinding bright solar panel aimed directly at oncomming traffic. Not only was it virtually impossible to avoid seeing, my eyes hurt and I saw stars for a few minutes.

This man is a menace to society for such irrespnisble behaviors and must be stopped. Had an accident, or God forbid a fatality, occured due to this wreckless act, I would hope he would take full responsiblity and receive maximum fines and jail time.

That being said, Ideafarm's message is ultimately unclear. He is nothing more than an attention seeker using immature (and thoughtless) statements in order to receive press (although I do agree that the Mountain View city council needs to be impeached for selling out their residents to out of town business operators who in turn hire out of town employees (look at our parks)).

Ultimately, with those blinding solar panels, Ideafarm behaves in a wreckless manor that endagers commuters and therefore, needs to be removed. An unclear message, a selfish mindset, and a dangerous solar panel are no way to get people to change their lives nor change the world.

Thanks.

yeah, STOP BEING SHELLFISH!

Wo'O needs his own column in the Voice. He is Mountain View's most precious jewel.

>> [Amused] presence of anyone like him strikes up conversations like this, so in THAT way at least the weirdness is doing us all a favor

Bingo! And your humor is refreshing. There's no need to say anything negative about anyone here. There IS a need for humor! I am excited to see more and more comments about freedom of speech and tolerance for speakers, sprouting up among the weeds of disrespectful and judgmental postings.

If you want to understand the signs, come by with your laptop or a USB Flash drive between 4 PM and sundown any day. I will give you a copy of Wo'O's Scrapbook, featuring "An Unfinished Street Essay". The latter is a folder that contains over 300 pictures covering the signs. You can view it as a slideshow to see the ideas presented in sequence. A $10 donation is requested if you are over 19.

Ok, that's it. Dangerous solar panels? Get him out of town!
Seriously, I think we need to mob Ideafarm and his propaganda mobile. Like a flash mob, covering his panels, messages and IDEAS. How's that for a "free Speech" Idea?
Anyone?

Mr. Ideafarm - you evidently have no clue about the "right to free speech" in this country. The First Amendment of the Constitution prohibits only CONGRESS from making laws to restrict your speech. There is no law that requires anyone to view or hear your speech. There is no law that says people should be able to see your signs. And, there is no law that prevents private citizens from peacefully restricting your speech by covering up your signs if they want to.

A desperate man who is begging for attention in my opinion. There is a much better way of getting attention than by using vulgar language.
Have some deceny, a lot more people would listen if you were respectful/respectable. Have some deceny!

Here's an Idea......

Go back to Idaho!

Old Lancer - You are right in that like any other irritant, IdeaFarm is not causing any serious problems. However, like an circling fly, itch, or screechy noise, he is bothering people. In that he is doing it on purpose, people have the right to swat at him, metaphorically speaking. If he could express himself more reasonably and within the law, no one would have a problem with him and would "live and let live".

Peace to you too.

This guy yearns for women to be feminine(read other article on him) and yet he has admitted to hitting his wife!? Rise up women and rally against this abusive tyrant!

This fellow is a traffic hazzard. He causes drivers to lose focus on the road and endangers pedestrians as well as bike riders.
His real mission is to be worshipped, he is a god in his own mind.

Some people never become adults.

Lets hope Woo grows up and can start helping this community instead of hurting it.

He is currently living in a bubble of his own imagination. If you see him on the streets, give him a piece of your mind, and maybe he'll start to learn to be an adult.

I could almost pity ideafarm, if he wasn't so obnoxious. He appears to be mentally unbalanced and perhaps schizophrenic. I have worked with the mentally ill and he fits right in with the delusional patients in the mental hospital.

Every village needs it's idiot. We have ours!

The many defamatory and disrespectful postings here don't bother me a bit, because this forum is a mirror in which you can see who, and what, you are, people of Mountain View.

The root problem is that you have become a selfish people. All of the hate and intolerance just proves my point.

I am amazed that you still haven't comprehended who, and what, I am. I am only the voice of an idea. It is a very old idea. Those who have given it voice at various times and in various places have always been hated, and the message has always been rejected, for the same reason that you reject the message and that you hate me.

