Durandal
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Posts posted by Durandal
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It looks like I'll be sticking with Mercedes for many years to come. I was eyeing up the new Mustangs until I read this article; the legislation discussed is set to affect all American-manufactured vehicles:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132056,00.html
This is ridiculous.
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The movie was AWFUL! And that's not because I don't like the story -- I love it -- but the movie butchered the gentle charm of the book. The Polar Express has always been and will continue to be a favorite of mine, but I was not impressed with the film treatment of it at all.
Gaudy, loud, long, manufactured. Certain parts of the movie were very well done, but I feel that those moments were steamrolled by the rest of the noisy junk.
I'm not trying to be a humbug!
But I gotta tell it how it is -
Ha, clever-- under the "Company" tab, one of the possible selections is "Who is John Galt?"
Based on the website's quotes, the product/company names, I'm pretty certain somebody knows what he'sa saying
It seems like a pretty cool company.
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Inherit the Wind
Goldeneye
Big Fish
Phantom of the Opera (when it comes out on Christmas!)
Spider-Man 2
Pirates of the Carribean
Amadeus
Terminator 2
EDIT: Boondock Saints!!!!!
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Wonderful post. I'm sticking it on my bedroom door.
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The new E320d gets 37+ mpg does 0-60 in 6.3 seconds and is quiter than the gas model. MB has once again outdone themselves.
They always do.
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Silver-blue 1982 Porsche 928, 5-speed manual
My other vehicle is attached (if it works) it's a 1982 240d mercedes-benz 4-speed with well over 300k miles, runs great and I bought it for $300.I have an identical model, albeit with a mere 170,000 miles. Although, the 62 horsepower is a real drag on the turnpike
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Who is this History Teacher?
Zallers
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Hi Megan! I am a student at Drexel...how do ya like Philly? I've become similarly irritated with the bizarre marxist haze that has settled onto the academic establishment. My history prof last year (infamous with the Drexel Objectivists, and most rational people) was an intellectual mystic, to be sure...A was never A with this fellow. It's a shame.
Good luck, and enjoy college!
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I knew that supreme irrationality existed in the world, even in this fine country of ours. You can see it in churches and politics. Yet I never expected to come face to face with such stupidying idiocy as I have in the past few days.
On Monday, I began a six-month college co-op at a major American corporation. I'm working in the executive department, helping to support roughly 700 scientists and biochemical engineers. My immediate coworkers, as well as the huge staff of aforementioned researchers, are a delightfully efficient, intelligent group of people. But then I hit a brick wall. Five, actually. They were the Unions.
I would explain by theory, but it makes my head spin, so I will instead rant by example. A senior scientist needed to move his computer from one office to another, just across the hallway. Total displacement was about twenty feet, no kidding. However, he cannot move his computer. Nor can I. In fact, I must place no less than two week-long work orders to have Unionized pricks move the computer. One union member (a technician) unplugs the computer from the wall. The next union member (a mover) physically carries the PC to the adjacent office. Finally, the first union member (the technician) reconnects said PC to the power and the ethernet jack. And of course, if I demand such services to be rendered in less than one week, the union will charge overtime (despite the work actually being done mid-afternoon).
I was barred from relocating a ROLLING swivel desk chair ten yards down a hallway, from a storage area to a new office. No, no, I have to put in a work order to have some entitled schmuck ROLL the goddamn chair down the hallway, into the office. I was similarly disallowed from screwing a freaking dry-erase markerboard into the wall; I have to put in a work order to the Carpenter's Union for that. I wasn't even allowed to relocate some poor engineer's keyboard desk tray; again, place an order with the union folks!
I cannot, as a mere manager, unplug a computer, move a desk, or a chair. I cannot even think about touching a bolt or screw. I can't swiffer off a goddamn desk. Prohibited from cleaning anything, fixing anything. Nope, because the union(s) demand that their workers be entitled to such tasks (but of course, not a damn thing besides. It's not in their contracts you know).
What the hell is this country coming to? I mean, I don't even know what to say! Holy shit! It is absolutely ridiculous!!!!!! Has anyone else had any similar experience? why do companies hire union at all? What is all of this horseshit about anyway?
I really didn't think it was so bad before this week.
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I just saw Hero a few hours ago. The cinematography was top-notch. The visual effects were solid, but at times gratuitous and Matrix-like.
