Merry Christmas! (Belated)

We had a wonderful day here with family and I was able to talk to my brother who lives in the southwestern states.

Now I Know The Government Has Gone Too Far! #$%^Q@#$%^&

The mayor of Oklahoma City cancels the Lingerie Football League.

On YouTube:

Lingerie Football League

(Just tryin' to inject some levity into very serious times we're living in.)

Goodbye Sweden?

Comic Pat Condell condemns Sweden's multiculturalism and influx of Muslims. Don't miss this.

Goodbye Sweden

Objectivist Round Up November 18 Edition

Welcome to the November 18, 2010 edition of objectivist round up. Objectivism is the philosophy created by novelist Ayn Rand. Here's a quote of her's to get things started:


"I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows. This--the supremacy of reason--was, is and will be the primary concern of my work, and the essence of Objectivism."



David Lewis presents will the real Objectivists please stand up? posted at david in real life, saying, ""...an Objectivist without integrity is like steak without the grizzle. It looks nice, but the best part is missing."
In this entry: my experiences with Objectivists. There are some really fantastic people out there. There are also some real duds. I explore the lack of integrity in some Objectivists."


Kyle Becker presents The Ghosts of Capitalism posted at Rogue Operator, saying, "Thanks for the opportunity to send you an article."


Aditya Pawar presents The Right to Petition Government for Redress of Grievances, Part VII posted at Axiom, saying, "Seventh Installment. I explain why "conservation of judicial resources" is not a legitimate reason for the judiciary to disallow court access to persons with injuries."


Jared Rhoads presents Brace for chaos in 2014 posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, "What will happen to those who lose health insurance coverage as a result of the health reform legislation?"


Paul Hsieh presents Radiation Risk From TSA Scanners? posted at NoodleFood, saying, "I discuss whether Americans should be worried about the medical risks related to the TSA whole-body x-ray scanners. (This is separate from the broader, more worrisome political issues.)"


Rational Jenn presents Family Business posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "We've been exploring the idea of "family privacy" with our kids (ages 8 and 5). It's turning out to be a rather tricky idea to get across."


Rational Jenn presents Podcast #12: The Nature of Children posted at Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore, saying, "***NOTE TO HOST: Please list 'Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore' as the blog authors, and 'Cultivating the Virtues' as the name of the blog. Blog Carnival messes this up sometimes.*** Our latest podcast is based on a previous post by Kelly."


Ari Armstrong presents In Praise of Some Great Objectivists posted at Free Colorado, saying, "In light of recent controversies, it is worth remembering the profound value that others have offered us."


David Baucom presents The Religion of Green posted at Cyrano Rises, saying, "Just published in Charlatan Magazine, the article compares the Green movement to religion and reveals its essence as a religious faith in collectivism."


Roberto Sarrionandia presents Free Speech for Cheryl Gillan posted at Roberto Sarrionandia, saying, "Response to an anti-free speech campaign on my campus."


Lynn Peters W presents Same-Sex Marriage in Vermont: Right Decision, Wrong Reason: The Beginning posted at The Lone(ly) Vermont Objectivist, saying, "My first submission!"


Jason Stotts presents Alcohol and Sex posted at Erosophia, saying, "In this essay, I look at how all too often people are so ashamed of their sexuality that they can't even admit it to themselves until they start drinking heavily. Commentary ensues."


Peter Cresswell presents “To Sir E. Hillary” posted at Not PC, saying, "An unashamed rant at the government theft from his widow of Everest hero Ed Hillary's personal property."


Peter Cresswell presents Negotiation by riot posted at Not PC, saying, "In their violent pursuit of education at someone else's expense, what rioting British students demonstrate more than anything else is the bankruptcy of the education they've been given."


Edward Cline presents The TSA’s “Protection” Racket posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "There is a scene in "Schindler’s List" in which all the inmates of the concentration camp are forced to strip naked en masse and run through a gauntlet of outdoor medical checks. If the inmates weren’t already “conditioned” to incarceration, humiliation, being kidnapped, robbed, tagged, folded, spindled, shredded, and “processed,” that exercise guaranteed it. Those who didn’t pass the “test,” were pulled from the line and never heard from again. Not that it mattered in the long run: they were all scheduled for extermination.

Too eerily a parallel with the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA's) new “enhanced” security policies at American airports, which include full-body scans that show every detail of one’s person beneath clothing and/or intimate “pat-downs” by manqués wearing blue surgeon’s gloves, who are authorized to probe and grope infants, school children, adults, nuns, businessmen, well, everyone for combustibles or explosive materials."


