aristotlejones
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Days Won
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Posts posted by aristotlejones
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May I suggest Friday to create a new thread and start on the first chapter?
Can admin involved with this book discussion link any new thread notifications to the old threads so people know the discussion has moved somewhere else? In other words, I made sure I received emails for the original discussion about this book, so that I would know when the actual discussion was to begin. I have the book, and have renewed it once already, waiting for anybody to start things off. Silence. Today, I discovered this thread, and don't know how many other threads are active about this book that I haven't found.
Is it possible that in the book discussions, that we can stick to one thread, or at least properly notify people in that original thread that the discussion has moved somewhere else so they can keep up in a timely fashion.
If you keep moving the discussion around without letting people know, I'm going to just drop the idea and go on to other books and projects.
Kewl timeline softwarenerd.
Stay Focused,
<*>aj
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I just find myself wondering what psychological quirk prompts men to go all Pygmalion.
Payback for being raised by an overcontrolling, hypocritical, dysfunctional, irrational mother.
Not saying it is right to victimize a new generation for the behaviours of a past one, just conjecturing the rationalization probably used.
<*>aj
To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods. RA Heinlein
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Unless it is translated into Canadian.
"A is eh?"
Want something even funnier? Plug this new webpage into Google Translate.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=e...sl=ja&tl=en
Ein Land Timeline. The egotism of affirmation to actively publishing! If you are a serious source of water, youth is a novel! Bitter taste of adult fiction in the political ideology if it is the Atlas shrug! That the poor people novels, a collection of essays, read the spirit of selfishness!
ad rediculum...
<*>aj
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It is not right or legal. When you buy a CD, you buy that object for your use (you can give it away, transferring ownership). You do not own the music, and you do not own the right to make copies. The right to make copies is held by somebody else -- that is their property. Theft of another's property is never right.
Something like this...?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_qQt9IrUc0
Sure sounds like Edward Hermann as John Galt from the Atlas audiobook.
<*>aj
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Rotflmao... Can I use that sometime?
I don't know exactly where I heard it, but it stuck with me thereafter.
It's definitely in the public domain, so feel free to use it where appropriate or not.
If you like that one, you might like Ice-T's cheery little ditty:
Ok, the Youtube video titled Shut Up, Be Happy. (url is being altered by OO.net droid)
Stay Focused,
<*>aj
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Whatever happened to Festivus for the rest of us?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus
I'd never heard of this because I don't really watch Seinfeld...too much whining & hyperbole for my taste.
Besides, I think we were striving for something a little more uplifting than "airing of grievances" or "floor wrestling".
Stay Focused,
<*>aj
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How many people are going to loose their jobs because someone in government decided that there should be free broadband?
If you're happy and you know it, clank your chains...
<*>aj
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That's spelled Ecchmas.
I just received this short story in my email from James P. Hogan titled: Merry Gravmas.
enjoy,
http://jamesphogan.com/misc/MerryGravmas.htm
<*>aj
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They believe that the purpose of government is to promote the general welfare.
When the actual purpose of government is to promote "government" welfare...
I'd like to bring your attention to the following article by science and fiction writer James P. Hogan titled "The Warmer, the Merrier" that concludes with the following:
"Instead of manically and pointlessly seeking to decrease emissions at staggering cost in an attempt to implement an unworkable solution to a nonexistent problem, we could be turning the byproducts of human industrial and agricultural enterprise into living things and abundant food. This really is wonderful news for those who believe that human creativity and cooperation offer the possibility of building better tomorrows for the entire race, and that the choice is ours to make.
It takes real talent in doom-mongering and wilful blindness to turn such promise and potential into a disaster scenario. The Western world has surely never been run by such a pack of fools as those inflicted on it at the present time."
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/hogan2.html
Stay Focused,
<*>aj
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How about if the waste is stored in tight well-sealed containers? Even if there were a mis-fire with respect to launching the spaceship, there would not be stuff scattered higgledy-piggledy all over the landscape. Rather, there would containers containing the waste, which could be gathered and sent next time.
And who says one needs to use a rocket to get the waste up to near earth orbit. As soon as we figure out how to weave long enough buckytubes we can build an elevator to space that supplies its own energy. Of course this assumes that governments can protect us from terrorists...and governments.
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...that still makes it one of my favorite shows.
What do you think?
While the only detective shows I usually watch include either Sherlock Holmes, or some kind of scifi element, I figure at least some of the MSW stories must be truly good because the creator of Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczinski, wrote them.
<*>aj
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Hey all,
I used to attend UBC Students of Objectivism meetings and events many years ago. There also used to be a small "collective" at SFU. Are there any stalwart heroes carrying the torch forward at these campuses nowadays or are there any active objectivist meetup groups in the Vancouver area?
<*>aj
Is our life ever to have any reality? Are we ever going to live on the level? Or is life always to be something else, something different from what it should be? Real life - simple and sincere - and even naive, is the only life where all the potential grandeur and beauty of human existence can really be found. AR
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Now there are other important components as well such as confidence, drive, and capacity of happiness but to me all these in a way stem from rationality.