I am not what is interesting. It is the message that is interesting, that is worthy of your attention. Focus on the message.

One who understands only on the surface will say that I am a man of many messages. But one who comprehends more deeply will see that all that I do and all that I say works to promote a single idea.

The idea: "Be Wholesomely Connected". Put another way, "Don't Be Selfish"

If you have a life threatening infection, a doctor might give you a painful series of injections to save your life. It would be foolish to criticise the doctor for the pain that his injections inflicts. That pain is incidental to the real issue, which is whether the injections do cure you of the infection and save your life.

People of the United States, you do indeed have a life threatening infection. It is the infection of selfishness. My injections are indeed painful, but they are working. You are being cured.

His messages irritate me but often get me thinking. So can we find a safe place and limit him to that place for his signs? We dont want drivers blinded.

Look at ideafarm's face in this picture with the article, he is delighting in the attention.
This is what he craves, he is starving for attention and to have someone, anyone listen to him and absorb his insanity.
He wants followers and adorers. I don't believe for a minute he cares about getting out any peaceful message and helping the community.

Just like a 2 year old... it's all about ME!
The dude is clearly a narcissist.

A man who admits to having beaten his wife is teaching us about kindness with his vulgar signs?

It's disappointing to see the dangerous foolishness that the majority of posters self-indulgently engage in here. From running people you disagree out of town to thinking that somehow free speech can only be guaranteed by Congress, you have by and large lost any semblance of understanding of what the Founders of this country were trying to create.
This is reflected in the large by the fascist response our government and the people in it have had to Wikileaks and Julian Assange. Free speech - and in particular an unrestricted media - are the guarantee of a free country (Just ask Jefferson, Monroe, Washington, et al.) Even if what's said isn't to your liking. Even if it upsets you or those you think should be respected. We're entering an age of unprecedented war between those who would control others through controlling information and ideas, who are represented by the corporatists and their paid lackeys, and those who are using the power of the internet to defeat them, represented - as usual - by the youth who haven't been co-opted by money, privelege, power, and comfort.
As idiotic and hypocritical as Wo'o's ideas are, you should think twice before preferring to silence him, for the consequences to our nation and to all of us of such thinking are grave indeed.

What's so "objectionable" about "I got mine so f*** you"? You've never heard the f-word before? You think the statement is not true? You are guilty of the same thing so you don't want to be reminded of it?

In this time when we remember Jesus' selfless giving, we instead get to watch the titans of Wall Street and Washington giving themselves tax breaks while the middle class is yoked into serfdom by an irredeemable deficit caused by the tax cuts and the military adventures of an out-of-control corporatist machine. And to forget this spectacle of greed which makes us uncomfortable because we're complicit with it, we go to the mall to shop away those uncomfortable thoughts, where we instead get to watch the next generation of greedy world-destroying humans being trained by their parents that material wealth equals happiness, and that anything is justifiable in achieving it.

So what was ideafarm trying to get us to think about, anyway?

@Old Ben: There is no point responding to your post; anyone advocating the "carpet bombing" of their country and fellow citizens is clearly an imbecile

@Seer: (a) are you saying it is ok for young children to read such language as they drive past? I think idea farm could have used a different word and still conveyed his intent just as effectively if not more so (b) Corporatism doesn't mean what you think it does (c) exposing state secrets is espionage and that is a serious crime. Publishing diplomatic cables and a list of sites that the United States considers strategic is reckless and only harms our country

An idea for Ideafarm's relocation: Raise funds for a 1-way ticket to somewhere and 1 month's rent so Ideafarm can "vacation" and "entertain" elsewhere. Maybe he'd like a warmer climate with a warmer audience!

Well, since I have nothing else to do, I may Fem it up and swoop this gem up. We can start an idea factory and move it to Texas, where there is real work to be done.
When I succeed in this sacrificial endevour, I will post my P.O. Box so you folks can send me the $$ for exporting and relocating Ideafart.