Roderick Fitts presents Reduction of Justice posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "This is a reduction of the basic idea of 'justice,' and it will allow me to induce the principle that justice is crucial or important in human life."


Amy Mossoff presents The Miracles of Modern Medicine posted at The Little Things, saying, "My husband and I are about to embark on an interesting journey through super-high-tech medicine: donor egg IVF. It stinks that we're so unlucky that we can't seem to make any more babies on our own, but I am so grateful to the heroes who have developed these techniques so that we still have a chance to do it with the help of science."


Michael Labeit presents Martin Wolf is Confused About Fractional Reserve Banking, Part 1 posted at Michael Labeit at EconomicPolicyJournal.com, saying, "A generally good, pro-globalization economist makes a common error."


Miranda Barzey presents What Inspired Me to Become an Art Model posted at Building Atlantis, saying, "How a renewed interest in art inspired me to become an art model."


Earl Parson presents Tennessee House: Fireplace & Stone Wall posted at Creatures of Prometheus, saying, "Last week they installed the fireplace stone, as well as some exterior wall stone, on my latest house design, now under construction in Tennessee. The masons did a great job - check it out!"



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ALERT: Obama's DOJ plans to nix the military's absentee votes this November

Hat Tip: Jerry Pournelle

Obama's DOJ

It's not all BP's fault. Let's look to environmentalism and government over-regulation for starters...

The Gulf Spill, the Financial Crisis and Government Failure.

Objectivist Blog Carnival #150

Hi and welcome to the latest Objectivist Blog Carnival. This edition is choc-full of mental goodness for you to feast upon, but first, some background.

Objectivism is the philosophy created by novelist Ayn Rand, author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged as well as non-fiction works like The Virtue of Selfishness and Capitalism The Unknown Ideal.
Here is a quote from her to get things rolling:

"The Objectivist ethics proudly advocates and upholds rational selfishness—which means: the values required for man’s survival qua man—which means: the values required for human survival—not the values produced by the desires, the emotions, the “aspirations,” the feelings, the whims or the needs of irrational brutes, who have never outgrown the primordial practice of human sacrifices, have never discovered an industrial society and can conceive of no self-interest but that of grabbing the loot of the moment."

Here's one more quote:

"The Objectivist ethics holds that human good does not require human sacrifices and cannot be achieved by the sacrifice of anyone to anyone. It holds that the rational interests of men do not clash—that there is no conflict of interests among men who do not desire the unearned, who do not make sacrifices nor accept them, who deal with one another as traders, giving value for value."

Welcome to the May 27, 2010 edition of objectivist round up.

Roderick Fitts presents Part 5: Errors vs. Moral Breaches posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "A post on Peikoff's and Kelley's views on errors of knowledge versus breaches of morality. We also learn about the role of philosophy in history and the higher standards of experts in relation to ordinary people."

Rachel Miner presents Make It Less Messy posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "Sharing some fun tricks for making things less messy, especially as the summer approaches :)"

C.W. presents What next? Negative Interest? posted at Krazy Economy, saying, "Fed. target discount rates has gotten lower each cycle. What could happen next. Not good."

Edward Cline presents Obama: Neither Naïve nor Foolish nor Misguided posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "With some minor editing, I sent this letter to Charles Krauthammer, syndicated columnist for the Washington Post and other newspapers, in response to an article severely critical of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. In it, he points out that Obama’s “make nice” policy and obsequious deference to statist regimes are backfiring."

Mike Zemack presents Christie's "War on the Court" posted at Principled Perspectives, saying, "The highest budget deficit in the nation on a percentage basis; out of control, record high state spending; record high per-pupil education costs; coupled with record high income tax rates and property tax rates– that’s New Jersey. Gov. Christie places major blame on an “activist” state Supreme Court, which in the 1970s imposed a system of state financing for local public schools along with a state income tax to pay for it – by judicial fiat. But was an “activist” Supreme Court the cause of NJ’s budget woes, or can the blame be placed upon the NJ constitution, which mandates the state to provide “a thorough and efficient system of free public schools”?"

Michael Labeit presents Against Democracy!?! posted at Michael Labeit at EconomicPolicyJournal.com.

Stella presents A sale would be cleaner posted at ReasonPharm, saying, "This week's New York Times Ethicist column illustrates why forbidding organ sales creates unnecessary dilemmas."

