Cariad

Brant has a much better answer than mine. My answer is whether a person asking that question has a child or whether he is a college ethics professor with no children. My feelings about a mind that can pose such a question shall be kept extremely private, but trust me Bach boy, you do not want to hear them. As an aside, it was just announced that Joe Paterno has lung cancer, and I certainly hope he recovers and my best wishes go out to him and his family. Adam I did not infer from the question that Cariad thinks child rape is the same as raping an adult. It seemed more a question about degrees of wrongness, the area where ethics meet law.All crimes, are by definition unethical. The penalties for crimes are determined in part by the degree of harm to the victim and the outrage to society. Sex crimes, according to SVU, are especially heinous, and child sex crimes the most heinous of all. The victim can reasonably be expected to suffer the longest aftereffects because they will live the longest. Society instinctively revolts most strongly against these subhuman acts. Thank you for both understanding the question and for giving a sensible answer rather than dismissing it with a quip or automatically assuming the very worst of a stranger.

Brant has a much better answer than mine. My answer is whether a person asking that question has a child or whether he is a college ethics professor with no children. My feelings about a mind that can pose such a question shall be kept extremely private, but trust me Bach boy, you do not want to hear them. As an aside, it was just announced that Joe Paterno has lung cancer, and I certainly hope he recovers and my best wishes go out to him and his family. Adam I assume by this answer that you do think it's worse. I'd like to know why. Regarding your feelings about my mind, I will also assume that your assumption is that by asking this question I am betraying a belief that I don't think that raping children is such a terrible thing. In fact, quite the opposite is true. I do think that raping children is an utterly abhorrent act and could only be done by the most sick and depraved person imaginable. What I want to know is, why is the rapist of an adult any less sick or depraved? Why is the rape of a grown woman very nearly excusable in this society? I am not afraid of what you think of me, so go ahead, do your worst.

Here is an ethical question raised by the discussions of this topic: Is it more wrong to rape a child than to rape an adult?

Of course John wouldn't mind. The author would make sure he wouldn't. --Brant Foursome, anyone?

I would very much like to know the details for this dictionary, Phil. Thank you!

I read Galt's radio speech in its entirety in sequence the first time I read Atlas Shrugged lo those many years ago. That was the one and only time I've read the speech all the way through. I think Atlas Shrugged is better as a novel without it for reasons already stated by others: It bogs down the narrative and doesn't advance the plot.

No, she wouldn't. Not if she were a she; that would exclude her. Except for the lack of sex, however, Roark's friendship with Wynand was more intimate than with Dominique. Imagine Wynand as a female tycoon and . . . --Brant btw: if Ayn Rand were born today she wouldn't get that up to date info for 15-20 years--and what info would that be? I disagree that it would exclude her. I believe that if she was a contemporary writer, she would feel more free to project herself into a male character. It is documented that she considered it a compliment when people referred to her as male. I think she'd be quite happy to create a male version of herself, and perhaps actually relieved not to have to create female characters that were anything but props. Studiodekadent's point that many men have a thing for girl-on-girl is also spot-on. And indeed, many women have a thing for guy-on-guy. Ayn Rand as a contemporary writer would have fit right in with slash culture.

I agree with this. If Rand was a contemporary writer, she probably wouldn't bother with female "characters" at all.

She believed that men were supposed to be heroes, and that women were supposed to be submissive to heroes. Therefore, sex between two women wouldn't be appropriate because there would be no man in the equation to worship and submit to, and sex between two men wouldn't be appropriate because it would require one of the men involved to play a submissive/unheroic role.

I'm not cheap, just broke. I'm a lousy capitalist, you see. Than also, I hate reading books on a computer screen.

I'd like to read your book, J Neil. Where is it available? http://pulpless.com/0606.html Jeez... you didn't even say, "Thanks for your interest." We appreciate your business. Due to the high volume of messages there might be a delay of up to 24 hours before a representative gets back to you. If you'd like a faster response time you may call our enhanced Customer Relations Hotline, but you will have to converse in Hindi. एक अच्छा दिन है. I guess that's why they call it "the Publishing Art" It's okay. I'd rather buy a used copy of the actual book from Amazon than have to read it as a PDF anyway.

I'd like to read your book, J Neil. Where is it available?

Today I got a contribution solicitation from the World Wildlife Federation in the mail. On one side of it is the following quote, attributed to Ayn Rand. It made me chuckle.

In case anyone is interested, I spoke to a good friend of mine who is a captain for Delta. He told me that the slide is a single-use item much like a car airbag. Far from being "a simple heavy duty piece of plastic or rubber or sheeting that is attached at a couple points up top," it is a self-inflating apparatus deployed via explosive bolts which can damage or even destroy the door mechanism as the door is blown open. It costs approximately $50,000 to replace an emergency slide.

Maybe that's someone who liked the book as a story but didn't pay any attention to the philosophy. Or maybe the Obama sticker is sarcastic!

I'm glad you posted this, because I was finding all the speculation about whether Rand would or wouldn't like particular songs to be quite amusing. I do think that "Songs with Objectivist lyrical themes" is an interesting topic. How about "Capitalism" by Oingo Boingo? There's nothing wrong with Capitalism There's nothing wrong with free enterprise Don't try to make me feel guilty I'm so tired of hearing you cry There's nothing wrong with making some profit If you ask me I'll say it's just fine There's nothing wrong with wanting to live nice I'm so tired of hearing you whine About the revolution Bringin' down the rich When was the last time you dug a ditch, baby! If it ain't one thing Then it's the other Any cause that crosses your path Your heart bleeds for anyone's brother I've got to tell you you're a pain in the ass You criticize with plenty of vigor You rationalize everything that you do With catchy phrases and heavy quotations And everybody is crazy but you You're just a middle class, socialist brat From a suburban family and you never really had to work And you tell me that we've got to get back To the struggling masses (whoever they are) You talk, talk, talk about suffering and pain Your mouth is bigger than your entire brain What the hell do you know about suffering and pain...

That's a very interesting take on my name, Brant. I'm not sure I totally understand the colour association thing. Is that a form of synaesthesia? Either way, thanks for the kind welcome and words. Thanks! I love Rush. I rediscovered my sense of life at a Rush concert in 2007. They have a couple of new songs out and are touring this summer. I'm in a bit of a financial pickle at the moment so I haven't gotten any tickets yet, but am hoping to be able to catch a show or two before the tour is done.

It's a nickname.

It was a discussion in a fan community for the band Rush.

When I was in my early 20s, I was greatly influenced as a fiction writer by The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I am here now 20+ years later because I am re-examining Rand and the influence of her writings on my younger self. Hello everyone!

Small correction here: Fahrenheit 9/11 did NOT win an Oscar. Michael Moore's Oscar was for Bowling For Columbine.