The Unabashed Pragmatic

Ha! Great story! Thanks. I was preparing for a trip to Alaska when I went to the Amazon River Basin. Ran into a guy from FL who said he went there all the time. Told me how great it was. I just had to try it. Changed plans and went to Iquitos instead of the tundra. Once in Iquitos I met up with a bunch of these herpetologists and geologists who had rented a big boat and a guide and were headed up river 350 miles. I could go if I paid my way. I did. And I went. There I saw things I had no idea even existed. Five pound poisonous toads and pink and gray freshwater dolphins. It was bizzaro world, all right. After two months on the boat and nothing but travel, it was good to get back to Iquitos, get a room, and hunt for women instead of animals for a change. Plenty of willing girls wanting to play with a strong, young American boy. It was a great month! Then home again, jiggety jig. Back to work. I won't return. It was fine and I loved it but I am a Northerner. Love the woods and winter. It's good to be back. Southeast Asia was great, too. I still may go to live there. I love Cambodia. Siem Reap and Angkor Wat is amazing. Viet Nam is cool, too. A hearty, rugged, tough sort of people live there. I would live in Japan if it weren't so bloody expensive.

I won't argue your point about religious freedom in the ancient Mongol empire. It could have been that way at times for all I know. And of course we know there are things we'll never know about it and can never know. That being said, my understanding of it was that you could practice your faith any way you wished, so long as it did not interfere with the Kahn's laws, so long as you paid tribute, and so long as you came when called by the Kahn and did whatever he wished. His reign was absolute in all things at all times. And so long as you obeyed the law you were left alone to do what you wished. Sound familiar? Lol. The history of the Mongol empire is over three hundred years. Ghengis was not the only Kahn, and many others may have acted differently. I was speaking solely in reference to Ghengis (or, if you prefer, Temujin--the name his family gave him), who's father was murdered by another tribe when he was a boy, and which subsequently led to the abandonment of Temujin by his own tribe to suffer death on the icy steppes of Mongolia. Temujin did not die however. He was a loner, a warrior, and a hunter and survived in any way he could. He did so spectacularly, even as a teenager, and rose to power by eventually uniting the warring tribes of Mongolia against the entirety of the known world and with spectacular success. Ghengis Kahn wrote the original manuscript on bullying. Lol. Of course he was a bully. But that was the way of the world in his time. You will kill or you will be killed. Period. The Roman empire wasn't too friendly about Christians, eh? Lol. Do I hate bullies? I don't hate anyone. Waste my time. I've dealt plenty with bullies and simply deal with them whenever they pop up. With kinetic force, if necessary. I've punched up a hundred thugs in my lifetime. They're nothing, really. Rand demonstrated that beautifully in her writings. I am a martial artist/scientist and lifelong practitioner of violence. Violence is simple. The use of it puts you in control. The proper use of violence is only in self-defense. Again, I credit Rand with helping me make sense of this when I was much younger, but I have always grasped violence. I grew up in it and wanted to understand it better, and so I made the effort to learn. I lived in Siutheast Asia for three and a half years two of them under martial law in Thailand. Traveled through the jungles of South America for a summer in the Amazon. I love to travel. Glad to see you do, too. Fun! I am not at all optimistic about the USA or Western Europe in any way, shape, or form. It's inevitable ruin is at hand. That's all I have time for right now. Cheers!

Andrew Jackson, on his deathbed, was asked what he thought was his highest accomplishment. He said simply, "I beat the bank." No president before or since has even come close to Jackson's tribute to Freedom, which nearly cost him his legacy and his life.

