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Thanks guys for all the replies. I'll check some of these out. Just started b-school today so my game playing will be restricted to weekends We won't play Scrabble because our public schools did not teach us how to spell

Other than Battleship

My girlfriend and I have been on a board game kick... it's better than watching TV or movies! Hell, and we've been having a great time playing together. Lately we've been playing this one game Tripoly which is a three-level Monopoly knock off but we have alot of fun playing. What are some other 2-player board games that we could take a stab at? We both enjoy war and history, but do not enjoy the fantasy genre. They don't necessarily have to be limited to 2-players, but something that 2-players would enjoy and be able to complete.

They may be related, maybe not. You could have anarchy (no law) or no government and have no protection of individual rights - and it would be as bad as an all emcompassing government. Generally speaking, a moral government would have just enough resources (raised by user fees, tolls, lotto, donations) to protect individual rights. If $10 billion or $10 trillion is required to accomplish this task is anyone's guess and it's not what Objectivists are concerned with. Libertarians are generally for the reduction of government at all costs or the privatization of law which is certainly more tedious.

Not to get off-topic, but I was thinking about moving to NH in 10 years or so when my potential children are school aged. The Bedford/Manchester looks like a great place to do that. No sales tax, no state income tax, affordable housing... sounds good

This is actually something I've been struggling with lately and I was also going to post about it. I'm not depressed or melancholy but lately I've found myself thinking about the null or void after I die. Usually it catches me off guard when I least expect it and it pierces me with pain for a second. I don't want to die, yet it's the one thing that guaranteed to happen in ones life. Whenever this happens I just look at what or who is around me. If I'm outside I look at a tree that full of life. If I'm with family I embrace them. When I'm with my g/f I reason why I value her and why she values me.

Honestly, I studied the Old Testament and the word "commandment" has been perverted today by Christian fundamentalists with agendas. Historically, Moses was leading a heterogeneous group of tribes out of Egypt that conflicted with each other. Moses needed to lay ethical rules down to hedge the murder, theft and crime that was occuring between the contrasting tribes. So the "commandments" were created, however they were not obligations but were followed voluntarily to make the journey.

Oh my, was I wrong for chuckling at this one?

Well I took the test on Monday and got a 650. Doing the practice tests really helped. I'd recommend the Princeton Review books over the Kaplan ones.

Yea. I bought a book with five simulated/computer exams to get the CAT and timing right. Luckily I don't need an NYU-type score (average Rutgers score for admitted is 620), but the higher the GMAT the more money you get. The quanitiative is pretty easy, but the sentence correction sections are driving me nuts. I have always considered myself a pretty good writer, but I have never really worked on correct grammar before.

I'm taking the GMAT in a couple weeks and I've been studying for it about two weeks now with a Kaplan book I picked up at the local B&N. I'm sure some folks here took it. Can you recommend any other study materials or online sites (even if I have to pay) to help me on the exam? Also, how does it compare in difficulty to the LSAT (if you know or took both). I had a tough time cracking 155 on the sample LSATs

What I was referring to was personal because a family member of mine is in the real estate business down the Jersey shore. Beyond your question there are certain ethical guidlines in real estate because of legislation that supposedly fight discrimination in housing; you cannot "steer" a black family away from a white community and vice versa. I'll give a bit more background before I give my take. To my knowledge, Syrian Jews are extremely conservative and require certain amenties for their religious practices that involve kosher laws, sabbath regulations, etc. On Saturday - the Jewish sabbath - Syrians cannot perform any "work" which includes everything from carrying their books to Shul, turning light switches on and off, carrying umbrellas, driving, etc. Since Syrian's cannot "perform work" (i.e. drive their cars) they need to live in close proximity to Shul (their synagogue) so it's easier to walk to and from services on Saturday. Therefore, housing prices are extremely high in a one-mile radius around the Shul to the point where a similar house not within the radius would be half the price. It's also an advantage to live close to the Rabbi as well. Now, with the business ethics. I approach this in the same fashion that many here approach the public scholarship question. These people need houses and someone has to help them find a house. If you aren't going to help them someone else will and you won't be in business too long. It's not rational or in one's self-interest to leave money on the table in business; business is about making money. I think it's the mark of a good businessman when one can create value for himself first and then others consequentally. But I wouldn't do business with drug dealers or terrorists for any amount of money, but what does this have to do with religious folks? The Syrian Jews have done nothing to impede on my right to life, liberty, etc and honestly they are shroud and pretty damn good businessmen themselves. I don't see how the Syrian Jews per say affect my life negatively if I had to deal with them. Honestly, they will usually pay cash and will pay a premium for what they want... isn't that a good thing? Also by eliminating the Syrians, for example, you'd have to be consistant. Would you do business with Catholics, Muslims, deists, agnostics, Marxists? Pretty soon there's no one left to work with. I don't know of too many Objectivists or those that share the same philosophical viewpoint that I personally follow. Also of the Western religions I find Judaism the most compatable with how I personally see things. Most of my friends in high school and college were Jewish, including two of my better friends. I don't see Judaism threatening just as I don't see liberal religiousity threatening. Some on this board with disagree with me and that's okay; the Orthodox Jew Matt that walks with his children to Hillel on Saturday claims no emnity against me and we've had some pleasant conversations over the years about business and Israel. One of the negative things that I see around here is the instant debasement of religion on virtually any topic and this isn't a healthy thing. There are good people who practice religion and there are bad. There are good atheists and bad atheists. Sure, some aspects of religion are antithetical to Objectivism but this doesn't give us licence to be against it in all circumstances. Religion is generally there for those that are looking for moral guidance on an issue and these people should be embraced, not discarded. The fact that folks see wrong in their life and wish to correct it is a praiseworthy virtue... it isn't our job to rail against religion but rather to provide another way other than religion for people to embrace.

