Ninth Doctor

When I first heard the phrase “trickle down government” I had an immediate association with this scene, so I put this together just now. I think it has the makings of a meme, but the idea needed to simmer a bit more, I don’t think this is quite getting the job done yet. Any ideas for adding to it?

You'll find it here: Remember that Peikoff begins Fact and Value by saying he agrees completely with this. Now I suppose that according to "closed system" doctrine, since this was written after March 6, 1982, neither are necessarily "Objectivist writings". But you're citing OPAR and Tara Smith, so for our purposes I think we can agree that it qualifies.

Well there goes my thunder. But as I said here, I wasn’t ever going to get around to writing up a properly documented explanation. Reviewing the topic is an awfully masochistic endeavor, rather like watching Roderick Spode assaulting an asparagus for hours on end. 'Have you ever seen Spode eat asparagus?' 'No.' 'Revolting. It alters one's whole conception of Man as Nature's last word.' P.G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters Actually, more seriously, it called to mind a phrase from Thucydides, one that I typically associate with Barack Obama for an obvious reason: [One] is not honest if, seeking to carry a discreditable measure, and knowing that he cannot speak well in a bad cause, he reflects that he can slander well and terrify his opponents and his audience by the audacity of his calumnies.

Easily remedied: http://www.objectivistliving.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=722&st=20#entry34729

Obviously it's all tongue in cheek. I take from Aglialoro's statement that I was correct here, from earlier on this thread: Now they ought to take the Schwartz piece down from their website, or, better, put something new up that states their new position.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/atlas-shrugged-part-ii-producer-ayn-rand-institute-joining-the-ranks-of-society/ Here’s a little detail I didn’t know till now. We all know David Kelley was excommunicated for speaking at Laissez Faire Books. I think there was more to it, but be that as it may. Turns out John Aglialoro was excommunicated for speaking at…wait for it…The Cato Institute. Does he expect John Allison to suffer the same fate? TAC: So do you expect him to be excommunicated? JA: I think there’s been a change of mentality. Yaron Brook is now executive director of ARI, and I think Leonard gave him the sanction to carry on. They’re now joining the ranks of society, philosophical society. The libertarian, the political; it’s not just up here [gestures with his hands]. [Working with libertarians] is no longer anathema.

Federal vs. State? Also, there's a chance ObamaCare will be repealed if, ironically, Romney wins and the Congress is so constituted that they can pass a repeal...that's a difference of sorts.

Good one. Your link didn't work, however, so here it is again:

He looks quite a bit like someone I used to work for, who was a non-smoker with, nonetheless, a gravelly voice. Just maybe one shovel-full less than Beghe. He connects with me. So far. Here's a new clip from Reason Magazine at last night's Washington showing. I see David Boaz, but no John Allison. No doubt Allison is in Washington, having just taken the helm at Cato what, the day before?

Another new clip. Looking good.

I see no straw. Fact is on OL you’ll find all types. There’s a fairly new guy who uses a chimp’s face as his avatar, he posts loony conspiratorial crap and most people ignore him. I’ve even told him a couple times that he doesn’t belong, and ought to find somewhere where the bananas are more plentiful. But he’s still around, however much of an outlier he is. Then there’s a long time poster who starts a new thread to report every time Ron Paul has a bowel movement. Tedious. And there was a post-modern nutcase who got banned, which really takes some doing. How to generalize? Looking to the site’s owner, who is also the most frequent poster, is good evidence gathering, IMO.

Nope. Aren’t you familiar with how she came to be called Comrade Sonia? It’s been quite a few years now, so it probably bears reviewing. I have a feeling that if I explain it here my post will be deleted, but you won’t post on OL, right? Maybe I’ll get up the yen to do it soon and then link it. I think a borrowing from advertising lingo for Hi-Fi audio equipment is in order: on OL you get higher highs and lower lows. A more realistic, life-like experience.

