oaktree

Home work assignment?

In the months that I have viewed this forum actively, I have found that it is excellent. For a completely open forum which does not even require an email address to register, it has been able to keep trolls at bay. The strength of this forum is the quality of its membership. Most appear to be here for a selfish purpose and either do not waste time on trolls or give them a good "beating". There are also many members who are very knowledgeable about philosopy and its related fields. This cause false arguments to be exposed rapidly. I do not think there is any problem with the rules. I doubt that changing the rules or making them clearer will impact the tone of the forum. (For instance, I have never read any rules of the forum and I doubt that the bulk of the membership has. I understand the idea of making the rules clearer, but the only ones who are seriously studying the rules and people who are probably never going to be banned -- indeed, they are more like moderator material..)

For a previous thread titled "Allan Greenspan" in the "Current Events" forum, click here:

A previous thread titled "Ayn Rand Worldwide" in the "Current Events" forum addressed this. Click here:

They say "A fool and his money are soon parted." Well, if some stranger said he'd give you IOUs for a certain amount of gold if you gave him a certain amount of dollar, you would probably be suspicious. So, the stranger puts an ideological spin on it. I light of the recent "return of the Christians", I wonder if some con man is selling "Jesus Dollars". As in, "don't use the currency of a government that allows the killing of innocent babies....", or, "they plan to strike God from pledge, make sure He stays on your dollar"

ramKatori (or should I call you John Doe ) If you want your IP to be hidden, use a transparent proxy when browsing. For instance, try this: in Internet explorer click on Tools/Internet Options. Select the Connections tab and choose LAN settings. You will see a place where you can enter the IP of a Proxy Server. There are many proxy servers all over the world. e.g. the IP 61.19.240.72 is a proxy server on a computer in Thailand. If you enter 61.19.240.72 as your proxy server and 80 as the port number and then go to www.google.com, you will see a Thai language page, because Google thinks you are from Thailand. You can use Google to search for lists of free Proxies. Some problems with this. One is that the indirection makes things slow. Some of these are small machines run by hobbyists. Sometimes the hobbyist simply turns the machine off. Finally, beware of proxies marked "transparent". These are proxies that do not hide your IP address. If you are willing to pay for privacy, these are some businesses that provide an anonimizer service for a monthly fee. They give you some software which automates the task of periodically cycling you through various proxy servers. They provide their own proxies. You do lose a little privacy because being businesses they are more likely to have logs about you coming through their site than some Thai hobbyist. If you want to remain private use a yahoomail, hotmail or some such account toregister for web sites. Change emails every now and then. If the only reason to give an email is to get the initial confirmation of your account, you can use mailinator. (see www.mailinator.net) However. I would agree with Pericles(MBA) that there is no need to be completely paranoid. If you want a little privacy, register under an assumed name (like oaktree) and don't sign your posts with your real name. That part is searchable by anyone around the world. Worrying about the IP is not warranted if you live in USA. If you live in China, its different. Then you should definitely subscribe to an anonymizer service.

Moderators: Sorry, I meant to post this in the Miscellaneous sub-forum, not in Current Events. If it can be modev there, I'd be grateful. If there is a way I can do it as I was the original author I'd like to learn how. Thank you.

I once read an article (sorry no reference available) that "A B C books" with photographs are better for kids than ones with cartoons, because they are more real. The skeptic in mean thinks that both are equally fine. A mix of both might be best. Any thoughts?

Think about it this way: if there was no monetary gain to be had from science would science advance faster or slower?

Folks, this thread has been an excellent demonstation of what modern education is doing to our kids. I will present the proof in the words of the victim himself.

Adrian is circulating petitions via Objectivist mailing lists. Therefore, I assume he is an active Objectivist. Therefore, I assume that he knows that Dr. Binswanger and Dr. Peikoff take different sides on the vote for president. Therefore, I assume he knows this is an issue where the dishonest can disagree. Therefore, I assume that in calling for people to look for dishonesty in this issue he is evading the fact. I conclude that he is probably the dishonest one.

I love the idea.

Since someone mentioned Tara malkani, I thought I'd post a short anecdotal thing about her. I was visiting Bombay on work and had written to Tara saying I would collect some lecture tapes from her, for me and my friends in Bangalore to listen to. Tara didn't like to send those tapes by mail or courier. They were more precious than the king's jewels. She said she would be in the business district sometime and would drop them off with the receptionist in my office. She was not sure about the day. I was there for about a week, and was not sure which day she would come. One day, as I was heading out for lunch with a group of colleagues, an elderly lady pass us. Remembet, this is Bombay (India), with the sidewalk teeming with people (think New York and raise it by an order of magnitude). Still, I noticed this lady and something about the purposefulness of her stride made me think "I wonder if that is Tara". My next thought was: "Don't be silly!" Well, when I went back to office after lunch, my tapes were there. And, when I met Tara, many months later, I recognized her as the lady I'd seen before!

As an Indian and an Ayn Rand fan I can attest to a fair number of educated Indians who would be aware of Ayn Rand. (I qualify, saying "educated" because there are millions of Indians in villages and slums who cannot even read.) The availability of Rand's books on railway platforms has been mentioned. Then, there are other things: - I first heard Ayn Rand's name when I was in 7th or 8th grade, when it came up as a clue in some jeapardy-type game I was playing with friends - I've seen cartoons with references. For example, one showing people and the secrets they keep, had a pane showing a student at a college that is known for its Marxist professors secretly reading Ayn Rand - In the days when taped lectures were distributed (by ARI?) groups met in various Indian cites to listen to the tapes. - Pirated versions of FH and AS are almost always available with street-hawkers who sell pirated books. I do not think there is anything in the Indian approach to ethics that is more conduciive to Objectivism. Also, many Indians have a mystical bent. Even India's extremely bright scientists are often compartmentalized in that they many consult astrology for some key decisions in life. On the other hand, Hinduism (unlike Islam) is the most inclusive religion I know. In fact, there are many respected Indian scholars who claim that Hinduism is not a religion, but a philosophy. It is not uncommon to here someone say: "You can be a Hindu even if you are Christian!" In fact, some scholars go so far as to say that you can be an atheist and still be Hindu! More important, however, is the fact that Hinduism does not have the organization and heirachy of a system of churchs. It is the most federal of religions, with each temple more or less an independent entity, with the priests as sole-proprietors. I think the reason for Ayn Rand's relative popularity in India can be reduced to a much simpler reason: India has a large number (though not a large percentage) or well-educated English-readers who are interested in reading. So, if one focusses on any other philosopher -- Kafka, Sartre, Plato -- you will find that a large number of Indians are well-versed in their work too.

I would want to amend the constitution so that a president's child cannot be president except in a situation where he succeeds a president who's office ends short of his 4-year term. I think this check/balance against "dynasties" is important. More importantly, I would set a 6-year limit on representatives and disallow and devise a limit that disallows anyone going from the house to the senate if it could result in more than 8 years in Congress. PS: This has nothing to do with Bush, for whom I am voting.