A good question and a serious question. I'll answer it for you. They are called "Great" because they raped, pillaged, stole, murdered, etc. It's really that simple. Historians, particularly the compulsory "education" masters of today, want you to admire these men of the distant past for their great leadership abilities, as they want you to admire the great leadership abilities of the men of today you call "USA Presidents" as they go about their business of raping, pillaging, stealing, murdering, etc. all over the world. The British and USA empires are much bigger and wealthier than anything Alexander or the Kahn could ever dream of. And empires are built on rape, pillage, theft and murder. The superstructure of the ancient empires is not much different than the empires of today, but it is simply sold to the sheep, marketed to them, in a much different way. Back in the day of the Kahn, for one example, who's name, "Genghis Kahn" means simply, "Universal Leader", the people did as they were told or they were executed or enslaved. Today we get to vote in which leader will rule us, so's to make it like we are "free" and have a choice in which boot is to be set about our necks. We don't. It's the same old boot always, just a different foot is wearing it. Plus we still get to curse at our leaders and make fun of them in cartoons if we like. A good stress reliever, perhaps, though it changes nothing. And I can't really say how much longer we will have any of these devices, as the First Amendment to our Bill of Rights is nearly wiped out. Now, back in the days of the Kahn, any disrespect or disloyalty to the Kahn was grounds for your immediate execution without trial. So, calling the leaders "great"--no matter what they said or did--was clearly in your best interest. So it depends on what time in history the word "great", as applied to the leadership, really means. Take your pick. And, as always, I advise you to do your own research. The word, "barbarian" comes from the Roman Empire, or at the very least they made wide use of the word. Peoples not yet conquered, i.e., raped, pillaged, robbed, murdered by the Romans were referred to as "barbarians". Their soon-to-be rulers were not. Their rulers were considered "great" in every sense of the word, "civilized" and "benevolent", "godlike", "holier-than-thou", if you will. I am quite content to be a barbarian. I strongly oppose a central power, a central authority, as Ayn Rand did, as she so eloquently portrayed in her books and speeches, etc. And so I would agree with you, as you seem to imply, that these so called, "great men" were in a lot of ways not so great. And I must say, as nasty as these powerful leaders could be, they did have their good points. Genghis Kahn, for example, knew that free trade was a good thing for people and not only allowed the famous and rich Silk Road to go on once he took possession of it, but expanded on it and protected it and kept his taxes and tributes low. He also allowed freedom of religion, something that no leader had ever done before him. The Mongol hordes were also easily among the fiercest and most effective warriors who ever lived, and made the best bows. What could possibly be wrong with that?! Archery is just downright fun!

The Pugsley has no suspension. With full fat tires suspension is not necessary. The tires are the suspension. Suspension just adds weight and is something else to go wrong. I dont care much for hydraulic brakes either. Too much fuss. Mechanical disc brakes are the goods. My Pugs never ever lets me down. It is rare that I work on it because I have to. 99% of the work I do on this bike is only because I want to do it. I had an old 1990s Fuji mountainbike I drove like you did when I lived in Vegas. Someone gave it to me. It was a lot of fun, but it could not out-perform my Bad Boy, so it got tuned up and sold.

I agree with Kelly. The biggest mistake Rand made was to put her philosophy in a box and seal it with the label, "Objectivism". If it were me and someone asked, "What do you call your philosophy?" I would answer, 'my philosophy.' I have always thought the philosophy has to be learned and integrated into the life of the individual for the individual by the individual. Everyone learns at a different pace. And for everyone, certain aspects of the thinking will ring truer and stronger for them than others, depending on the personality and character and circumstances. For example, my favorite character in the book, "Atlas Shrugged" is Ragnar Danneskjold. It stands to reason, since I am a big, aggressive guy, martial artist/scientist, and a huge fan of Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry (who refused to sign the Constitution since he "smelled a rat". He was right. There were lots of rats--and the rats attracted more rats--until we have what we now have--a whole bunch of rats). Actual powerful kinetic force must be weilded to secure Liberty whether or not we like it. So Ragnar is da man. So the philosophy works as a system, yes, but not everything applies all at once and some are better at some things than others, to be sure. "The great object is that every man be armed" and "everyone who is able may have a gun." Patrick Henry "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." Patrick Henry

Steel is real, and the best as far as I am concerned, but it is heavier. If you want aluminium and light weight, if trails are your thing, look at Giant's Yukon, or Salsa's Beargrease in carbon, for starters. These are full 5" fat tire capable and more of a trail style, shorter wheel base. Another worthy of consideration is Surly's Ice Cream Truck, which is also shorter wheel base and full 5" fat tire capable. Pugsley cannot run a full 5" fat tire in the frame or the fork, but gets up to 4.8", which for my style of driving is plenty. Test drive fatbikes whenever, wherever you can. I used to rent them to test them out. Specialized really has it dialed-in with their Fat Boy. If I were to buy another aluminium bike, the Fat Boy would likely be the one.