Diana Hsieh presents Pay Me to Podcast on Finding Romantic Prospects posted at NoodleFood, saying, "I'll produce a podcast on finding good romantic prospects by June 10th... if people are pledge enough money to justify it. (Only those who pledge will get it before OCON.)"

Ari Armstrong presents Rand Paul Wants Total Abortion Bans posted at Free Colorado, saying, "In light of Rand Paul's views on abortion, reproduction, and end-of-life decisions, nobody should be asking whether Paul advocates too much liberty."

Paul Hsieh presents Leonard Peikoff Interview With Magician Steve Cohen posted at NoodleFood, saying, "Magic, Objectivism, and Peikoff -- what more could you ask for?"

Rational Jenn presents MiniCon Class Schedule posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "The MiniCon Schedule is up on the Atlanta Objectivist Society website! Check it out! (Coming soon--a registration form, whee!)"

Shea presents Putting the Cause Before the Truth posted at Shea's Blog, saying, "My first substantive post at my new blog. Why would someone advocate an idea that he knows to be false?"

Martin Lindeskog presents INTERVIEW WITH JOHN COX | EGO posted at EGO.

Roderick Fitts presents Part 6: Tolerance posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "I wrap up my series with a shorter essay on Objectivism's application to tolerance, contrasting Kelley's view of tolerance with that of Objectivist Tara Smith, showing him to expand the role of "tolerance" in our lives past legitimate standards."

Roderick Fitts presents The Vampires of Objectivism posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "Part-calling out "Objectivist pretenders," part-"call to action," I'm posting this to alert any susceptible Objectivists to the "vampires" among us, from whom we should only expect negatives, loss, and the lowering of the credibility of Objectivism, Rand, and unfortunately, ourselves. Let the warding off commence!!"

Jeff Montgomery presents Mountain Micro Capitalism posted at Fun With Gravity, saying, "This is a small instance of free enterprise in the Colorado hill country, suggesting that the world will not spin out of control simply because we grant people freedom to act on their own."

Edward Cline presents Flirting with Tyranny posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "The title is intriguing, tempting, and ostensibly relevant in today‘s culture: The Treason of the Clerks (La Trahison des clercs), by 20th century French novelist and critic, Julien Benda. By clerks, Benda meant Medieval scribes, a small class of men who could read and write and understand what others read and wrote."

David C Lewis, RFA presents Life Insurance: What's Wrong With Non-forfeiture Laws?: Life insurance | Precious Metals | Retirement Plans | Financial Planning | Investing | Saving Money posted at A Revolution In Financial Planning.

Editor's Note: Anyone familiar with HTML--can you email me on how to eliminate the spaces between entries? Thanks!

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
objectivist round up
using our
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Are the Greek Riots A Picture of Our Future?

Ayn Rand was right. Altruism, the dominate moral code of the world, is leading us toward destruction. While dominant, it is not the only moral code vying for people's minds.

In the US, 40 to 45% of the population lives on government "entitlements" which the vast majority of them think is theirs 'by right'. [!] Wrong.

Greek Riots

Smokin' Hot!

I saw this hilarious YouTube video at Noodlefood. I totally agree!


Restore Joss Whedon

gus van horn @ Pajamas media!

Gus van Horn has an article that should be read by as many thinking people as possible. That means you!

Treat the Cause, Not the Symptom: Welfare State is Draw for Illegals

Agreed. Go check it out.

My thanks to Gus for writing this, too.

Scatologically speaking...

Click on the link and read the captions.


Homework

I don't know this gentleman,

but I sure want to meet him.

HT: Liberty and Culture via Thrutch:

Colonel Allen West Answers a Marine's question:

Agreed.

Worthy Cause

The forthcoming book, The Logical Leap looks to be revolutionary in scope. So too, is the institute that promotes it. Check out The Falling Apple Science Institute.


Falling Apple Science Institute


As soon as I'm able, I plan to financially support this great educational idea.

The Spring Issue of The Objective Standard & Other Important Items

The spring issue of The Objective Standard is now online! Hooray!!

The Objective Standard


Diana Hsieh has a website up to assist in combating Colorado's immoral Amazon tax. Check it here and be sure to visit Ari Armstrong's site for an in-depth article on same.

Repeal the Amazon Tax

Ari Armstrong

It's too late to apologize

Courtesy of Rational Jenn

Obectivist Round UP #137

Welcome to the February 25, 2010 edition of objectivist round up. Objectivism is the philosophy created by novelist Ayn Rand.

