Laure

President: Wrote in Ron Paul. I don't know if this will even be counted, as I've read that write-in candidates have to be "registered" somehow in order to be counted. In the end, there were too many things about Obama and McCain that just made me say, "I just can't do it - I can't vote for either of these guys." I respect those who abstained, I respect those who voted for McCain or for Obama or Libertarian or Constitution Party. There are good reasons for any of those choices, it just depends on the importance weight that you place on the various pros and cons. Pretty sure Obama's going to win regardless. I am hoping that at least an Obama presidency will raise the level of discourse so that it can be about IDEAS. We've got to be ready to express ours convincingly. House: Republican. Our Democrat, Gabrielle Giffords, isn't too bad, but she voted for the bailout, and I had emailed her office to say I'd vote against her if she voted for the bailout, so I did. Other seats: Libertarian when available, else Republican. Propositions: Against any tax increases, against "defining marriage in the state constitution", against new regulations on home builders, for prohibiting any law that would restrict people from paying for health care out of their own pockets.

I can't answer for Mammon, but I'll answer for "et al". I don't like Obama's desire to be "unselfish" with my money! He has a static view of human nature, with the "have-nots" being helpless and needing government assistance and being unable to adapt to changing conditions, and the "haves" going on robotically doing what they've been doing regardless of any new tax or regulatory burdens placed upon them. He's "not worried about" the big oil companies or the big pharmaceutical companies. Yep, he's not worried, because he takes it for granted that they'll just keep on producing no matter what he does. I'm really not looking forward to four years of Jimmy Carter-like "sacrifice" rhetoric from him. At this point, it seems as though I'm going to vote against the last candidate to piss me off. Right now, I'm voting against McCain because I just got like my 10th robo-call from their camp. That could change within the hour, though.

It could be because we are just so desperate for any sign of intelligence, that even when we see it in someone as wrong-headed as Obama, we still derive some hope from it.

I'm with Mammon. Also, ""Obama is an Intellectual Midget?" C'mon. What does that make McCain, a dwarf?" LOL! I think it makes McCain about 3 inches tall. Now, I'm not saying that Obama is NOT a Marxist, but he is way too clever to be obvious about it, and all the efforts to smear him through "guilt by association" are just going to backfire. We'll find out once he takes office, but I'm hoping he won't be much worse than Bill Clinton. His health care and environmental policies are very worrisome to me, though. Also, on the "spread the wealth around" comment - we've been redistributing wealth in this country through progressive taxation for decades! There are very few politicians who object to the progressive income tax. I object to it, of course, and it was nice of McCain to pick up on this comment, but he certainly hasn't come out against the progressive income tax. My point is, "spread the wealth around" is evidence that Obama's a Democrat, that's all it is.

Yep.

You sound like you're being overemotional about Obama. What's the difference, really, between a McCain presidency and an Obama presidency? Of course, nobody knows for sure, but if we take them at their word, it's a couple of percent of MARGINAL tax on income OVER $250,000 (or whatever the number). Let's say Obama's marginal tax rate (on amounts over $250K) is 5% more than McCain's, and you make $300,000. That's an extra $2500 a year in income tax. Is that a big enough deal to Go Galt? As another poster said, you might just want to think about working it so that your income doesn't go into the highest bracket. Donate to ARI or the charity of your choice instead.

Yeah, really! How can I get my mortgage declared as "bad" so I can get my loan reduced by the $100,000 my house has lost in value? What's that? I can't because I can still make the payments??? Totally nuts.

So, just to clarify, there is no $10,000 fine per denial of loan. There can be up to a $10,000 fine for an individual action that goes against the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. They don't have to lend money to everybody, although from reading the text of the Act, that's certainly the easiest way to guarantee your compliance! Here is a link to the full text of the ECOA: Equal Credit Opportunity Act We can't pin the crisis on any one government action, but there are so many actions that have pushed and pulled us toward the state we're in.

Thomas, do you have a reference for this? I can't find anything on a per-customer fine.

No, I haven't read anything to the effect that banks get fined per customer denied. I spent some hours reading about government involvement in banking a few weekends ago, and it is way, way more complicated than that. Take a look at this article, which is testimony of a "community organizer" who is actually advocating more stringent enforcement of the CRA. His ideological slant aside, you can learn a lot about the situation by reading this: *on "Fair Lending" enforcement* (Oh, by the way, don't take this man's testimony at face value. There is a point at which he indignantly mentions a bank that had a written racially discriminatory policy for approving loans. I looked it up, and the bank was actually favoring minorities in order to do better in its CRA audits!!)

Aaron, I've never done drugs, but it seems to me that they give the user an illusion of having an epiphany, of having a deep understanding of reality and of his thoughts that he doesn't have when sober -- this "breaking them all down to a molecular level" you write about. I'd like you to read this when sober, and to consider that this understanding is an ILLUSION. Think about people who have really accomplished something big in life. Can you write a best-selling novel, or invent an iPod, or land on the moon, or cure a disease, while on an acid trip? Has anyone ever done anything like that on drugs? NO. I echo fletch: "Get off the drugs and get your shit together."

