ruveyn1

If there is a Mind-Body problem then there is also a Stomach-DIgestion problem. Digestion is what the Stomach does. Mind(ing) is what the Brain does. ruveyn1

I am listening to what I always listen to every minute I am awake. I am listening to my tinnitus. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus ruveyn1

This is a tricky question. Purchase of a bond is a loan to the government. Unfortunately the government repays its loans with funds extracted by law or at gunpoint (the same thing really). So anyone who purchases government bonds is in effect counting on repayment by ethically dubious means. If the government were completely honest and raised revenue purely through its function as protector of life/property and manager of the law courts then lending to such an entity would have a lot less ethical doubt attached to it. ruveyn1

Either way, what you call MInd (the name of an object) and I call Minding (the name of a process) is the effect of the brain which is a physical entity right down to the ground floor. A physical brain can produce non-deterministic effects. ruveyn1

Most likely. Attempts to find "hidden variables" which are deterministic causes unable to be observed have led to contradiction. For example the physicist J.S.Bell derived a set of inequalities that would be satisfied by particle which have interacted and become "entangled". If reality is local (interactions with in a time t limited to factors no more than t*c distant, where c is the speed of light) these inequalities would hold. However real live genuine reproduced experiments show that these inequalities are violated and the predictions of quantum mechanics are corroborated by these experiments. quantum mechanics is predicated on probable outcome hence not deterministic. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell%27s_inequality_experiment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_uncertainty ruveyn1

What about people who earn every cent their receive and do useful and honest labor? Why shouldn't such people have a vote? ruveyn1

When their clients win the Grand Casino, Goldman takes its cuit. Also when their clients loose in the Grand Casino, Goldman takes a cut anyway. Finance people are like those who run the gambling places in Lost Wages Nevada. They always get a cut so they almost always never lose. ruveyn

It is a form of slumming. ruveyn1

L.A. VO2 max is in the 99th percentile relative to the public at large. He is a super athlete whether or not he used performance enhancing drugs. Ordinary folks could not match Armstron's VO2 Max no matter what they swallowed. Armstrong is a mutant. He is (or was) an exceptional athlete. He just made sure he would be likely to win the Tour de France. ruveyn1

The most basic processes in the brain take place at the atomic level and are best described by quantum physics which is a non deterministic theory. We have a head full of q-bits. ruveyn1

The Founders were a bunch of Far Right extremists. Yeah, right. ruveyn1

Lecturing rarely changes anyone's mind. Suffering, pain, privation, hazard and death are more likely to change someone's mind. There is an old saying: As ye sow, so shall reap. The Looters and Moochers sowed the wind; Galt and company enabled them to reap the whirlwind. One of the most satisfying victories is to see one's enemies hoisted on their own petards. Meaning Injured by the device that you intended to use to injure others. ruveyn1

The torture is not punishment. It is a way of extracting information. In the United States there is a constitutional law against cruel and unusual punishment. In a word, it is illegal for the government to use torture as a punishment for crimes. We can kill capital offenders but we cannot turn them on a spit and roast them over a fire. ruveyn1

What if going ahead with something poses an undue threat and hazard to public safety? ruveyn1

True. But do not expect too much from the Russians. ruveyn1

Being a scientist and being an artist are not mutually exclusive. ruveyn1

His VO2 was tested medically. It was off the charts. That is a genuine reason why he could perform as he did. And no drug will increase one's VO2 capacity. It is an inborn characteristic. Lance Armstrong was a mutant. ruveyn1

The government had become evil beyond repair. All the Good Guys could do is withdraw and hide. The withdrawal sped up the downfall after which the Good Guys could return. It said somewhere in Atlas Shrugged that Galt did not know how long it would take for the downfall. It might have taken more than a generation in which case the children of the Good Guys could pick up the pieces. ruveyn1

Oh bother character. In his prime he was still the best bicyclist in the world. ruveyn1

Have you ever seen their automobiles? Russia does not have a tradition of excellence in craftsmanship. Most of their goods are shoddy and sorry. ruveyn1

Russia's reputation for quality and safety is well known (they produce crap). I hope they test and deploy their nuclear powered vehicles in very, very, isolated regions. ruveyn1

The gasoline tax is an indirect way of paying for the maintenance of the roads. It is best thought of as a use tax rather than a redistribution of income. ruveyn1

A private individual has the right to recover property or money stolen from him, and then only by legal means. If we grant there were no legal means available, Ragnar only had the right to take back what was his. His agenda was to slay Robin Hood, not recover property or money stolen from him. He was a vigilante. ruveyn1

Try this: the Mind is an -effect- of the brain/nervous system. An epiphenomenon. Put another way -- the brain/nervous system is a necessary cause of the Mind. No brain, no Mind. ruveyn1

You are an optimist. ruveyn1