Quoting Miss Rand, " I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism, and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows. This--the supremacy of reason--was, is and will be the primary concern of my work, and the essence of Objectivism."

Let's begin:

Ifat Glassman presents What is Selfishness? posted at Psychology of Selfishness, saying, "Selfishness is a principle by which one pursues one's happiness above all else. How is this translated into every day choices and what does it mean to be selfish in practice?
The article discusses this."

Rachel Miner presents Humor: Tool Box posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "A fun one to write, in this post I go through lots of different, practical situations and ideas for adding smiles to parenting life."

Sandi Trixx presents Government and the Environment posted at Sandi Trixx, saying, "I was going through some old files on my hard drive and found an essay I wrote in 2005 for a college course called "Energy and the Environment: A Global Perspective."

Miranda Barzey presents One Year Blogiversary! posted at Ramen & Rand, saying, "A quick review of the stats from my first year of blogging! Happy Blogiversary to me!"

Jared Rhoads presents MISDK Recipients posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, "The Lucidicus Project awarded its 54th kit today to a biology student at the University of Michigan!"

Paul Hsieh presents Permanent Political Football posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "What do the Texas State Board of Education and the Massachusetts system of mandatory health insurance have in common? They've both turned into permanent political footballs for the special-interest lobbyists."

Joseph Kellard presents Letters on Tea Party and Founders & Religion posted at The American Individualist, saying, "I wrote the editors at The New York Times two letter, one a response to an article about the Tea Party movement, the other a reply to an article on the role religion played in the founding of America."

Sandi Trixx presents Nobel Prize Winner in Economics Ignorant of Economics posted at Sandi Trixx, saying, "Krugman has been on a roll the past few days."

Paul Hsieh presents Hsieh OpEd at PJM: "Government Grab of Retirement Accounts" posted at NoodleFood, saying, "PajamasMedia also published my latest OpEd on the Obama Administration proposal to convert some of our private 401(k) retirement money into government annuities in order to help prop up the failing Social Security system."

Rational Jenn presents "Go to your room!" PD or not? posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "In this post, I demonstrate the manner in which I use the old parenting stand-by of sending kids to their rooms. Our focus is not to punish the child, but to stop the infringement of the rights of others (in this example, hitting), and give the offender a chance (or two) to work on developing self-control and inner-discipline."

Diana Hsieh presents Explore Atlas Shrugged: Explore Atlas Shrugged, Session 12 posted at Explore Atlas Shrugged, saying, "This post has my podcast and discussion questions for Session 12 (of 20) on Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged.""

Jason Stotts presents The Hypocrisy Astounds posted at Erosophia, saying, "The hypocrisy of socialists is truly astounding, just ask Canadian Premier Danny Williams"

Cogito presents SEE: Concrete-Boundedness and Second Hand Knowledge posted at Cogito's Thoughts, saying, "In this week's episode, I tackle the problem of concrete-boundedness in today's students of math and science, and then I give my thoughts on the proper standards of evaluating second-hand knowledge."

Kelly Elmore presents Three Fundamental Rules for Not Raising Brats or Being One Yourself posted at Reepicheep's Coracle, saying, "Sort of parenting advice, sort of parenting critique, sort of humor piece."

Kim presents Around the Dinner Table: Family Activities posted at Kim's Play Place, saying, "Something fun we do to stay connected as a family."

Roderick Fitts presents Bacon on the "Helps" of Induction posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "It's essay hoping to clarify some of the finer details of Bacon's theory of induction."

Edward Cline presents Islam is the Enemy posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "I read an interesting Spiked column on the current "offensive" in Afghanistan. The author makes several valid points. He all but says that if the war is fought, not to achieve victory, but to attain some altruistic "hearts and minds" goal, then it is pointless to even wage the war."

Tom Stelene presents Old, Obscure, Great Books Review: No. 3 posted at The Audacity of Independence, saying, "For this review are two books on little-known history that are loaded with practical and (implicit) philosophical lessons on the moral and intellectual corruptness of collectivism."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
objectivist round up
using our
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Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

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Books I'm Reading in January

As you can see by my Shelfari bookshelf on the right, I've got a few books over there. What I thought I'd do is jot down here what I'm reading this month and what I've got 'on deck' for the future.
Right now I'm in a great baseball book called Game Six by Mark Frost, about the 1975 World Series game between the Boston Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, which featured the dramatic home run by Boston catcher Carlton Fisk which Boston won and that tied that series at three games apiece. The Reds went on to win the Series [Yeah!] but to this day, I think that those games were the best Series games in my lifetime. As a kid, I grew up in central-west Ohio and was a huge fan of "The Big Red Machine". Going with my dad and older brother to Crosley Field for $2 or $3 bucks a head in those days was pure fun and to witness Bench, Morgan, Rose, Perez, and all the others in their prime was truly memorable.