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(thursday) 2010: WIFE BEATER, IF YOU DONT LIKE PPL FROM MV, GO AWAY. WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TRY AND "CURE" US? SEEMS LIKE YOU NEED TO CURE YOURSELF FIRST. FORGET YOUR MESSAGE NO ONE HERE CARES.

Post removed. The Town Square Forum is not the place to debate your foul-mouthed behavior. Your post violates our terms of use and will not be tolerated. You are welcome to find another website if these rules are not to your liking.

Tom Gibboney, publisher

I can't respect a man who has hit his wife and delivers a message through vulgarity!

Wish his ex-wife would speak out on his condition. I suspect he has untreated mental issues and perhaps has abused drugs

Thanks to those of you who shed light on his charges of domestic violence.
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[Post removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]

The more I see this horribly angry posts against the guy, the more I tend to want to stick up for him. Man, some of you people are, well I'll just say it...horrible people! Seek help with your anger or maybe I'll be feeling the need to stick up for you in a few years.
The rational thought, if everyone thinks he's unstable, is that he needs help. The irrational thought is to hurl insults and scream names at him.
Good lord, what's happened to the people in my town?

>> [Ignor Ideafrm] "WIFE BEATER ... GO AWAY"

>> [hahahhaGETALIFE] get the f out of our town and go back to idaho

And these people vote. The city council knows this. Chief Vermeer, the elected police chief, knows this. Jannie Quinn, the city attorney, knows this. If you want to see through the lies and understand "how it really is" between IdeaFarm (tm) Operations and the evil municipal corporation that maintains order in these parts, all you have to do is consider the political and economic incentives in play.

I am the speaker of an unpopular message. It is a moral message. I use indecent speech and an "in your face" style to break through your apathy. I present myself as a homeless person, intentionally, because that is part of the message. The message, the method, and the presentation all threaten significant local economic interests. All of the people who have posted here vote.

It is not about safety and it never has been. I know this. The MVPD officers all know this. The police chief knows this. Jannie Quinn knows this. The city council knows this.

If you look at the economic and political incentives in play, and then take the time to get some solid facts, you will be able to easily see through the lies.

IdeaFarm - "I am the speaker of an unpopular message."

No. The messages are not unpopular. Most people agree with them. It is you and your methods that people do not like.

"I use indecent speech and an "in your face" style to break through your apathy."

I call Fail on that. You are not breaking through apathy. You are generating enemies. Do you actually think that people driving by see the F word and think -- "wow, this guy is serious, I'd better pay attention to what he is saying and think about it seriously."

"It is not about safety and it never has been. I know this. The MVPD officers all know this. The police chief knows this. Jannie Quinn knows this. The city council knows this."

Ah, it's a conspiracy. Gee, din't see that one coming.

Solid Fact- The Police Chief in Mtn. View is not an elected Official. He or She is Appointed Chief by the City Mgr. and the City Council.

Fact-If people needed, wanted or sought your message, they should be able to find it on the internet, or write to you.

Fact- If your message was so strong, truthful, and important more people would follow you or gather around your great message.

Fact- maybe you are right, but nobody cares. You can laugh at us from afar-we won't follow you IdeaFarm. Did anyone follow you here? Where are they now?

>> Tom Gibboney, publisher

Thank you, Tom, for providing this forum. I will refrain from posting here for the remainder of the day, to allay any fears that you might have that I am flaming your forum.

The post that you removed was a hard hitting and thoughtful response to all of the anonymous defamation that you appear to have no qualms about facilitating.

I have taken and saved several sets of "before and after censoring" snapshots of this web page. Those pages, which show the "full, uncut" version of all of the above censored postings, will be included in Wo'O's Scrapbook, effective at 4 PM today.

Wo'O's Scrapbook features "An Unfinished Street Essay", which is a folder containing over 300 pictures documenting a year of IdeaFarm (tm) Street Operations in Mountain View. My "street essay" speaks out directly to the people in a way that you in the advertising funded thought steering industry would never facilitate.

My "street essay" method of speech heralds the end of your control over the thinking of the people. Worse for you, my method is only in its infancy; it will be developed by me and others and will also inspire other methods of spontaneous direct speech that cut out the "thought middleman".