Because you'd fall into the same trap that the folks in this poll fell into. I'm not going to distrust someone solely on the basis of their religion, race or political ideology. As far as Fundamentalist Christians, I have nothing against the group itself even though I disagree with their philosophical outlook; I take each individual at face value and deal from there, innocent until proven guilty. And yes, I may get burned but also I'm not going to miss out on potential profitable ventures with these individuals. Also, individuals can be driven toward religion, environmentalism, liberalism, etc because of good or noble intentions. A man seeking moral guidance on an issue may turn to God, but does this make him "distrustful". I think not.

A lot of it is paranoia especially from the likes of John Gibson and Bill O'Reilly with their "War on Xmas" each year. I'd have to say that if I saw a nativitiy scene on public property in my town I wouldn't do much about it; maybe just write a letter to the editor. I've accepted the fact that there are people of faith and knowing the faith could be a strong advantage in business. For instance, the large Syrian Jew population in my town has specific needs per their religion and needs to be catered to - and they have the cash to do business. It's distrubing when one is "distrustful" of a group of people whether they are Jews, atheists, homosexuals or religious fundies. I'm not saying it is akin racism, but it stinks like hell; we are all individuals and should be treated as such. If my neighbor is gay does that make him "less trustworthy" than a neighbor who is black.. or black AND gay? That's what has been stewing in my brain all day and I needed to post it.

Atheism is also connected with socialism and Communism whether we like it or not. Many conservatives I chat with on the Internet and in school blame Stalin's gulags and purges on atheism as if he did it in the name of atheism which is utterly ridiculous. Bill O'Reilly calls Leftists "secular-progressives" which in a sense is correct, but does nothing to help atheists that are *gasp* right-wingers. I found this interesting in the article: I thought this was interesting because my g/f is a liberal Catholic (or a "CINO" - Catholic in name only) and her father took umbrage in fact that I was an atheist when he first learned of it. But eventually he learned to accept it and it really isn't an issue in the house much - he doesn't even bring it up anymore. It's also helped by the fact my g/f is more of a deist than a Christian today after going to college and learning more about the Catholic Church from a historic point of view.

Atheists identified as America’s most distrusted minority, according to new U of M study This is a most interesting article on the topic of religion and American culture. I've always known there was a stigma attached to being an atheist, so I've kinda kept it "in the closet" for lack of a better phrase. But I didn't think that atheists would score below Muslims, homosexuals and illegal immigrants! I think this is true because of two reasons: 1/ Aggressive liberal atheists have used the PC police to mop up Christian culture in America and people on all sides of the political spectrum don't appreciate it (whether you think it's good or not) 2/ Christian conservative groups have used atheists as a great fundraising figure i.e. to win the "war on Christmas" There are probably other reasons as well. What do you guys think on the subject?

It would probably be cheaper to pay the fine. When I was working in NYC the healthcare would have cost $292 a month for the group health plan we had in the office. Overall the voters and taxpayers should vote with their feet. Luckily we still have the freedom to move within the United States (although maybe Taxachusetts may outlaw this soon as well) and businesses and businessmen should start looking at other options as far as new places to do reside.

I've always used this as the "rule of thumb". Objectivists are more concerned with the nature of government while Libertarians are concerned more with the size of government. If I come across Liberatarians that wish to eliminate government for the sake of eliminating it, then I think it's fair to call them anarchists. Most libertarians (little "L") that I come across have mixed/contradictory premises; one that comes to mind is a self-described "imperialist libertarian" that wishes to use excessive military force when necessary to push a libertarian agenda. Most are not concerned with philosophy, are quite pragmatic/whimsical and have no guiding force for any ethical agenda save the "golden rule" and the "coercion rule".