In case you think there are no limits, a few years ago there was an active OL member named Victor Pross, who was eventually banned, he's long gone now. He is a caricaturist, he's published at least one book and I gather this is how he makes his living. He did a caricature of Ms. Hsieh, naked. You can still find the thread, but you won't see the picture. Barbara Branden, who had already been called pretty much every name in the book by Ms. Hsieh, was among the people saying it was inappropriate, out of bounds, and so on.

Cool, same here. Except I didn't really drive them away, I guess I didn't have the skill. One of my favorite stories is about one who literally would not hold Barbara Branden's book in his hands. One of the pictures came up in conversation, the group one from someone's wedding, and to settle the question meant looking at the book. He insisted on it being held out open in front of him, and he had this disgusted look on his face, nose wrinkled up, squinting...and he's involved in online Rand-land, knows who I am, and has never so much as said boo, here decades later. At the time I wasn't a "Kelleyite", and hadn't been exposed to that split yet (it was still quite recent, and the internet wasn't what it is today), but egads(!!!) I owned Branden books. He's not on OO, I suspect it's not pure enough for him.

The OL thread that keeps getting referenced started as a discussion of a policy statement from one of her sites, but there wasn’t much to discuss so it quickly became a comedy thread. There aren’t uptight moderators patrolling the threads there, so this happens pretty often. Even serious threads have a way of devolving into comedy once they’ve run their course. Start talking about genocide and you’re liable to get moderated, try calling the Brandens derogatory names and you’ll get booted, and if you get too nasty with the owner all bets are off. Otherwise, it’s basically fair game, you can call me an SOB all you want over there, and you won’t be the first. Oh, but don’t call another poster a c*nt, that one’s off limits…long story. If you like OO better, here you are. There’s something to be said for both. FWIW I've had more "insulting and degrading" material directed at me here than there.

I can't imagine by what measure you would conclude that it's Cato that has catching up to do. You might disagree with them on policies, but they're one of the top think tanks, ARI is not nearly as influential.

FWIW, I'm disinclined to take ARI's latest statement at face value. OTOH, I don't believe this was an excommunication. A has not entirely been A when it comes to this topic, so I'll just leave it at that.

I leave the mutatis mutandis to you...

The Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) announced today that John Allison, a member of the Institute’s Board of Directors, has decided to resign from the Board, noting a desire to reduce his professional commitments and devote full energies to his new position as chief executive officer and President of the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=27508

Thanks for the link, I’d forgotten that thread and found rereading it very entertaining. People are free to express “Anti-Hsieh” sentiments on OL, so it should be no surprise that you find them there. IMO the reason Checking Premises began was the lack of a forum allowing criticisms of her that would also be a kosher place for Peikoff devotees. OL is certainly no such place. Even Betsy Speicher's forum is, I gather, off limits to such people following her trenchant critiques of DIM and the 2006 voting piece.

If you follow the earlier links, you’ll get to see a Randroid in action. It’s not just a matter of unwelcome proselytizing, but some advice I heard Andy Bernstein give comes to mind: don’t act like a Moonie.

I think today's the last day for this, so if you haven't voted there's no time like the present.

OTOH, a couple years ago I came across a case where a genuine Randroid was out to convert the denizens of an online S&M community, and I followed it enough to conclude that the guy running the thing, an online porn producer, knew more about Objectivism than the Randroid. And agreed, was living it, so to speak. http://www.objectivistliving.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9557&#entry114258

There's Hunter by Robert Bidinotto. There's over 300 customer reviews on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/HUNTER-Thriller-Dylan-Hunter-ebook/dp/B0057CTIJA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1348662028&sr=8-2&keywords=bidinotto+hunter It just came out on audiobook, and so far the only review on Audible is by yours truly: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B0099SUQT4&qid=1347588865&sr=1-1

Oh for goodness sake! You'd think this was a Koran!! Now if it were an immaculate signed first edition, worth in the tens of thousands, it would be one thing, but obviously you wouldn't be leaving it out on a coffee table. Do you make notes in the margins? Dare to underline things? Dog ear the pages?