ginny

But to those those gents, the novels WERE the reality. Another scenario with the guy who wanted to morph into Galt was when we went to the Metropolitan Museum. It's quite a place with some fabulous artifacts. But there's no painting there that Rand has approved of, and none of her fictional characters wasted time at a museum. We were leaving, passing the lions, when Mr. Wonderful looked totally anxious. "We have to stop this. We need to do something important." Do you really thinks they differentiated between fiction and life?

Why surprised? Look at their role models. Except for Dagny and Frisco as kids, every relationship starts without the people talking or getting to know each other. Dagny was hot for John the second she sees him. Reardon, when he thinks about his marriage, remembers how he'd shown Lillian his company with such pride, She didn't say anything, so he felt everything that was needed had alread been said. Leo and Kira saw each other two times before running away. To these people, great sex happens miraculously. There's no getting to know each other and learning the other person's likes or dislikes. That has to be intimidating to men.

Ahem - I assume you mean the men were awful lovers, not the women. The ladies were fabulous. Actually, it was so bad that Peikoff, in his sex lecture, referred to the fact that a few, just a few, men may be, perhaps, a tiny bit conservative in bed. Of course, Peikoff gave a good reason for that - namely that these fine men (and ahem, he's speaking from experience) were so busy with all that rational thinking, sometimes they just felt awkward in bed. Dear god. My favorite story is when a guy (he was in therapy) I was dating told me he could not have sex until he turned into the equivalent of John Galt. His explanation included this as the reason he was unable to hold hands. God, I miss those days!!!!

"scornfully" - OMG, does that take me back to the NY lectures. Picture being in a room with 400 "scornfully" smiling people (hate to say it, but it was mostly the guys). It must have taken months of daily mirror practice of getting it just so. Then, of course, there'd always be two alphas trying to outdo each other. Star Wars meets the tooth fairy in the Gulch. A colgate nightmare.

Ellen, Branden himself has admitted that he walked around with a stick up his butt during those years. From what I see, he's evolved for the better.

Hmm - actually you were quoting Branden.

Jerry, are you sure? I was an atheist a few years before Rand. But let's say someone's a good Christian. Doesn't kill, steal, or covet. Works hard and is totally honest. Ready to help people in need. Think the Waltons or the little house on the prairie folks. If I remember, neither family was fond of Big Brother infererence. So, if the Waltons and the other folks left god out of the equation, wouldn't they be living pretty much by Obj. ethics? As you probably know, the little house granddaughter was a libertarian. Rose Wilder?

Jerry, he specifically said sometime in the '80s that whether a person was Christian or Atheist told him nothing as to whether he could get along with that person. (paraphrasing)

True. I have never once called myself an Objectivist. No reasonable person needs a label. Most people here feel the same. There are any number of Christians on this site. Funny, but even Peikoff seems to sort of agree. According to his daughter, she wanted a Bar Mizva (not responsible for spelling) when she was 13. Her father said sure, but she'd have to sit through one entire Temple service. She was bored to death and wanted no more. No Bar Mizva for the girl. He seemed pretty reasonable about it.

You don't, apparently.

"but precious few of us have complied with those laws. " Sorry Roger, but when I receive a threatening letter from the mayor's office I pay up. Are you trying to say that it was just a threat to see how many people they could scare? Worked with me, anyway.

It's on his website: www.hblist. But you need to pay to get at this nonsense.

FANTASTIC!!!!!!! Just what I needed. Thanks a lot.

I swear, ARI is working on a single collective brain cell. Thanks, Jerry. I just can't figure it out. They want to bomb mosques and at the same time they approve the government's stripping away any remnant of privacy and dignity.

Thanks for the warming.

Don't read it.

They are going through email and internet accounts already. Years ago, I ordered cigarettes inexpensively through the internet. Perfectly legal. Apparently Mayor Adolph Daley of Chicago didn't like the loss of tax revenue. He busted into personal accounts. I got a letter from the city demanding several hundred dollars. He RETROACTIVELY made it illegal to buy cigs through the internet while it was still legal and came after all of us. BTW, not implying that the jackass controlled the press in Chicago, but not a single word of this was reported. We are so far past intrusive government. THAT is a bit more than a bored operator listening in to calls.

Did you just moderate them? That must be what the happy yells around the country is all about. Brant can post again.

Listening in on everyone? You're kidding. If I'm on the phone or email someone discussing my latest fantasy, I'd appreciate everyone else keep their damned nose out of it. No arguments. No exception. Unless there is a reasonable belief that the person being monited has commited a crime or represents a danger.

You know, I think you're right? Wasn't I brilliant for not risking embarrassment and waiting for you?

I don't know how many speeches she gave on children's rights, but it was a topic she didn't talk about much. She probably didn't have you in mind when she talked about running away. I'm sure her idea was to get out of a bad situation as best as you can. If I understand it, at that point, there was only your bio-dad. Sound like his wife put her foot down about you guys. Sadly, what choice did the law have. Your bio-dad didn't stand up to the witch, so I think you were out of options. I don't know about sealed juvie files, but a lawyer should know. Since they are your own, maybe you can. Children's rights is a tough subject. Even today, kids who are being beaten end up back in the home. I get the feeling they get taking only in the type of extreme cases that make the news. But back in those days, I don't know how the courts handled it. I do know that most of it was swept under the rug and kept "inside the family." Kind of like rape. No one wanted to admit it existed. Maybe it was your running away (no matter how well-advised) that got you put into institutions if there was no one to fight for you. No, I didn't get picked up. You think the folks wanted me back? Don't be silly. I got a job and a place to live and tried to learn about life. For me, running away saved my sanity, so maybe Ayn had something.

She gave a yearly speech every year at Boston's Ford Hall Forum - a part of Northeastern University. This was in 1974. It was big, and people came from all over the world. She believed children have rights, but she also knew not all children had those rights protected. She's agree with running away. I did at 16. I'm remember something else about children, but I can't remember if it was actually Ayn or someone else. I'll leave it to Ellen to sort it out. Whatever, let's say it was Ayn, said that if parents are opposed to their child's beliefs and are in a position to make the child's life miserable, the child has a right to lie to them. I'm okay with that.

The following apparently is from HB. Am I nuts, or are his marbles rolling on a slow boat to China? "I agree with the The Wall Street Journal: there is nothing inherently wrong with the government having collected "meta data" about phone calls and such. The collection of this information has, reportedly, enabled the government to quash planned terrorist attacks, e.g., an attack on the NYC subways that was in the works in 2009. (Some are objecting that the PRISM data-collection program was not a necessary input in the foiling of that attack; but even if it wasn't, it's better to have all the the sources of information we can.) In general, I'm not scared by government invasions of privacy. I have no secrets. Those who raise the specter of Big Brother are not on a wrong basic premise, but they are being unrealistic: when and if we fall into the grip of totalitarianism, there will be nothing to stop the dictatorship from spying on us by any means it wishes. Such a regime does not require that the tools have been set up in advance. This is not to say that the present government should be given carte blanche. And some reining in may well be called for. But alarmism here is unwarranted and counter-productive."

Shit.

how did Agnes disppear? Anoter major trauma. Was it part of the family feud?