Mikee

Gary, (speaking of Charles Anderson) "But, you would be wrong. As usual. " See. You have this tendency to keep talking until you go over the top. C.A. called you on it, gently. Politely. Even granted you the intelligence of someone who would get what he was saying. So what's with the big defensive posture? Is it beer? Too much testosterone? I happen to agree with most, if not all of what Charles has to say, and I enjoy hearing him say it. I like his backround, the work he does, his scientific bent on things, his website, his respect for the facts and gentleman's respect for people until they prove otherwise. And his disdain for unwarranted generalizations [otherwise called bigotry]. So when you say what I quoted, I think, "evidently G.W. usually gets it wrong, ". And I would be careful before I picked your side to be on, on a given issue. Is that what you're trying to achieve? It would have been better if you had said: "Oops, I got a little carried away".

KASS simply means unmitigated gall. Start with the premise "nobody loves Ayn Rand as much as I do", then "nobody understands objectivism like I do" then go to "If you disagree with me you don't love Ayn Rand, you don't understand objectivism, and you're probably EVIL". These phony rages ["I simply can't be expected to control my temper when someone disrespects Ayn Rand so much!"] are simply a tool of social manipulation, the sign of the second hander. Notice he practiced using these rages, gauging the effect, with the subject of Mario Lanza. I actually think Perigo left to himself would have understood and moderated his behaviour before it got out of hand, but he suffers from being a celebrity. He has a group of second handers that delight in his antics and won't allow him to change. I'm annoyed at being taken in by this KASS crap for awhile, it won't happen again.

Michael, I have always interpreted your argument as contextual. Based on the actions you will do when face to face with a situation. There is a world of difference between what we actually experience face to face in our lives and the things that happen out of our control away from our circle of influence. The people who pretend to "make a difference" outside of their circle of influence, that which they personally experience and know to be true, are simply deluding themselves. And they are focusing their thoughts as far away from themselves and their personal lives as they can. It would be empty speculation for me to try to reason why they do this. The fact that people can have their focus "out there" and not be paying attention to what is happening right in front of them explains how a group of people can stand around and allow a possibly mentally ill 19 year old mother to starve her baby to death. I am with you my friend.

'...my personal definition of maturity. It is the ability to live with uncertainty." I do remember this, but I wasn't able to find it. Thanks for the reminder. Perhaps only mature humans are able to be individualists, and confident in their abilities to deal with the uncertainties of life. For some reason Louis Armstrong's "What a wonderful world" popped into my mind. "I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow They'll learn much more than I'll ever know And I think to myself, what a wonderful world" Louis evidently wasn't too worked up over life's uncertainties. Thank you for your reply Barbara. I love your work.

Thank you Roger, for the information. I will be celebrating! Nathaniel, Happy Birthday! and many, many more. Thanks for everything.

Barbara, Thanks for the DK quote. There is a different reason for the rank and file. Simply the effort required to think for oneself. The "true believers" want a prescription method for every situation, any deviation threatens their security. They are not truely individualists. They cannot stand that thought that there might be unanswered questions. How convenient if Ayn Rand provided the answers to EVERYTHING. Just study hard and you too can be a superior human with the right to call other people "evil". Lazy bastards. I call them "public school rote learners".

Kat, Thanks for posting these on OL. I like them VERY much. I REALLY like OL.

Kat, I agree with you. It doesn't seem all that complicated. I'm certain most people's sense of humanity would compel them to help in the situation mentioned on RoR. None but a confirmed sociopath would refuse to help a starving child at no sacrifice to themselves. No wonder objectivists aren't taken seriously when they make those kinds of arguments. As always, these kinds of "emergency" situations don't justify a welfare state or other intrusions on individual rights. Context. Thanks for an "island of sanity". Mike E.

Kat, I often don't get logged on when I first try. I just try again and it works. It's never taken more than twice. It doesn't bother me. I'm using mozilla firefox and Win XP home. GMT is Greenwich Mean Time, same as London time I think. I believe it's eight hours ahead of Pacific time. http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/

Hi Col, Almost missed this one. I gotta pay attention. I know EVERYBODY in California didn't know Bill, but he used to get down there once a month to give classes on use of the gauge and radiation safety. So he knew a bunch of people down there. Your labs are quite interesting. When I did that kind of work I did some installations of data loggers and some troubleshooting in a soil lab. I had a little trouble figuring out what some of your setups did. Permeability, shear strength, procter curves. There must be about a million pages of soil data generated every day in the US. You can't ever throw any of that data away can you? Hey, do you call your crew "Hogan's Hero's"? Of course you do!