Let's see whether you censor this one out, you scoundrel. :)

Look at how defensive Ideafarm is. Obviously he is not a sane person. I am also against the greedy establishment our government has formed. But Ideafarm is a wife beater. But acting like a holier than thow, moronic, attention seeking whiner is no way to change things. If anything, sir, you are counter productive to the cause. PLEASE, PLEASE GO TO IDAHO AND NEVER COME BACK!

That one post is right, every village has its idiot, and unfortunately, this is ours (figures he's from Idaho lol).

Get him off our streets!

Yay! Ideafarm is not going to post anymore retarded things for the day (thank God)!

There once was a Man named Jesus. He had a message. Not everyone liked what he had to say. Some people killed him. But, because of Him, the Catholic Church is one of the most powerful political forces in the world.It is practically a child molesting factory. And the CEO, CFO, COO all know this. And yet almost everyone still follows the teachings of this Man named Jesus. Teachings that people blindly followed, because God can forgive all sins. Thus the justification for the abuse.
BUT, Jesus traveled. He did not stay in one place to spread his teachings. Why don't you follow the way of Jesus, and spread the word outside of Mtn. View. I know an elected Sheriff out in Nevada that might like you to travel through. Let's see how well he protects you form the "Nuts" that live there. haha

Look at them all, people gleefully hoping harm on him...because they find him an irritant
Ya, IdeaFarm is the dangerous one who musty be purged from the city. Riiiiight.

Micheal,

I too was blinded by Ideafarm's dangerous solar panel on my way to work a while back (it was like he purposely aimed it at oncoming traffic). He needs to be arrested for endangering the lives of drivers, thank goodness no was hurt or killed.

Ideafarm definitely has a right to to free speech, but he has NO RIGHT TO ENDANGER DRIVERS WITH BLINDING SOLAR PANELS. I vote to have this man arrested if he is to repeat such an act.

Let's all pray for this obviously very sick man.

Love your comments "Old Lancer" The ideafarm guy makes me laugh and sometimes I am shocked but it does liven up the moment at hand as we drive around town doing our ho hum errands. True, he shouldn't use profanic words on his signs, but most of the time he does get one to ponder as to what it is he is eluding to.

I'd love to see him get arrested for being a public nuisance. According to his actions and public display's he is breaking the law. Why is he still here?

A public nuisance is an unreasonable interference with the public's right to property. It includes conduct that interferes with public health, safety, peace or convenience.

Sounds about right to me.

There was a women up in Belmont who was doing the same thing, being a public nuisance. And the Belmont police arrested her and threw her in jail. What the hell is wrong with the MV police. Business as usual...don't do a damn thing.

If he points that solar panel at traffic again, I'm calling the police. I have also seen drivers swerve out of their lane to read his signs and he makes it very hard to see when he parks his wagon in the road.
I don't know anything about his foul mouthed "message" but he certainly doesn't care about the safety of others.

Steve, you embody the same hateful, misinformed, and parochial views as your fellow citizens who advocate doing violence to someone who is simply different... no matter what their civil sounding excuses are.

Old Ben's point was a bit crass, but quite valid: Carpetbombing of the Germans turned them into a peace-loving society that holds equality and freedom much more dear than the USA does. It's an awful cure for an even more awful disease - one that we have in this country, right now. Given the mentalities I see on here, it does make me wonder if Old Ben is right; that nothing but such extreme measures will wake people up to what they have given up. And, unfortunately, one of the best ways to express the state of mind of those who are so eager to sell the founding principles of the USA out is "selfish."

Regarding your comments on my observations... yes it IS ok for children to see the "F-word." Only the most closeted of Mormon or Fundie children don't know it... and most of them are pretending not to. The only ones pretending the kids don't know that word are their parents. Instead, they should grow the cojones to be able to talk openly with their kids about it.

The definition of Corporatism in my dictionary is 'control of a state or organization by large interest groups; "individualism is in danger of being swamped by a kind of corporatism"' That's exactly what's happening in our country.. .correction: has already happened. You can't define it away, no matter how complicit you are with it.