Well-stated, Zip.

I don't think I'm an Aspie, but I can certainly relate to that statement! When I was just out of college, I had no idea how to do those sorts of things. I think the best approach is to just not worry about what people will think of you, and go ahead and ask, "What's the procedure here?" whenever you need to. Heck, I still have trouble, for instance, at restaurants that have some strange process for ordering the food which is neither "fast-food" nor "sit-down" but some hybrid approach! I just have to ask, "What do I do?" Try not to worry too much about the overall economy. If you are making 30-40K already, you'll likely be just fine. Some specific advice: "opening a checking account": Bring paycheck and identification to bank, go to teller, say "I'd like to open a checking account" and they will tell you what to do. "Managing credit card debt": Credit card debt is a bad idea; try to pay off your card every month if at all possible. "Buying and selling a car": Ooh, that's harder, it's been 20 years since I bought a car - I love mine and don't need a new one. But here again, the dealer will know what you need to do. Bring someone older and experienced along so that you don't get taken advantage of!

Clarissa, don't worry, there's life after high school. I remember when I went to get my senior picture taken, the woman at the photography studio wistfully said, "Ah, high school! Those were the best years of my life!" I thought, God I sure hope not, or I might as well kill myself right here and now! But college was much, much better, and work even better still. The Fountainhead was a big help to me in letting go of the worries about fitting in socially. And, once you can completely let go of the worries and just be who you are, it actually becomes easier to fit in. Don't let the turkeys get you down... and welcome to the site!

Groundhog Day, Sabrina, and Hitch.

YES! Appeal to his self-interest. I'd buy a copy.

This comic is relevant here: The Perfect Sound Often, someone will recommend a piece of music, and their description of it sounds so good, but then I listen to it, and I just don't "get it." So, here's one for everyone else to "not get": Queensryche - Real World I personally think it's an example of a very sophisticated and well-structured rock piece. But, as the comic above indicates, "your mileage may vary!"

I think your examples are very good, and I agree with them. One thing you need to be prepared for is the following: "You say, if everyone lived on welfare, we would all die, but let's say everyone wanted to be an auto mechanic. Then we'd all die, too. But there's nothing wrong with someone wanting to be an auto mechanic." (I'm not saying I agree with this objection, but you should be prepared to encounter it.)

No kidding! If the guy's innocent, sure, stand by him, but Spitzer admitted it! The only way I'd take the podium in that circumstance would be to announce that I was filing for divorce.

Somebody must have a homemade audio cassette tape of it or something! I'm going to put in a "wanted" request on eBay.

Just a quick note - the "spirit clouds" example brought to mind the movie "My Dinner with Andre"! It's a conversation between a mystical guy and his non-mystical friend. The non-mystic listens politely through most of the meal, and then makes some common-sense remarks that show instantly how foolish the mystic is being. I'd recommend watching it with your kids. One nice thing about the movie is that the non-mystic does get something out of the conversation, in spite of the fact that it's a bunch of BS! It sort of makes him see things from a different perspective.

If there were an "Introduction to Objectivist Metaphysics", it'd be a short book. In "Journals of Ayn Rand", she states: ""Existence exists" (or identity plus causality) is all there is to metaphysics. All the rest is epistemology."

OK, point taken. But still, I'm reminded of a line from the movie "Over the Hedge" (cute although politically-correct movie): Animal looks at SUV: "How many humans does a thing like that hold, anyway?" Other animal: "Usually? One."

Of course I agree that the government shouldn't be imposing fuel economy standards. However, "dreadful econo-boxes"??? They don't have to be dreadful. Here's mine; "dreadful" is not a word I would use. This gorgeous and practical car will be 20 years old next year, and it still gets 40 mpg. I don't understand why people would deliberately drag around all the excess weight of an SUV and needlessly throw money away on gas. Of course, it's your money, do what you will. But the only excuse I can see for wanting to throw away money on gas is if you drive a Lamborghini -- I see one on the streets here occasionally, and I'm glad someone can afford a $200,000 car that gets 10 mpg, because it provides me with a thrill whenever I see it take off down the street!

Marty, Go to this site, GRAPH SKETCHER, and key in 2*x/(x-2) to see a graph of the function. It shows that it's a hyperbola, with the x (or y) approaching 2 as y (or x) approaches infinity. This is why the only positive integer pairs that work are (4,4) and (3,6) (or (6,3)). I think you ought to review some definitions and concepts, so that you don't confuse your son. The fact that you say that 8/3 is not a real number, and not a rational number, shows that you either have very little mathematical training, or you have forgotten what you did have. Look up the definitions of real number, rational number, integer, whole number, irrational number, imaginary number. You need to use these terms the same way they are traditionally used in mathematics, or your son will be very confused. Also, 2.66666 repeating is just as precise as 4.0000 repeating. Any real number is just a precise as any other. Think about a right triangle with sides of length 1 and 2. The hypotenuse has a length of exactly the square root of 5, even though that's an irrational number.