Ha! Ciro! Now I know you are a VERY good cook! I agree with almost nothing, unless you preface with "First, you must cook a VERY good Italian meal". Dr. Ciruth means "Dr. Ciro-truth". (That is, it works for Ciro).

Barbara, Great article. Thank you for your insights. That experiment describes exactly what happens every day in groups. Some irrational idea comes up, the GROUP is looking around for consensus. It could be any irrationality or bigotry. That's when you say, "I think I left the headlights on in my car", then leave and drive away. Or else say, "That's crap!" and face the music. Depends on how much you value some of the members of the group. It's tough when it's family.

Michael, The closet door opens, letting the light into the dark closet. You push the clothes back and forth looking for just the right article. Part of me is the small creature in the back of the closet dodging for the shadows. Keep opening the closet door my friend. Mike E.

Col Hogan, Nice to meet you! "GeoTechnical Lab Manager"... Did you happen to know Bill Mancuso of Pacific Nuclear Technology? I worked for Bill off and on for a few years, both when he was VP of Campbell Pacific Nuclear and owner of PNT. You certainly have a lot of interesting equipment in those soil labs. I sure miss Bill. Mike E.

Michael, Thank you for your thoughts. I agree in letting cats be themselves as much as possible. And acting like a cat as much as possible interacting with them. I found that early on you can do nothing to frighten a new cat else they will never trust you. When you have established a rapport and they're a little older then you can discipline them a little. For instance, when my cats would scratch or bite too hard while I'm playing with them I give them a little swat on the head and then stop the play session. I get glares but they are not frightened. And they do play less roughly after a few sessions. I don't like constantly swabbing alcohol on my wounds. We do have a scratching post, liberal quantities of catnip mice, some on a string. We have a fenced back yard some we are in the habit of letting our cats out for a little every day. They always sleep inside at night. Our cats naturally come and sleep on the bed with us. Rarely under the covers. Big Guy, however, who I raised from about 2-3 weeks old thought of me as his mom and if he was cold had no problem sticking his nose under the covers and snuggling up to my side. I was so used to him I never minded. He was a all black short hair, very fine hair and very clean. Meowing at them does have a comical effect sometimes. And hissing at them when they are misbehaving works prettly well and can get you some pretty funny looks as well. My cats get to trusting me completely and will look me right in the eye. I do feel guilt about putting Tigger to sleep. I felt like we had a pact. He gave up his natural lifestyle to live with me and I promised to take care of him. I know he was not ready to "give up". At great expense and uncertain outcomes I could have kept him alive longer. But I chose to save him from continuing agony and end his life. He would not have chosen that path and I will not fool myself into thinking that's what he would have wanted. We will get another cat, perhaps two, soon. I found a nice article about the origins of the domestic cats here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4585766.stm Coincidentally, the cat in the picture at the beginning of the article looks very much like Tigger did. Thanks to both of you for the feedback and the advice.

Jody, Another spectacular picture: [linked from refdesk.com] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html "Its eye-catching tail is about 280 thousand light-years long..." Just a dust mote in the visible universe.

Hi Stuart, I enjoyed your thread on the Industrial Revolution on RoR. That UCB website was a good find. The early conditions of the In. Rev. ALWAYS come up in discussions about capitalism. That and the greedy railroad barons. Can't have a discussion about federal banking or unions or the welfare state without hearing about it again. It's good that you're prepared. I look forward to your contributions. Nice to see you here too! Mike E.

Karen and I just had to have our cat Tigger put to sleep on Thursday. Less than two years ago I had to do the same to my cat Big Guy who I had the privilege of co-existing with for over 17 years. Tigger was only ten but according to the vet had a genetic predisposition for a heart condition which caused his heart to form a clot with broke loose and lodged in and artery cutting off the blood supply to his hind legs. It was very painful for him and very difficult for us to bear our sweet kitty having such a hard time of it. Big Guy had a similar heart condition as well as thyroid and kidney problems towards the end but we managed to keep him going with medication for over three years after he was diagnosed. My rant is: I can't believe that it's normal for cats when you are feeding them well and giving them the absolute best of care and love for them to develope these conditions. What are we doing wrong? I ask the vet and she said "Nothing, he had a very good life, he was lucky to have such caring owners". So, I'm thinking about it and I've come to the conclusion that everthing we do to our cats is abnormal. We "fix" them [changing forever the hormonal balance they evolved with], we keep them indoors, we don't allow them to hunt, or fight or procreate. Maybe they need a substitute for their normal cat behaviour and lifestyle for them to be able to achieve their optimum health. I'm thinking "Why should they so easily get clots?" Cats have extrodinary recovery abilities from trauma. They can get into terrible fights and be wounded terribly and recover much more rapidly than you would think. They can survive falls from great heights. They truly have nine lives. What if, in taking them away from their rough and tumble evolved lifestyle we're short circuiting their bodies defenses and they work against themselves. If anyone has an opinion or insight into "alternative" [but safe] lifestyles for kitties I would appreciate advice before we go out and get ourselves a couple of kittens. I miss Tigger. I'm a close to home person, so is Karen, we must have interacted with Tigger a hundred times a day. It leaves too big a hole when they leave far before their time.