Exposing state secrets may be espionage (it can also be treason) but publishing them after they have already been stolen is called journalism. Without journalism, we have no freedom. Only the truth about what our leaders are doing will keep them in control. In fact, there are excellent arguments that if Wikileaks had "leaked" the cables to Bush about upcoming air terrorism in 2001, flight instructors who were hired to train arabs not interested in learning landings or takeoffs would have turned them in to the FBI. Or, if Wikileaks had published the mountain of lies used to justify the Iraq war, there wouldn't have been one. Both of those eventualities would have been very good for America, and saved countless lives. So the arguments that publishing secrets kept by out-of-control politicians and military are hollow indeed.

"The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure." --Thomas Jefferson to Lafayette, 1823. ME 15:491

Seer must one of ideafarms followers.

Must be in the food. Don't drink the koolaid either...

All of the people who have posted here vote. Think about that. Focus on the economic and political incentives in play. See through the lies and the anonymous defamations.

Make an effort to comprehend the message that this municipal corporation is spending so much [of your] money trying to silence:

Sunday: THIS WEEK: WHAT YOU CAN DO

Monday: 2007: "I GOT MINE SO **** YOU"

Tuesday: 2008: "WHAT THE ****. I LOST MINE"

Wednesday: 2009: "WE MUST DO SOMETHING. WHO HAS A PLAN?"

Today: 2010: "WILL YOUR PLAN GET ME INTO TROUBLE?"

Tomorrow: 2011: ?

I will purchase dinner at In'N'Out Burger for the person who posts the closest guess as to what the closing idea in the sequence is. (The local press was notified of the entire sequence about 10 days ago, so no cheating, please.)

I always liked the term eccentric. I think that's what Ideafarm is. All sorts of quotes have been used to describe him. And all sorts of medical conditions have been thrown out to diagnose him. I don't think he is "Messianic" (sp?). To invent a term, I think he is more "John the Baptistic". A voice crying in the wilderness.

Regarding the profanity, while it is freedom of speech, I just think alternative speech could be used. My dad heard me use profanity a few times. He always told me that he helped pay for my education, and part of that education was to use words larger than four letters. He would tell me not to "dumb myself down". Then he would smile and use some word that I would invariably have to look up. I miss him.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

2011: "Fifty dollars for a loaf of bread?"

Wo'O: Can you list some things that you are doing to establish a "wholesome connection" with Mountain View? When answering, please bear in mind that, with ~12,000 households, and the ~$600K you claim to have cost the city, so far, we have already paid ~$50 per household for your "connection" with us.

2011: YOUR PLAN WILL GET (or HAS GOT) ME INTO TROUBLE.

2011: PLEASE WRITE TO ME WHILE I'M IN JAIL! I DON'T LIKE BUBBA ANYMORE.

Gotta give the guy credit where credit is due. Look at all the attention/comments this guy can stir up.

>> [Waldo] Wo'O: Can you list some things that you are doing to establish a "wholesome connection" with Mountain View?

Fair question.

(1 of 2) Wo'O's Table: I am using a web site and two handouts to invite individuals of all ages who live in Mountain View to join a nonreligious brotherhood / sisterhood. "Joining" means making a public committment to living unselfishly and eating together every 8 days at the In'N'Out Burger restaurant on El Camino Real at Grant / 237. Making the public commitment is done by signing the IdeaFarm (tm) Pledge, which appears on the IdeaFarm (tm) web site: http://ideafarm.com . Signing the pledge costs $8 and change. $7 of that $8 goes to the homeless person responsible for getting you to the web site. I get $1 of your payment. The change goes to PayPal.

(2 of 2) IdeaFarm (tm) Street Operations: I have developed a new general method of spontaneous direct speech. This general method is called the "street essay". I am a degreed economist, holding a Ph.D.-Lite in economics from the University of Chicago. My street essay, which I call simply, "An Unfinished Street Essay", is a course in political economics. This course is comprised of ideas that give the student new ways to understand the political and economic world that we live in. Some of the ideas in the course are ideas that will never be presented fairly by the thought steering industry because they attack that industry and / or the interests of the advertisers that fund it. Other ideas in the course spotlight divisive issues. A third category are ideas that reflect my academic interest and focus on the interplay of gender and sexuality as determinants of aggregate economic performance. I can trace this interest back to my graduate school days when I studied under Nobel Laureate Gary Becker and participated in his Workshop in Labor Economics. (It was he who arranged for and administered my Sloan Fellowship.)

