The Productive Achiever

Thanks for the info! I loved the article

Every American should see United 93. Most of us are forgeting 9/11 and are shrugging it off. This movie really made me emotional and I cried a lot, even though it is relatively undramatized or stylized. I cannot stand knowing that blood-thirsty terrorists are killing innocent people, and the US doesn't have the will to totally exterminate them. It reminded me of when I has threatened and attacked in the middle of high school. Any sane person would want to jump into the movie and beat the Islamists to death like the passengers do at the end.

I must admit that I recently realized that I have had a mistaken view of Objectivism, after speaking with Dr. Onkar Ghate of the ARI. I also was very dismissive and contemptuous of certain ideas, and most people and social events. Where did Ayn Rand explain the bit about "student of Objectivism"? But, yes, lets be thankful that "noobs" know that Objectivism is a value. We all make mistakes, and we can all calmly help each other correct them.

I accept the fact that downloading music is wrong. But I am allowed to make copies of my CDs (whether ripped onto my computer or burnt onto a blank CD) for myself only, correct? Therefore, if my friend asked for me to burn him something, I would simply lend him the actual paid copy of the CD, and not a burnt copy, ever? And the same would go for my sister, who happens to live in the same house as I do? And what about rare songs and music videos and TV shows that were recorded or taped, things that you aren't able to buy? Isn't the basic principle is that you can only use what you have bought? (with that phrasing, how could I disagree? ) What about TIVO? How does that work? Isn't it a stealing machine? If one has illegal mp3’s, one should destroy them immediately, even if one wants to listen to them to see if one wants to purchase them, correct? If you stole something from someone, you would return it to him or her or pay him or her the value you stole from him or her, correct? So should everyone that has illegally downloaded music attempt to pay back every artist he or she stole from? This would make sense with actual physical CDs, and aren’t mp3’s as good as CDs? This seems unrealistic to do and like a big hassle, but 50 years ago, the idea of downloading music must have seemed unrealistic. Another point: it may be impossible to pay some artists.

uscobjectivistclub I will be attending. There should be a good turnout, considering the club got some hate mail, and there was a good amount of people the last time I saw Dr. Bernstein, when he spoke of Religion vs. America at USC. If you can, support the event.