Jody, No I haven't. I've just read the review on Amazon and it looks great. And it was just released last month. Thanks Jody! I've added it to my wish list. A couple of other books by Abraham Pais look good also. Have you read any of these books?

Jody, I'll be watching! I check the "Astronomy Picture of the Day" at refdesk.com every day. A few days ago they posted a stunning picture of the Andromeda Galaxy: http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/M31NMmosaic.html I never get tired on this stuff.

Lets see: I had jury duty for a few weeks late Nov and early December, during the breaks I read "Genome, The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters" by Matt Ridley, 1999. It was pretty good, well written. I suppose a determined determinist could make some hay out of the very predictable effects of certain gene mutations on our personalities and memories and cognitive abilities. There is even a chapter entitled "Free Will". I liked it, and recommend it. Amazon.com has it for $10.50 paperback, I checked it out of the library. If anyone knows of a similar book, more recent I'm interested. I received several books on my wish list for Christmas! 1. "Einstein's Cosmos" by Michio Kaku, I'm enjoying it, I love Einstein. This is a good biography, Michio Kaku is a professor of Theoretical Physics himself and obviously admires and respects Einstein a great deal. 2. "Ayn Rand Answers" Haven't started it yet, but soon. 3. "The Girl Who Owned a City", by O.T. Nelson. This was reviewed on the old Solohq site sometime earlier this year, I don't remember what everyone said about it but I marked it as "really like to read". I'm sure I'll enjoy it. 4. "Secrets of Power Negotiating" by Roger Dawson. This was also reviewed on the old solo. I dunno but I like books like this. Sort of like to beef up the old interpersonal relationship immune system. 5. "Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. I saw one of these guys on CSPAN a couple of weeks ago and I liked what he had to say. I think it was also reviewed on the old solo. 6. "The Art and Science of Analog Circuit Design", edited by Jim Williams. I just love this kind of stuff. Jim Williams is a analog circuit geek guru. My kind of guy. Recommended if you're the kind of person who dreams in circuit diagrams. That's the most recent batch. Kind of a cross section of what I like to read. I used to read a lot of sci-fi, but I've gotten away from it the last couple of decades. I wouldn't know what to buy now. I was strongly influenced by Heinlein, Arthur Clark and Asimov as a kid, especially Heinlein. As and adult, Larry Niven, William Gibson are a couple I remember.

Gee Phil, Is that that "aristocratic" attitude you were talking about? Ouch! Still like to see more of you however. Perhaps in a better mood. Mike E. PS: only 25 words!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Mike E.

Ellen, "I don't really know what to say to those who feel that they found an Ideal which attracts them in Roark. I'd like to understand what it is that appeals to them so much." I haven't read The Fountainhead since Ayn Rand died. But while she was alive I read it perhaps five or six times. Atlas Shrugged only twice. Anthem three or four times. It is not that Roark is an "ideal" but he is the most real character to me. You say he is missing a "dimension", I'm sure you mean that he does not relate to people the way you think he ought to. He does not try to "help" Dominick for instance. ALL of people's difficulty's are self made. There is no helping anyone. I am an engineer. I find reality, nature, the world interesting and very comfortable. Roark is sane. All of the real "problems" of living on this earth have been solved long ago. The remaining problems are human made because people are insane. Engineers are considered "geeks" because they "live in their own world", they think about things no one else cares about. What they're thinking about are the solutions to the REAL problems on this earth. Other people don't want to hear what they have to say because they are not interested in real problems. Even objectivist's spend all of their time bickering over nonsense. Interminal long purposeless arguments about determinism, bitter disputes about Ayn Rand's "moral perfection". All totally pointless.

I can only think that there must have been an analogy to Roark-Keating in Ayn Rand's own life. "Keating the man is pretty annoying to Roark, but Keating's artistic problems are worth solving in their own right." That seems right on the mark to me. "As a portrait of a driven artist, Roark is thoroughly convincing to me. As an example of a perfectly healthy human psyche? Not so much." Mmmm. I don't agree with this. Roark is my favorite Rand character.