TSAR by Ted Bell is the fiction book I'm reading so far this month. It's my second try with Bell as a writer. I didn't finish his first book Hawk, but may get back to it in the future. This one is about Russia's goal of 'returning to its glory days of the Soviet empire' and the steps they appear to be taking to achieve that goal. Including swallowing up its now former territories that broke off when the "wall" fell. Anyway, Hawk is Bell's recurring character and is in the thick of it, but what I didn't know about the book and like as a side story is that some of the action takes place in Bermuda. Now I've been to Bermuda twice and I must say it is a paradise and his description of the island is bringing back many wonderful memories of that island and even many of the places my wife and I stayed at toured while there. A bonus. I'm hoping the book will maintain my interest. So far so good.

On deck I've got two Daniel Silva books featuring his character Micheal Osbourne. I've read and recommend all of Silva's Gabriel Allon series of books, starting with The Kill Artist. Looking forward to getting to those before the end of the month.
One more I hope to at least start this month is, This Is Not A Game by Walter Jon Williams. A sci-fi book by an author I've never read before but was impressed by a review of the book enough to give it a shot. We'll see.....

This may be a monthly feature I write about to at least keep blogging, if only once a month. You never know.
However, look for me as host of the Objectivist RoundUp next month. I can't wait!

"Retiring" Senator Chris Dodd

I don't know where to begin this post, frankly. I haven't read today's news but I've a very strong suspicion that we won't see the last of Dodd.
My hunch is that he was told by the Chicago mafia to step aside, as he was losing big to even a straggling field of Republican challengers.
No, he wasn't promised a puny Ambassadorship if he took one for the party, my friends. It's just my guess, but look for him to have unchecked and unconstitutional power as our new "Health Czar".
Dodd was bad, but his "Chicago hand-picked" successor in our AG Richard Blumenthal is worse. Far, far worse than Dodd. If you ever want to see a rapacious power-luster, look no further than this lout. He has used the Connecticut and federal Constitution as a doormat for more than fifteen years as our Attorney General. He will do the same in Washington, and believe me, Connecticut's parasite populace, who suckle at the teat of mother government, will elect him by a wide margin this November. Plus, in my view, Blumenthal has such a brazen lust for power, he has set his sights for the top spot.
You heard it here first.

[Update] Just caught a blurb on Dodd from the local news channel. Apparently he "pulled a Palin" [my words] and according to the state media mouthpiece, "He's far from done in Washington. He will now use his 'status' [my quote marks] to "appear as an honest broker in mediating between both sides of the aisle a Wall Street bill now in Congress." [Italics mine.]
Still, look for him to be annoited Health or Bank czar later this year.

Kindle for PC

Like others who are chiming in on the e-book phenomenon, I wanted to try one of these out for myself. Since Amazon is offering there Kindle "OS" for free to use on the PC, that was the perfect choice for me (grin).
Still, being as old as I am, I prefer having a quality paperback or hardbound book in my hands when truly enjoying a good/great book, or if I am seriously studying a subject, that, plus a good pen and notebook at hand.
However, for the sheer pleasure of reading books that I don't want to pay full price for, or that are classics and available for free, I think this format can't be beat. I've had the PC Kindle for a little over a month now and I am finding that I am quite pleased with how it's working for me. Now, I haven't gone under the hood and experimented with every nuance, but for finding a current book that's less than, or half, of the book price and just reading it, with a bookmark to note where I've stopped, I give this high marks.

[Disclaimer: I will not make a cent on the books I am about to mention, so don't come knocking at my door to arrest me for not paying taxes on a non-existent income]

I currently have three books I'm reading at various intervals. They are:

China's Megatrends by John and Doris Naisbitt
Architects of Ruin by Peter Schweizer
The Fabulous Clipjoint by Fredric Brown

Anyway, that's my two cents on the e-book market. Like others, I will wait till that market shakes out and a definite standard is reached before I buy.