While honesty and rationality and boobs and self-esteem and ambition and clarity and all the other objective virtues we come to know and love are pretty manditory, the thing that whets my whistle is courage.
We all have these virtues to some extent, some of the time, but how many of us stand up for what is right when it matters, do the right thing when nobody is looking, or when everyone is looking? How many people have the courage to be honest when needed, or silent when needed?
For that matter, who has the courage to be true to yourself when that means not living up to the expectations of others? Who has the courage to strip away the accumulation of past injustices and open yourself one more time to the possiblity of joy? Who has the courage to make yourself into the person you want to be?
That spark, that independence, that courage...is sexy.
<*>aj
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Employers do not make exercise mandatory, even when doing so boost mental and physical performance levels. Simple changes in habit are extremely effective in mental and physical performance, yet these are not required nor mandatory.
Um, didn't Obama say that he plans to make Health Care mandatory?
<*>aj
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I wrote a poem about this quest on my website. I call it, The Aether.
Science and history in the same package, how efficient of you. Cool.
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Isn't this from the movie THX 1138. That was a movie, ya know.
Ice - T
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That's spelled Ecchmas.
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Tolstoy
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No, it is very unlikely that they would ever pass a law making use of such drugs mandatory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rANKbVKF6Q...feature=related
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No, it is very unlikely that they would ever pass a law making use of such drugs mandatory.
All we need is one more large terrorist attack on US soil, and...
We interrupt this program with a special bulletin:
America is now under marshall law.
All constitutional rights have been suspended.
Stay in your homes.
Do not attempt to contact love ones, insurance agents or attorneys.
Shut up.
Do not attempt to think or depression may occur.
Stay in your homes.
Curfew is at 7 PM sharp after work.
Anyone caught outside of gates of their suveillance sectors after curfew
will be shot.
Remain calm, do not panic.
Your neighborhood watch officer will be by to collect urine examples in
the morning.
Anyone caught interfering with the collection of urine examples will be
shot.
Stay in your homes, remain calm.
The number one enemy of progress is questions.
National security is more important than individual will.
All port broadcasts will proceed as normal.
No more than two people may gather anywhere without permission.
Use only the drugs prescribed by your boss or supervisor.
Shut up, be happy.
Obey all orders without question.
The comfort you have demanded is now mandatory.
Be happy.
At last everything is done for you.
<*>aj
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Electro-magnetic effects - is that what the "ether" - the actual space (as opposed to things in space) is? Is the space a medium on or through which plasma (and gravity for that matter) take effect, or is it a vacuum devoid of everything? That isn't possible, tho, is it? So if space isn't an actual nothing, then what is it?
I'm not qualified to explain aether. I need to learn more.
Two wires with current flowing through them create a magnetic effect (attraction/repulsion depending on the polarity) as I described above.
Two ionized particles travelling through the vacuum of space create the same effect.
The ionized tail of a comet, the tail following every rotating body with sufficient mass (?), even spacecraft create similar EM effects.
These interactions interact. EM fields interact with other fields and moving bodies, in the vacuum of space.
So vacuum does not mean empty. (space between planets, i think, has a density of one particle per cubic km)
Density is just one aspect of the concept of "space". But if those particles are part of a plasma sheath that attracts repels focuses and streams particles, the effect is present, just not obvious to those only looking for gravitational effects.
We only see EM effects when there are aurorae, lightening, when asteroids pass through a plasma stream and light up extraordinarily, when a comet impactor sets off an unexplained arc flash, when the sun warms the earth in unpredictable cycles, when a solar eclipse is visible, but that doesn't mean the effects are not happening all the time in the "dark and emptiness" of space.
First Rule of Government Funded Science: What we won't see doesn't exist.
Stay Focused,
<*>aj
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To illustrate the significance of using emotions in this manner (and not going against them), think of the way you choose what T.V. channel to watch. If you had to use reason, try to logically connect every possible show to life as the standard of value and then deciding based on that; you'd get lost, and lose all the fun. Your emotions in this case guide you to these values which are unique to you. If someone told you that you should not watch T.V. until you can prove how it is Objectively good for you, you'd probably tell them to piss off. Why should this be any different in pursuing a similar unique value - other people? There is no reason on earth why
I just happened to write this on the Fav TV shows thread:
I do actually "choose" what shows I watch, by means of what they can make me feel and learn, but I don't chose them by means of emotions, but by rational evaluation. Sitting there in front of a TV with your finger on the channel changer button is just sad.
Take a taste test: read a book for an hour. Then watch an hour of any TV. (do not reverse the order)
Compare your feeling of satisfation and efficaciousness.
At the best of times, TV is a mixed bag. Choice is your only standard.
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I primarily watch scifi, but it is hit and miss right now.
I've started to follow the current seasons of Dr. Who, but what is even better by many magnitudes is its spinoff: Torchwood. British actors, plots, and it seems like the writers have actually read some of the great old scifi stories.
BSG: cuz it's shot locally, and cuz I'm waiting to find out who's who and what's what.
Long time fan and supporter of Babylon5 and all things related.
I tape & watch Sarah Connor, but only for the character development, not the Frankensteinian plot-theme.