It is impossible to comprehend the individual signs unless you follow along. The easiest way to do that is to come by and get your copy of Wo'O's Scrapbook, which contains the entire An Unfinished Street Essay. Bring a laptop or a USB flash drive. A $10 donation is requested if you are over 19.

Hey Seer, my 6 year old reader does not know and hasn't ever heard the f word. I do swear sometimes, but I am extremely conscious of what I say around my kids. I am now getting questions about the "f word". Thanks to Wo'o. My distaste for this man has grown immensely over the last few years.

If he was posting whatever political horsepuckey y'all believe in, y'all wouldn't be QQ'ing as much. Noobs.

Also, to the person above, kids around here are swearing by first grade on the playground.

Old Ben wins it. Claim your dinner with me by catching me 4 PM - sundown. If you bring a laptop or a USB Flash drive, I will also give you a copy of Wo'O's Scrapbook, and the $10 suggested donation will be waived. You don't need to identify yourself; the dinners are first names only.

Anyone with a high school diploma should be able to see that the signs this week spotlight the "old thinking" that got us into the mess that we are in, and suggest the "new thinking" that we need to adopt so that we can clean up the mess and move forward as a nation of good, strong men and women.


Sunday: THIS WEEK: WHAT YOU CAN DO

Monday: 2007: "I GOT MINE SO **** YOU"

Tuesday: 2008: "WHAT THE ****. I LOST MINE"

Wednesday: 2009: "WE MUST DO SOMETHING. WHO HAS A PLAN?"

Thursday: 2010: "WILL YOUR PLAN GET ME INTO TROUBLE?"

Today: 2011: "I CAN DO THAT. COUNT ME IN"

I can no longer sustain my spontaneous direct speech operation in the cold and the rain, with my equipment siezed unreasonably without a warrant. The municipal corporation wins. I am silenced.

But I am not the one who loses.

They stole your stuff again? Awww, I'm sorry to hear that. There ought to be a law against stealing. Oh wait, there is. Call the police...(?)Uhh maybe not. Taking your stuff (in the rain especially)is just wrong.

Merry Christmas to all of you (good Christians?) who wished this upon him. Are you happy? He is homeless in the rain now. Shame on you all!

Woohoo! I love the rain!

Lizzard: Just because you can see that someone has a valid point doesn't make you a "follower." Your childish thinking process is quite limiting, and shows that the "follower" who unquestioningly accepts the thoughts of others is you. If you'd bothered to read my comments on Wo'o's postings, you'd know that I think he's poorly equipped to be lecturing anyone on anything.

MVMOm: you are one of those people I talked about who live in a delusion. As "Freedom of Speech" pointed out, your kids are way ahead of you. Pull your head out of the sand, and remember that words only have as much power as you give them.

These posts have been moved from a duplicate thread, which is now closed:

Posted by Ed, a resident of another community, 21 hours ago

Freedom of speech is great!! Merry Christmas to the couple holding the signs.

No need for profanity to get your message across, Mr. Ideafarm. I'm sure you are intelligent enough to come up with something more clever and not so insulting.

Also, why does this article describe Mr. Ideafarm as a "local transient"?


Posted by a reader, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, 17 hours ago

Yeah! Every mountain view citizen should be required to make and carry a sign at least one day a year on the corner of castro and el camino!

Thank you, Wo'O. I am honored. I must decline, as I do not do fast food. Give my prize to a cop, maybe it'll lighten them up a little.