I graduated Rutgers University - New Brunswick in January 2006. If you like the "do it yourself" plan to college, then Rutgers is the place for you. Generally speaking the students are from more middle-class and lower-class families and the folks are down to Earth (if your family has money in NJ chances are they shipped you out of state). The class sizes are very large, some of them getting into the 200-300 area. The academic advisors shouldn't even have jobs and the New Brunswick transportation infrastructure is something the third world would be proud of. Beware that it takes about an hour to get between different parts of campus because of the bottleneck running through New Brunswick which pushes all the traffic onto one street. They are spending millions to improve the main highway (Route 18) but I don't see how this will stem the traffic problem. Rents in New Brunswick and Highland Park are higher than Manhattan and if you could find an affordable room chances are it's smaller than a prison cell or you share it with someone else that has his/her boy/girlfriend over every night. New Brunswick is a terrible "college town" because of the high crime rates stemming from the poor areas around the campus. It's not "Catholic University bad" but bad enough. There was a string of rapes and robberies in the area last year and the police constantly bicker over who has juristiction over the crimes. For a major university the newspaper is a joke. The student government censors the newspaper's comments that are critical of their organization =D So much for being "liberals". Academically, Rutgers is the best value for New Jersey residents although tuitions are among the highest for state universities. But you'll come away with a strong public-Ivy education that will spring you into grad school or a career. To go to Rutgers you need a thick skin dealing not only with the administration but the large class sizes, traffic, cost of living and other perils of living in New Brunswick. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and if you could get through Rutgers you could probably deal with anything in life. I'm applying for their full-time MBA program in professional accounting, so a Rutgers degree certainly opens some doors for you. Monmouth University is actually about 15 minutes away from me. Most middle-of-the-road students in my high school went to Monmouth. It's damn expensive and don't even think about living in the West Long Branch/Deal/Ocean area which probably has some of the most inflated real estate prices in the NYC Metro Area. Some treat Monmouth as a community college for rich kids. If you didn't want the stigma of going to Brookdale Community (which is one of the top 5 community colleges in the country, BTW) and your parents have the bucks then you went to Monmouth. The campus though is beautiful and from what I hear the housing is pretty good too. But I know a couple (smart) people that went to Monmouth that told me horror stories about their less-than-average peers I also knew some professors that taught there I was wasn't impressed. If you want a country-club community college than Monmouth is the place for you. That's what you need to know about RU and MU.

I started playing the other day and I'm really addicted. Thanks My Wiki

I agree. I couldn't even get through the speech without having to go to the bathroom... twice While Galt's Speech is important to the book it could be sparsed down in the movie. It's more important to get the overall themes across (the power of the mind, individualism, etc) then to have John Galt speak for hours. IIRC, Roark's speech at his trial isn't that long so that was ok for film. Also the shorter speeches like Francisco's could be worked in somehow where the charactor is "narrating" while there is somekind of action occuring on the screen. I was listening to Rachmaninoff's #2 Piano Concerto the other week and closed my eyes as I saw the opening credits across the screen and the opening screen of Eddie walking up 5th avenue and entering JT's office. Oh boy, if I only had the skill and time I'd write the damn screenplay myself and get this thing going

I proudly recommend The Motley Fool's Guide to Investing. I bought the book myself when I was a teenager to learn more about investments. Granted, it's not a detailed/academic book (for more of that read Peter Lynch), but it will provide excellent insight into mutual funds, options, individual stocks... how to read balance sheets, what to look for in companies as far as good investments, etc. There is also a good amount of humor (laugh out loud humor) throughout the book. If you have any general questions I possess a Series 6 and 63 and also Life Insurance license that I do not use anymore. I can offer general advice on financial products as far as suitability, retirement, college planning, tax savings, your needs, etc and would be happy to make myself available to anyone that wants to bounce some ideas off me.

One could always reverse corruption, but you cannot give a man his life back. Again, strict sentencing isn't going to do anything... Hell, all of Congress would (and probably should) be locked up for a long time You have to reconstruct the laws and Congress to move away from this interest group dominated liberalism into more of a representative democracy.

I'm partial to my Pugs, although I'm not sure they'd fit your lifestyle. My dogs have also had health problems with their legs and throat. If you want a small breed dog that is good with children then Pugs are pretty good.

Interestingly, the people in my family that I've asked to take the test have found it to be pretty accurate. I got Keirsey's book Please Understand Me II where it goes into greater depth on the subject. The book says that my girlfriend and I are a great match personality wise. She's an ENFJ and I'm INTJ - the book was great because it makes me understand my benefits and shortfalls in our relationship as well as hers. For instance, INTJs tend to be colder in relationships and ENFJs seek warmth; I wouldn't have figured out on my own that this was one of our problems six months into the relationship. Identifing the issue at hand has led to a better, stronger relationship. My parents took the online test as well and it matches them to a tee. They thought it was scary, LoL.