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Michero

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About Michero

  • Birthday 10/07/1983

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    Baltimore MD

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  1. I'm not an economist and I may be way off, but don't most privately owned businesses get their money from investors? I mean, yes they make money from their customers, but really don't they need investment capital in order to continue operations? I'm assuming that if everything were private there would be some type of consumer report (it is in the best interest for a plant to allow investigations to coax investors) and the consumer report would say if a plant was being run poorly. In that case I think investors would be very unlikely to invest in the project--if they are at all rational and thinking ahead. If there is one incident, not even accident, just one it could ruin the entire industry (for the same reason any rational seller of nuclear material would be very reluctant to sell to a poorly run plant--if people lose faith in nuclear power the materials dealer goes out of business too). Take a look at 3MI. That was actually a success story, but it scared people off of nuclear pretty much up until now. If the consumer report investigators found egregious offences, for example the automatic safety measures were continually being overridden or regulations were not being followed I think a regulatory body could go in and investigate. I see it being the same as a building that's falling apart and may threaten houses near it-- if the people running the plant are threatening the lives and property of people around them, then the government may be able to step in and shut them down until they can raise standards.
  2. I have met a man with the spirit, mind and body in various combinations but not all in one. The thing is, when you meet a person who has the mind and spirit, does the body really matter? Of course I am talking about real life relationships, whereas Rand was creating art in which she rightly combined all these ideals in one because as an artist that's what she could and should do. It doesn't matter if you have met a galt, you know a galt can exist. Many of us here are examples of that fact.
  3. Right after you finish WTL I suggest you read AR short story called Red Pawn. It is perhaps my all time favorite thing she's ever written (besides Atlas Shrugged). Just in terms of literary construction it is amazing.
  4. Actually, pimsleur is pretty good. I accidentally learned some German and Turkish about a year ago just listening through some of his audio clips (thinking about buying one) and I still can recall those phrases today. Although I think that the best method for your might depend on how you learned your first language. Me, I never really had classic grammar lessons (trying to remedy this with Peikoff's grammar series) so I found it difficult and ultimately impossible to learn a second language through classical grammar drills etc. Audio tapes seem to do it for me because that's really how I learned English. If however you were raised on a classical diet of participles and gerunds and whatnot, then you might prefer a book and worksheet type program. The problem with the lecture series is that they are usually quite expensive.
  5. one question that bothered me was (something like this) do you base decisions on conceptual v. experiential? for me this seemed like a false alternative becuase my concepts are built on experiences.
  6. Just imagine you fell into a gulch where reason was glorified, and man exalted. Imagine in this place people traded with each other, value for value and there was no force. Would you still wish to be alone or would you relish contact with such people? I used to be the same way, I hated people. But that was before, when I thought that good men did not exist in the world. Then I found out I was wrong. There's a line from Ayn Rand's play 'Ideal' where the actress says that there's only so long a per son can call out into the darkness without hearing any response. I'm paraphrasing but that was the gist. Social contact with people who share your values may not be necessary for life, but it is necessary to live a life worth living. Maybe I'm just ranting now.
  7. I 2nd 'The Gulch' nice one. Also, 'Atlas blogged' was a good one.
  8. That was beautiful when the guy said they were high fiving when they figured it out then he put on the 9th symphony ode to joy and cried. Beautiful. Thanks for posting this.
  9. Michero

    Shakespeare

    Have you ever seen 12th night? I thought that was extremely funny when I saw it. Taming of the shrew had it's moments. John Cleese was in a version of Taming that was hilarious. ShakespeaRe-told just did a remake for TV but that looks like crap. But you didn't find Monty Python funny though did you? So tell me, what do you find funny then?
  10. I think the reason (venturing a guess) why united is in quotations may have something to do with the fact that despite the title, the nations aren't exactly united in spirit. This can be seen in the ill will the Scottish-N. Irish-Welsh-English people still bear towards one another. I still hear the Welsh getting made fun of, though for the life of me I can't figure out why (unless it's for their funny accent). (Removed reference to part of a post by another member, which was subsequently deleted. - softwareNerd)
  11. I think we can simplify this problem by asking; why/when would cosmetic surgery be immoral? And I think the answer as Felipe said would be when you give up a higher value in order to attain it. This shouldn't even be a question. If you have the means and the desire to change something in your life that you think would improve it and it isn't harming anyone else, why not? I think the main problem would be with psychology of the patient: questions like this -- is it immoral, are what would cause the person to have problems. So my question is: why would cosmetic surgery be questioned as a possible immoral act?
  12. I personally had trouble at first with the "no instincts" thing. I couldn't wrap my head around it and I didn't believe either side until after a lot of reading and talking about it with my friends. I figured out that Ayn Rand/Peikoff (can't remember who said it specifically) was right; men do not have instincts (I hadn't properly defined what instincts were and once I realised what they were it became clear). I know a lot (if not all) objectivist struggle with many points in the philosophy, but once you've accepted the fundamentals, everything else follows (this is why it is a closed system--any deviation is the philosophy of death). The trick is just understanding how the system works and why higher level concepts do follow from the axioms.
  13. What an amazing picture! Was that taken by a pro?
  14. This is so exciting! I hope this will speed up the world's realization about the wonderfulness of Nuclear energy. Maybe start rolling out some new reactors in the next decade...
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