Rand
My friend Rodney Punt writes mostly music criticism for the Huffington Post and detests Rand (like all good liberals and most conservatives). I told him that a provisional title for the big book (her husband having supplied the one used) was Atlas Punted. He seemed to like that.
For me, about the most incredibly terrible thing she ever said (if indeed she was quoted accurately), and which I heard only recently, was a remark along the lines of how in the early days of European immigration, Native Americans were so primitive it was o.k. to destroy them. Again I don't know if the actual quotation was accurate or not. Alvin Toffler, conducting her interview in Playboy many years ago, reeled out a couple of quotations which she insisted were inaccurate, in particular on stylistic grounds.
Evidently the right to life, as "Man qua Man" (the rational animal), which she regarded as the basis of all rights, did not apply to those whom she regarded as too primitive.
Although I have long since moved beyond Rand, and countenance ideas that would have her ashes doing cartwheels, wherever they are, I do find it interesting both the degree to which she is misunderstood, and the intensity of the hatred she continues to invoke.
My friend Rodney Punt writes mostly music criticism for the Huffington Post and detests Rand (like all good liberals and most conservatives). I told him that a provisional title for the big book (her husband having supplied the one used) was Atlas Punted. He seemed to like that.
For me, about the most incredibly terrible thing she ever said (if indeed she was quoted accurately), and which I heard only recently, was a remark along the lines of how in the early days of European immigration, Native Americans were so primitive it was o.k. to destroy them. Again I don't know if the actual quotation was accurate or not. Alvin Toffler, conducting her interview in Playboy many years ago, reeled out a couple of quotations which she insisted were inaccurate, in particular on stylistic grounds.
Evidently the right to life, as "Man qua Man" (the rational animal), which she regarded as the basis of all rights, did not apply to those whom she regarded as too primitive.
Although I have long since moved beyond Rand, and countenance ideas that would have her ashes doing cartwheels, wherever they are, I do find it interesting both the degree to which she is misunderstood, and the intensity of the hatred she continues to invoke.
We all had a full hour+ administered test as conducted by our respective school districts at the time, so I'm fairly confident the resolution was a little finer than a ten-point scale. I was in 2nd grade, so hard to remember the details.
That said, yes, we brothers were all clumped well within the error bars of the test, and not that far from the median, either. (Upon reading more, the normal distribution of IQ breaks down outside of 2 stdev's from the mean). It's still a noisy test of relatively debatable meaning in terms of later outcomes.
So uncanny was probably the wrong word to use. Amusedly interesting in retrospect?
* Again, I don't necessarily want/need to brag about this or tear others down (apologies if that's what it sounds like) as I've had more than enough moments in my life to put me in my place, so to speak. I have an allergy to unsubstantiated/allegorical claims of truly, truly exceptional performance (on a discussion forum by a member who made other such claims in other ways). I'm not saying it's impossible, I just remain incredulous.
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That day I had some rakija with an old friend by the marina.
I wonder how you haven’t docked there!
Dead cattails
Well, if you can bear it, devote time as needed for going through Phaedrus dialogue. Then, the three plateaus in Pirsig’s book will balance differently.
George
A small part of me wishes to make a comic-styled flowchart of symptoms that ultimately bubbled down to "You have cancer".* Sardonic and irreverent, but humorous, nonetheless.
*Which is probably true, but for most of us for most of our lives they're either/or transient or indolent.
He added the bit about Rush albums. I'm not sure what that's about. Yes, Fly By Night included the track "Anthem" (inspired by AR's first novel) and "2112" also drew from that same lyrical inspiration. I'm not aware, though, of any special affinity Rush fans have for AR, or AR fans for Rush.
Neither am I except for Neal Peart's single misstep, which he admits to. The level of conspicuous radio play of this one tune borders on the absurd.
If one is going to rant, it is hoped that it is at least entertaining. Spit yer scotch on the monitor, and the like.
I guess the only good thing about the lyrics are the first few lines, which illustrates that it has it's pants on backward and the men who hold high places desire the status quo -- and they are good at holding it. Thus the constant playing of the song is a good subliminal in the reinforcement of the reality of no change and the origin of that no change.
Change that is effectual has always been grass roots and the men in high places always hold the status quo and that's the past 10,000 years of human history in a nutshell, as told you you by that song. But told oh so romantically, so hypnotically, so constantly played, so reinforced...
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This article is old news, but some here perhaps haven't seen it yet:
The Problem With Music :Negativworldwidewebland
Think twice before starting your musician career..
A couple personal engineering/scientist joke favorites are #1 and #8 from this site (stumbled upon looking for the exact quote for #8)
Jokes Involving Engineers
Jokes Involving Engineers
I have a lovely story about Cheech and Chong and Lou Adler, and a cardboard box of files left at Tommy's doorstep by some anonymous person. But it will have to wait for a more secure venue.This article is old news, but some here perhaps haven't seen it yet:
The Problem With Music :Negativworldwidewebland
Think twice before starting your musician career..
I met Richard and Tommy on the grounds of Dylan's sprawling manse in Malibu. They rolled up in their car and asked me Where's Dave?
Sadly I didn't know how funny this was, having not seen the relevant movie. But in fact they were also serious --- the Dave was David Chang of Gilbert & Chang, who were building contractors to Mr. Zimmerman. And Dave was not there. Gilbert is not here anymore either, having checked out a few weeks ago
Joke number 4 is based on a true story.
History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian
In America, if you're over seven feet tall you have a very high likelihood of playing professional basketball. You're also likely to be descended recently (in generational terms) from Africa. Only a small number of people are needed to play professional basketball, so distribution is warped by a selection process. Africa has a wider distribution of humanity than later occupied parts of the world.
The same warping of selection applies to brilliant scientists, surgeons, etc. The same wider distribution that makes seven footers makes other specialists. The world as a whole is wasting these potential scientists, surgeons, etc. in Africa because we don't rescue them from surrounding poverty. It's the whole world's loss.
All good fortune,
Chris
The same warping of selection applies to brilliant scientists, surgeons, etc. The same wider distribution that makes seven footers makes other specialists. The world as a whole is wasting these potential scientists, surgeons, etc. in Africa because we don't rescue them from surrounding poverty. It's the whole world's loss.
All good fortune,
Chris
I don't keep that big of resistors in stock. Maybe some deliberate PCB leakage would work?
~3000nm from Rotterdam to the Attica coastline, 25 ton fuel fair-wind at 12kn, 30 if it's not.
(the canal inland route by-pass from Bordeaux to the Med at Gruissan/Sète is limited to a max width of 161/4'/4.95m )
She wasted an entire Ford Hall forum ragging on "folk art" as a threat to human civilization. As if there are not more important things.
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