Rearden_Steel

Really? What was it that you found disgusting and misleading? I really enjoyed the book.

The city of Berkeley should respect the rights of their citizens to decide for themselves whether they want a career in the Mariners or not.

I'd vote that Franklin D. Roosevelt was by far the worst US president. He Socialized the US with his "New deal" [trading freedom for soup]. He then destroyed the gold standard seizing much of the US gold. And lets not forget Executive Order 1066, which forced nearly one hundred thousand Americans of Japanese decent off their property and into internment camps. Nothing Carter, Lincoln, Nixon, Wilson nor Harding did can compete with forcing Americans at gun point off their property and into camps.

How is he more evil than the others?

Oil supply from Iraq is hardly worth worrying about. Out of the 85 million barrels produced today Iraq only supplies 1.6 million. Well below pre-invasion numbers. Iraq's oil supply is currently inconsequential.

“I’d rather ask for forgiveness than ask for permission” is a very prevalent phrase in the navy.The military is a very chain of command oriented “clear it with your superiors first” kind of organization. Sometimes decisions have to be made fast and there is no time for bureaucracy. Its times like these that the phrase is usually uttered. I’ve never heard it used outside the navy.

Being a sailor aboard the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN I can sympathize with your situation. I’m in a position where I live in very close quarters with some people I’d prefer not to. My ship (affectionately called “ABE”) is 1,149’ long and is home to over 5,000 personnel. Currently were floating in South East Asia where I must eat, sleep and work with the same people 24/7 for months at a time. Even when I leave the ship in a foreign port, I have to have someone with me at all times (its called the “buddy” system). It’s very hard to be on your own here, and I have to have an infinite amount of patience due to the extenuating circumstances. I find that the best ways to escape is through my work, music (an ipod is essential) and reading. I also keep a journal of the days events and various thoughts. It’s also a really good time to study various things like art, history and philosophy. One of my goals this underway is to re-read all of Ayn Rand’s novels. I find that although I don’t particularly have any one here that I would call a friend, there are many people I do share various interest with. There are various groups of people that share my fondness for cigars or enjoy following the same sports and teams. I wouldn’t necessarily call these people friends but it fulfills some of my social needs and keeps me on good terms with my shipmates.

After just finishing my second trip to Hong Kong I must agree, the architecture and immense scale of Hong Kong is awe-inspiring. I’ve also always been impressed by the little parks tucked away between many of the buildings. These little parks have some of the most beautiful and advanced fountains and water sculptures I’ve ever seen. The parks also provide relief from the crowded and bustling streets.

I’m just the opposite I guess; I have a hard time trusting people that are religious. I think it shows something fundamentally wrong with their judgment.

I like those results. Go Seahawks!!

Israel has sold weapons to China also.

I find that it’s usually more effective to tip in advance. I believe the word tip is actually an acronym for: To Insure Promptness.

My favorite movie scene would have to be from Pleasantville. After an angry mob burns the town’s books, two of the movie’s main characters spends the night painting a mural on the town’s jailhouse using outlawed colors. The two characters awaken the next morning to find an angry group of people shouting at them and the mural. The movie then slowly flashes back and forth between the angry crowd and the mural, which depicts an angry and confused crowd hopelessly, and futilely throwing their hand up in the air around a pile of burning books, some of which have wings and are flying up into the sky. I always thought that the mural represents how intellectual thought and ideas rise above violence and rash impulse. The imagery of the angry crowd in relation to the mural shows the spirit of not only the mural but also the movie.

That’s all well and good, but why can’t they be “Royal” on their own dime?

Here he shows Clinton is questioning the war: “ Instead of words of praise for their heroism and gratitude for their sacrifice, you tell them the war they are fighting is a mistake.” Here he list the positive things resulting from the war: “It is a mistake for them to be risking their lives in the service of their country. It is a mistake for them to be fighting for Iraqis' freedom. It is a mistake for them to be defending innocent people against terrorists who behead the innocent, who declare democracy to be evil and who have sworn to kill every Iraqi citizen who has had the audacity to vote.” But why is Clinton questioning the war? He does not say. Only thing he portrays is that the war is a positive thing and that Clinton is wrong for questioning it; hence, a one sided argument.

I agree, by no means am I a fan of Clinton or the Democrats. I don’t think questioning the war makes him despicable though. There are plenty of other good reasons to dislike Clinton. I have noticed that most people here are focused mostly on the left, is Bush, Cheney and the right any less despicable? 'Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?' - George Bush

He did not point out why Clinton thought the war was wrong, and why his stance is wrong. He gave a one sided argument and seemed to be insinuating that the act of questioning the war and the government was wrong.

Yea, he’s going around like he has free speech or something!

"Bring Out The Rearden Steel" I like the sound of that!

That is on of my favorite quotes from the book. “To be free” such a simple and powerful phrase that instantly tears apart Marius's idea that there is value to be had by conquering and surprising other people. Combeferre conveys that it’s better to be a free individual than live through collective pride in the accomplishments of a nation. Hugo may have been in love with Paris but I believe that he understood the value of the individual over the idea of nationalism. If you like the book you will most likely enjoy the musical as well. The 10th Anniversary performance is available on DVD and contains some outstanding performances and scores. One thing I never liked about the musical though is at one point Enjolras exclaims, “Our little lives don’t count at all” in reference to the revolution. A quote that certainly wasn’t in the book, and I feel that it wasn’t very true to what Hugo was trying to portray in the quote I listed above. Despite that little adlib to the story it’s still a very good play.

1. Ayn Rand (100%) 2. Aristotle (72%) 3. Jean-Paul Sartre (72%) 4. David Hume (70%) 5. Nietzsche (70%) 6. Cynics (67%) 7. John Stuart Mill (61%) 8. Jeremy Bentham (59%) 9. Thomas Hobbes (59%) 10. Spinoza (59%) 11. Stoics (58%) 12. Aquinas (57%) 13. St. Augustine (52%) 14. Epicureans (51%) 15. Plato (49%) 16. Kant (47%) 17. Prescriptivism (33%) 18. Nel Noddings (30%) 19. Ockham (30%)

I always liked the name Ethan. It’s not very prevalent and it’s the name of John Wayne’s character in the movie “The Searchers” (it doesn’t get more masculine than that!). In Hebrew it means solid or enduring.

My favorite non-Rand book would have to be Les Miserables. I'm currently reading it for the second time.

Good find! I knew there had to be more to this story. What I don't understand is if the sheriff was so sure that they would be there longer than twelve hours why didn’t he just wait? Is the state doing anything about this?

After reading the testimony of the kids at the party, I noticed that they all tell the story with different details. The testimony’s starts off with mentioning there were several police with guns. Then more people come out and said that the police had Guns, Clubs, and tasers. Later accounts claimed they had Guns, Clubs, tasers, tear gas, dogs, M-16s, AK-47s and I quote “came in out of the grass, like some Vietnam shit”. I couldn’t help think that youth groups were sensationalizing this. I also noticed that there were no legitimate news reports mentioned and no official word from Utah authorities. I found a local news report (http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=96651) that says the party took place both on privet and public land and that they failed to maintain the proper permit. It also mentioned they confiscated drugs, guns and counterfeit money. It’s possible that there was excessive use of force (I wouldn’t put it pass Utah) but I’m still on the fence regarding this incident.