Fat's-where-it's-at. I don't bother with any other kind of bike anymore. I used to drive three beautiful Cannondale Bad Boy, but bought a Specialized FUSE in 2016 and never looked back. The Bad Boy hung in the garage for a year after that so I sold them. FUSE is getting near a fatbike with its 3" tires, but it wasn't fat enough, so I bought a Surly Pugsley and the FUSE was my second. Then the FUSE sat in the shed so I sold it. The Pugsley, with its 4.6" tires is a genuine fatty and I could not be happier. I put a Hussefelt stem on it, a Selle Anatomica saddle, Surly Moloko bars, kept the mechanical disc brakes and junked both derailleurs for a Shimano Alpine 8spd gear hub. I am so impressed with this bike that I want to build another from scratch, handpicking all components. The new bike will have a 14spd Rholoff gear hub. The Pugsley is the first fatbike for sale on the market. They did something right because they keep making them and selling them by the bushel. There's even been one in Antarctica! I love steel frames. Steel is real. Carbon and titanium are great, too, but too spendy, and when carbon breaks--you're screwed! The wider wheel base of the Pugsley is second to nothing for driving in snow. More stability all the way around. In most cases I think the shorter wheel bases are highly overrated. You'll love a fatbike! Cheers!

Yep. Newbie. A description, not a name. My real name is, Genghis Kahn. Pleased to meet you.

I'm upset about #6, jabble. That's mine. I invented that one years ago. Jabble, however is short for my proper word invention: b'jibba-jabble. You can say jabble if you're in a hurry, but always use the proper b'jibba-jabble when you aren't pressed for time and/or speaking to someone who might stop, look confused and ask, "Hey, what's that mean?" You may not have time to teach the meaning and sure not the spelling if you need to get out of there fast and make your next appointment on time.

Hello, Everyone! I started reading "Atlas Shrugged" for the first time on the weekend in August 1997 when Princess Diana of Wales was killed. I was thirty three. The book taught me many things and changed the way I look at life from then on, and I went on to read it many times since and to read all of Rand's other books. I haven't been an Objectivist in every sense of the word since then and probably never will be, though much of the philosophy never leaves me and I read the books often. I am a working person, not an academic or a rich industrialist or "professional", if that's the word to use. I cut sheet metal on a plasma burn table in a custom shop. This glorious earth is mine and I belong here, creating, thinking, dreaming, enjoying. I am a physically grounded sort, and I like it hard and dirty, down and dirty. I love fatbiking and design my bikes and drive them everywhere I go. Rain or shine, fine summer day or twenty three below zero Fahrenheit you will see me out there pedaling. We get it all here in South Dakota, and everywhere is a good place for a fatbike. It is crazy to see all of Rand's predictions come true, and it is likely many here knew they would. The older among us have watched the country unravel at the seams for a long time now. It never gets better. Rand's predictions about the Left are startlingly accurate. The difference between then and now is the fact that all of this seemed so far away once, but now we are living it, feeling it, experiencing it first hand. As a survivalist, hunter, fisherman, etc., I can appreciate Rand's predictions in ways others cannot. I knew something was dreadfully wrong in the world long before I read "Atlas Shrugged", and Rand helped to clarify all of it, to make sense of the who, what, why, when, where and how. I took the advice in Galt's Speech and took inventory of my mind and my possessions and connected with others of like mind wherever they might be found. As the infrastructure crumbles, it is time for Atlas to shrug, indeed. Where is Galt's Gulch? Let me know and I'll be on my way.