Ordr

I was hoping he'd walk across the surface of the reflecting pool on his way to the podium.

Ohh, gotcha. "Did he say anything interesting?" Nope. It was a more grandiose version of the whole "we need to help one another if we want to prosper" garbage that he's been shitting out for his entire political career.

Here's a transcript: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Inauguratio...9022&page=1

If you turn the sound off it's kinda reminiscent of Stalin's funeral.

I hereby draft Jose to write this book!

I'm a budding Objectivist .

Rangel is, once again, trying to reinstate the draft; perhaps hoping for more support now that Obama is in office. It seems to go hand-in-hand with the fascistic "national service" plans that Obama and Emmanuel have advocated.

That might be one of the most brutal eviscerations of a "beloved" historical figure that I've ever read. Great stuff.

How so?

That's a good point, Steve. In fact, since the source is Fox (and linked from JunkScience), I've decided it's pointless to even bother emailing this to friends/family who are Obama fans simply because once they see the source, they'll immediately either stop reading or just discount it as "right-wing propaganda". And, even if they do read it, I can hear it now: "Well it's pretty obvious capitalism isn't working because of the economy...maybe we need her perspective to get back on track."

How was this not discovered sooner? She was appointed in November! How utterly depressing... Edit: I'm not sure why I'm asking why it wasn't discovered...even if it was, it's not like it would have mattered to his voters.

Excellent posting. Cline really outdid himself, which is a pretty hard thing to do.

I have not read that, but I've begun reading ItOE. I am still learning and I have a very long reading list to help facilitate that.

I just ordered this upon your recommendation. I definitely need to learn a lot more about these particular matters.

Nope, but it impacted a major portion of my argument (and subsequent points) so I'm working on the topic in that new light. I'm not going anywhere.

No, I was. Yes, she was.

I stand utterly corrected. Thank you for the link.

I have to come back to this: "goal-directed", at least in the context of your statements, implies volition. A volitional object, to set a goal, evaluates a situation and chooses a plan of action in order to arrive at a desired outcome. That process implies consciousness; something that neither a star nor a plant possesses.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sun_Crusher

I don't disagree that the tree will be dead. However, the statement claiming that "the star will be a star again", while technically true, all depends on conditions. One can do the same with an ice-cube. Cut it into pieces and put it back together. Provided the conditions are right, as with the star, it will reform and continue it's ice-cubey life.

It isn't choosing to perform these actions. The actions are simply the result of physical, natural laws; ie: the Laws of Thermodynamics.

Doesn't a goal imply volition?

I certainly want one.

I've contemplated the ramifications of bombing Mecca as a demoralization tactic and I've come to the conclusion that it would be the catalyst for a total war with nearly all Muslims, including the "moderates". That said, if we were committed to wage this total war against Islamism to the very end, I'd suggest it be saved for near the end of the war to demoralize whoever is left and hopefully have them lose their will to fight.

...and his entire young, nihilistic constituency