Oh give me a break! I don't want my 6 year old to see the F word on the sidewalk and I somehow have my head in the sand? PLEASE! I volunteer in my child's school. I am on the playground at recess at least one a week. I have NEVER heard a child using language like that in first grade. Maybe 5th or 6th grade but not young kids. I am not dumb, I know that we are the ones who give the words power. I just don't think age 6 is a time when I need to have that discussion. Let them be kids, they'll be exposed to it eventually but it just isn't necessary to have my 6 year old asking me what F*** means.

And all of these people vote.

For four years, I travelled on a circuit around the Bay Area with a vehicle that had painted signs that displayed two messages, which were and remain the core messages of IdeaFarm (tm) Street Operations:

DON'T BE SELFISH - MAKE LIFE BETTER

COME, EAT WITH US!

People did respond; about 400 people entered their email addresses and zip codes onto a form on the web site. But I was not able to follow through with organizing those people into dinner groups because constant police harassment and court process kept me off balance and preoccupied. MVPD was relatively benign; that was a minor but significant factor in my choice to reduce the geographic scope of the effort by focusing on Mountain View.

This project is not about Mountain View and it never has been. I am in Mountain View because Mountain View is a regional transportation hub. My intended audience is regional. I am here because of ideal logistics; not because I want to fix what is wrong with this city or its people.

The above signs got people to put themselves onto an email list, but it did not get them to take meaningful action. I became convinced that I was perceived as "local color" and was being dismissed as an aging hippie. It was frustrating to see so many people making an effort to avert their gaze from the "DON'T BE SELFISH" sign as if they felt guilt as they read it. In a word, my signs confronted people with their guilt, and those people confronted me in reply with their apathy.

To defeat the apathy, I constructed a tile and track system so that I could display short messages. Experimentation led me to the current operating model, which uses a Jerry Springer approach to defeat apathy by appealing to the banal preoccupations that are the focus of many peoples' lives and thoughts. The messages are "in your face" and seasoned with indecent speech, not because that is who I am, but because that is who YOU are.

The woman with the small children is right. My messages deal with adult themes and I, like Jerry Springer, use indecent speech to keep the audience tuned in. My general method of spontaneous direct speech, called the "street essay", is very powerful, but like all methods of speech, it creates nuisance. She rightly complains about one of the nuisances: the exposure of children to adult themes and indecent words.

The hecklers seem to have departed. Let's turn this forum into a party and get to know each other. There is no need to say anything negative to or about anyone. I'd really like to have an intelligent conversation with some of you, on a topic that relates to free speech or to getting a nonreligous brotherhood dinner group going in Mountain View, but has nothing directly to do with me. Don't be intimidated by my academic credentials; the life of the mind is supposed to be a banquet, not a race. Anyone who is capable of really being interested in what the other person has to say, and has a spirit of love in his or her heart, can converse intelligently. It does not require specialized knowledge or a formal education.

I think you need to re-read your first "core message"...then re-read it again.

Damn, that corner looks so empty and lonely. I drove by hoping for a look at the local prophet, but the corner was found to be returned to it's natural state.

>> [Marshall] "I think you need to re-read your first "core message"...then re-read it again."

Don't use me as an excuse. The speaker of the idea is flawed. The idea itself is flawless. It is a beautiful idea, and an old one.

I use "unselfish" as a synonym for "wholesomely connected". The core message, which is also the full mission statement of IdeaFarm (tm) Operations, is:

Be wholesomely connected to others, to the Earth, and to our Higher Power.

Each person must embrace some concept of Higher Power and then use that concept to be "wholesomely connected" to the big picture, the whole of which each of us is a part.

Now, Marshall, I want you, or someone, to engage me in conversation on the proposition that we men have the option to live as brothers rather than as predators. Many men over the years have told me that it just ain't an option, that this is a dog eat dog society and that a man with a wife, kids, a mortgage, and bills has no choice but to live his whole life as a soldier in "an army of one". WDYT? Is brotherhood a naive "hippie" idea, or is it a reasonable choice for a young man choosing his path to prosperity?

...the voices told me to do it.

Wo\'O Ideafarm,

As a public reference, could you please post your updated bio/resume/CV here?

I am a construction laborer.

Due to repeated violations of our Terms of Use, comments from this poster are automatically removed. Why?