The plot was thin. The story was told in an interesting fashion; instead of blossoming, however, the storyline seemed to get progressively crappier as the film continued. Philosophically speaking, the meaning was muddled, so you could probably extract several different interpretations. Nonetheless, I do believe the movie had a creepy "common good" theme that left me with a cold feeling at the end.
Overall, it's a solid movie. I seriously doubt that the movie is any sort of communist propaganda-- it's just a little ambiguous for us philosophical types. Besides, it's worth seeing just for Jet Li's several fantastic martial arts demonstrations
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The more I learn about Kant, the more disgusted I am am with his ideas. When people sneer at Objectivism whilst putting such "famous, classic" crackpots like Kant on a pedestal, I feel like I'm living through Atlas Shrugged all over again.
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In order to exercise your right to life, you need to exist in some area of space.
That is not correct. In order to exercise survival you must exist in some area of space. But you also need food. And shelter. And possibly medical care, expensive surgery, drugs, etc. These things are not rights; they are tools of survival which must be earned and maintained by merit, not need. A need does not justify a right. Therefore, your premise regarding the simple need for land ownership doesn't support an ethical land tax. It is arbitrary.
Life is a right. Survival is not. Simple as that.
If you lose that conviction, the rest will fall apart.
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having your lips pressed against a Bach 42B for years I play a 42 as well, love it to death!Does Drexel still have co-op education? What led you to study business? What do you think of your courses?
Yes, Drexel is still very much into co-op. In fact, I'll be working on co-op this fall. I entered Drexel originally for its fantastic engineering program, but after the first trimester I decided that I wanted to pursue a business major instead (no, not because I couldn't hack the calculus
it just wasn't my thing). Economics, the stock market, and global trading really fascinate me, and I love the business studies because they give one opportunities to get political once in a while But I still keep up with the calculus...gotta keep the mind sharp, y'know.Actually, I am the official contact person for the Drexel Objectivist Club. The President of said club also frequents this forum; his name is Andrew Sternberg. Early last year, in fact, the Drexel and Penn Objectivists got together to host a lecture from ARI President Yaron Brook. It was a wonderful experience...very influential.
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Hello everyone, I was recently introduced to this forum by a friend and fellow Objectivist. My name is Brian Stehman, and I'm a sophomore business student at Drexel University. I was a raging liberal until my girlfriend insisted that I read 'We the Living' last summer. Since then I've read all of Ayn Rand's novels, as well as some of Rand's and Peikoff's nonfiction; I love it! Needless to say, I now consider myself a full-blown, if still amateurish, Objectivist.
I live in Eastern PA, just south of Allentown (yeah, like the Billy Joel song). I am a dedicated automotive enthusiast and video gamer. My other great love (in addition to the only female Randian I've ever met) is music; I am an avid trombone player and enjoy all sorts of musical opportunities.
I would also like to say thank you to the fellows who run this forum. As I've seen so far, it's a well-run, fun, informative establishment. In other words, a rare treat on the internet these days...especially for free
Cheers
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Why do the heroines have fathers while the heroes have no parents at all (except perhaps for Rearden - I vaguely recall his mother figuring somehow among his whiny relatives). And why, other than the one possibility of Rearden (and my memory could be faulty on that one) no mothers. The only other mother of any note is Keating's and she is cast in an extremely negative light.
I must disagree. Rearden's mother was certainly a significant character in Atlas Shrugged. Howard Roark's parents were briefly acknowledged in The Fountainhead, and Leo Kovalensky's father was vitally important in We the Living. Furthermore, Dagny's parents were necessarily mentioned, though never came into the plot of A.S. D'Anconia's entire family was a richly important part of his background, to be sure.
I think that Ayn Rand's heroines' parents are more the result of plot structure, character importance, and chance.
My response to the initial post was composed ad hoc, as it were.
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I'm aware of the book, though I've never read it. I first saw the name long ago, as it was used as the title of a vast AI supercomputer in the old classic computer game 'Marathon'. So much for culture
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Dominique Francon had the same last name of her father, ditto on Dagny w/ her brother. Simply according to tradition, the male gets the dibs on the last names, hence the need to refer to the women of the novels by their first names.
The women's first names also tended to be a little more memorable, as opposed to the men: John, Hank, and Howard. Also, didn't Ayn Rand refer to D'Anconia by his particularly eloquent first name pretty often?
Big Brother Riding Shotgun
in Political Philosophy
Posted
Oh definitely, if disabling the box is an option, I'd certainly consider buying American. But I'm just wondering if laws will be enacted to illegalize such modifications. I wouldn't put it past them.