9thdoctor

You haven't seen Altered States? With its John Corigliano score? And it's all about drugs? Man, you think you know a guy...

Hope it's not in bad taste to share this here: http://www.peikoff.com/2016/08/29/episode-415/ Go to 15:15. He shares his immediate reaction to learning of the deaths of the Brandens. Class act, eh? At least he waited a while.

It called to mind the opening of this lecture: "Esthetics Si, politics, No"

I see that the book is out. And I see a reference or two to an epilogue. Did you get to do one? With the blessings (we hope) of the Goddess Pecunia? The "look inside" feature on Amazon goes to the old version, so I can't check. https://www.amazon.com/Atheism-Case-Against-Skeptics-Bookshelf/dp/1633881970/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I knew who it was. I was just now logging in to say hey, that's Dixy Lee Ray, right Bill? Guess she was your neighbor to the south back in the day, eh?

You were doing so well until here, where you start repeating the vile lies of Henry VII. Learn the true story: What do you mean, they had no TV?

This is a well done ad: Did the word Libertarian appear? If so I missed it.

Still doesn’t pass the smell test. If his income is such that he can’t qualify to get another apartment, how was he paying his rent before? Being over 65 he’s getting social security, something (probably) in excess of $1.3K/month. No veteran’s pension on top of that? No royalties at all from his books? And does he live alone? Not willing/able to share costs with a roommate? And what’s he talking about doing anyway? He’s going to become a hobo? He says no lawyer will take his case. Even for a fee. Is that because he has no case? If it were an eviction he could file a reply, cheaply, but if it’s not an eviction, simply a matter of his lease being up and his landlord chose not to renew, that’s another matter altogether.

This thread needs a soundtrack:

Did you mean to give a link to where Adam can be found on Facebook?

What's going on here? I'm agreeing with Bob. Or at least with the apparent thrust of a couple quotes from him.

A little late, but what the hell.

It best fits the facts that have emerged so far. Time will tell. BTW, murderous culture meaning: Islam full stop, or theocratic reactionary religious fanaticism, in this case Islamic? I know you mean number two, but it’s a good idea to spell it out nowadays and hereabouts. I could quote a line or two from Leviticus that ought to put every Jew on the terror watch list if we're going to start in with the amateur theology lessons vis-à-vis the Koran. Edward Cline style. With Craig Biddle-grade proposals for what ought to be done. Another point, you're claiming Mateen was inspired by a "murderous culture". Shackford (article linked above) hypothesizes that he was a psychopath (like Ted Bundy) who rationalized doing what he did by reference to religion. In Bundy's case it was porn that took the rap. Just want to be sure you caught that. Maybe true, maybe not, maybe we'll never know. And of course it's no coincidence.

Bad as ever. https://reason.com/blog/2016/06/13/in-america-muslims-are-more-likely-to-su [T]hese numbers help demonstrate why exactly we cannot treat American Muslims as though they're inherently suspicious and prone to jump into extremism and jihads. American Muslims are not necessarily more conservative than many of our country's Christians. There are a whole host of different reasons for this (including the likelihood that Muslims immigrate to the United States in the first place to get away from extreme social conservatism within their own religion). Americans (including gay Americans) who interact regularly with Muslim citizens are probably less likely to see them as being profoundly different. Because they're not—in the United States. Add to this mix information that Mateen apparently declared allegiance to different Islamist groups who are opposed to ISIS, like Hezbollah. In the end, Mateen may be a vicious garden-variety psychopath that we're treating exotically because he declared a connection to a terrorist group that hates the United States and has called for attacks against it. But in reality he may well be more reminiscent of serial killer Ted Bundy blaming his behavior on porn addiction.

Mass murder in the Middle East is the “ready solution” to lone wolf mass shootings in Orlando. Yeah, sure Bob. FWIW, early reports say he was born in New York.

Though for all your readers know, what you're planning might look like this:

No hint what you're talking about? Oh well, here's a theme song for ya:

There’s a lot we don’t know. Maybe his lease was up for renewal, and the landlord took the opportunity not to renew. That’s not the same as eviction. Though I wouldn’t count on Cline’s fundraising arm to spell out that distinction, if so. Meanwhile, imagine the rock/hard place position the landlord is in. If there is an attack, with collateral damage, and their insurance company etc. finds out they knew about the threat, claims could be denied. Plus, lawsuits filed by bereaved relatives. Terrorism insurance is typically a separate policy nowadays, and isn’t always required by lenders, so maybe they don’t have it and can’t budget for the added expense. So there’s the rock, and the hard place is that here they’re having their names dragged through the mud, for allegedly lacking patriotism. But did they, or their other customers, sign up to be terror targets? Are they all on board for taking added risk? I doubt it. Cline knew, or should have known, that he was courting this kind of attention, and should be willing to take the consequences himself, not shame others who have nothing to do with his crusading ways. And BTW, while we’re speculating, what if the owner, or some number of the operator’s investors, are Muslim? Tangentially, and here’s a point I think Brant will agree with, this episode speaks to the advisability of internet anonymity.

Huh? Maybe there's something wrong with the links, though when I click it the first one it goes (as intended) to Barbara's Lepers of Objectivism thread from 2006. The second goes to Cline's blog, also from 2006, where he links to and recommends the publication that Barbara denounced.

And he needs $12K for moving expenses? In Williamsburg, Virginia? Hmm, I wonder if that's an expensive place to rent... http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Williamsburg-VA-23185/house,condo,apartment_duplex,mobile,townhouse_type/67587_rid/any_days/37.279414,-76.705127,37.222777,-76.760058_rect/13_zm/ This one looks really nice: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Jamestown-Rd-Williamsburg-VA-23185/2106963574_zpid/ And the deposit is only $1.5K! Including first month's rent, only $3K to move in!! .70 Acres!!! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!!

http://www.objectivistliving.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1100-the-lepers-of-objectivism/#comment-8665 http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/2006/08/help-put-objective-standard-in.htm Satisfied?

I liked Harry Browne.

I can’t help wondering if he has a history of calling for the mass murder of Muslims. Like the ARIan (who I’m not going to name) that called for the systematic nuclear bombing of Madrassahs, with such bombing to be done while the buildings are occupied. By children, mind you. I recall Ed Cline being with that crowd, but I’m not up for researching and referencing it. This might get me nominated for a John Le Carré memorial award, but: this sounds rather like an attention getting exercise, no?

You meant "doesn't". And this was just the first book, the second is called On the Historicity of Jesus, and goes into that topic in much greater depth. I found them both very worthwhile. I actually started a thread about Carrier years ago that didn't attract much interest. Here he is presenting Bayes Theorem for historians, an overview for the uninitiated: BTW his analyses need to go through a lot more public critiquing. Myself, I don't read Greek, so I'm not in a position to judge the way he handles the evidence. He could be a total crank and I wouldn't know until another scholar takes him on and actually answers his arguments. So I remain agnostic on the question. Though I've always regarded it as a matter of probabilities, a context where capital C certainty can never be achieved. It's kind of like Global Warming "denial", the deniers (critics) are rejected out of hand by the (supposed) experts, and their arguments go unrefuted.

Not a peep? What did you think Penn Jillette was shouting about?