I didn't like Fringe to start with, but it is exploring areas that I have some knowledge of, and they are doing their homework, which I respect given most of the crap out there.
I wish there were more hard science shows available, as Nova seems to be about the current quaint environmental context now, or supporting mainstream tenured government "science". I think they've lost their way.
Guilty Pleasures:
2.5 Men - so sue me. The funniest eps are when the entire family gets into the act.
Lipstick Jungle - Smart, strong, passionate, hot women. What's not to like.
News:
Charlie Rose
Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert
News Hour - MacNeil Lehrer
60 Minutes
Sunday interview shows
CSPAN
Drama & related:
House, cuz, well, he's House. (and if people get pissed at or object to the truth as being cruel, well then chose the alternative. He cares about the lifesaving answer, not the patient - get over it, and live to whine another day)
24: Because if we are to believe people like Jack should exist, then they should be held to the Spiderman standard of being obligated to make the right moral choices. He usually does, given how many corrupt people are trying to tie him down and make him fail for their own petty blindnesses, and I'm not even talking about the terrorists.
New Tricks: Retired UK cops recalled to work old cases, interesting because it often illuminates how things have changed across the generations, and how basic decency wins in the end.
NCIS/The Unit, when I have time and the story revolves around moral questions and not just proby abuse.
I left the best for last: The Sandbaggers
The best espionage drama ever, and one that poses a moral conflict in each ep that is resolved often by exposing some bureacrats hypocricy or finding a clever mole or somesuch. It has been called a cross between Yes Minister and James Bond (Connery). The show was shot in the late 70's, and broadcast in the UK and Canada, and NZ/Oz soon thereafter, but due to a grassroots fandom, was finally cut to DVD in the 90s. Only twenty episodes, but every one a gem. And for those who think House is abrasive and hard to take, you haven't met Neil Burnside.
For more info, go to The Ops Room (www.opsroom.org)
Stay Focused,
<*>aj
There is nothing more terrible than a person faking positive emotions for destruction of his self esteem. If someone does not feel genuine positive feelings toward someone, then using a smile as a social gesture is an act of faking.Now that I *can* agree with.
<*>aj
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That's one reason not to use the phrase that I had thought of, but that is the way it was used in AS. In our world, the meaning is slightly different. When we see the widespread stupidity and depravity of our society, it's easy to feel helpless, but those who ask this question know that A is A.
I don't hang out with the kind of people who don't get what the phrase implies. And if they did get it, there would not be the need to say it.
But I sometimes say it in reply to another's defeatist attitude, maybe they're saying "What can one man do?" or "You do the best you can", implying that any more effort would be unseemly or impolite.
But I think I will make an effort to say it more because there is an untapped pool of idealists out there who read AS in their youth, and are now witnessing it coming to fruition. I would be like making fish arcs on the beach. Now that they're older and can compare the world to their idealism, they might take another look.
I said it once in the dojo, not expecting anyone to understand, and found I had found an ally.
Stay Focused,
<*>aj
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What names for what we've found so far have we?
to qwote myself in a previous discussion:
"From the way I understand it, space is filled with charged particles, electromagnetic fields, and ionized gases. These seem like pretty inconsequential stuff to take the place of gravity, but the idea behind a plasma pinch focus generator is the same principle that operates the center of our galaxy and possibly our sun. Plasma and EM effects do not replace gravity, they just compliment it, and they explain the universe more comprehensively with than without it."
So what about the clumpy bits, matter, planets, asteroids, gas giants, etc.? Well this is the astounding difference between the effect of gravity compared to the effect of electromagnetism, namely that gravity adheres to an inverse square law, whereas EM effect (attraction/repulsion depending on polarity) is a simple inverse relationship.
When one is one distance unit away from a mass, the gravity is one unit, and the EM one unit.
When one is two distance units away from a mass, the gravity is one quarter unit, and the EM one half unit.
When one is three distance units away from a mass, the gravity is one ninth unit, and the EM one third unit.
...
So after a short while travelling between bodies in space, gravity is not really that important, but electromagnetic effects are still present. EM effects are also created when ionized particles move through space, such as the "solar wind", comets, planets with magnetic tails, etc.
I hope this answers some of your questions.
Plasmatic, altonhare, feel free to help out here,
Stay Focused,
<*>aj
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I've another question. If we could one day ascertain that the Sun were losing energy, do you think we could re-energize it by sending spaceships loaded with nuclear waste (e.g. from atomic energy plants) towards it?
But this is a very good idea for the "what to do with all that nuclear waste" complaint from the greenies. So, once we realize that nuclear can be safe if we'd only disconnect the current codependence of business and government, we can both have an efficient, safe and non-polluting energy source, and it can give us the spare energy to make launch vehicles (aluminum manufacture requires a lot of power) to dispose of the toxic waste in a place that would never be affected.
a few inauguration pictures
in Current Events
Posted
You're conflating with Land Speeders, the transport that Luke used to race to his parents in the first movie.
The police tower looks like the All Terrain Armored Transport reprised in several movies, cuz they topple real good...
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/All_Terrain_Armored_Transport
<*>aj