$ jlc (10,317)

I am not as knowledgeable about Finance as many of the rest of you, but common sense says, "There is a real answer to this question." Nickursis seems to be on the right track - but I cannot vet if the figures he has cited (with gov source) are real or if they have already been 'spun' by the gov.

I can say that I do not think that additional income labeled as Obamacare allows for a profit. What I have seen of that program indicates that this is a 'loss' center for the gov, not a 'profit'.

Jan

Thank you, Nick.

Jan

Wow. I agree with a lot of people on this thread!

Firstly, I agree with most of your article SSL. db's additional comments are also both good and perceptive. Lastly Herb, CG, RR, and the dino have a point that we are looking at a perilous cost-benefit ration, where much of the population has been conditioned against freedom and there is no guarantee that our viewpoint will be the 'winner' if a catastrophic collapse occurs. I am inclined to suggest that a few incremental improvements in tech may improve the survivability of independent people more likely, which would argue for delaying the crash a bit longer.

Where I disagree with SSL's excellent article is in the defense of allies. I want a future world that is varied (as opposed to a world gov), but that means that if other philosophies help each other but our philosophy does not, we will be losers in the evolutionary race. I would also argue that for there to be some provision for the support of people who genuinely cannot take care of themselves (institutionalized) is more rational that declaring it to be 'someone else's problem'.

Jan

It struck me as important that only about 10% (perhaps as high as 25% if there is small overlap) of the Objectivists surveyed are 'visible'. The only reason that the other 90% are known to exist is because they answered the survey.

I find this heartening, actually.

Jan

'Avoidance of help' is as logical as a 'requirement for altruism' is. These are both just ways of polarizing a rational approach to life. There will always be occasions when you need a hand from someone else; conversely, if you choose to help another person no one need give you permission to do so.

Appropriate 'selfishness' is more clearly seen when someone else is trying to give away your stuff for a cause that you do not regard benefits you.

Jan

Yes, I will gladly eat with Liberals and Libertarians, so long as they keep their hands off my plate.

Jan

Ha! I hope the photo was worth it.

Jan

I have looked up some stats, based on your comment above jlogan, and it seems that you are correct: about half of the women surveyed indicate that they have rape fantasies. Looking a bit further, though, it seems that almost as many men (45%) have fantasies of being raped by a woman. (!)

I have not done further research to see how this varies cross-culturally, but there was a comment, that I think was perceptive, that rape fantasies are stronger in people with sex-guilt association.

So may I change my statement to take this new knowledge into account? I would like to propose that in low-guilt randian archetypes, rape fantasies would be rare and, when they exist, would indicate a flaw in the character that portrayed them.

Jan, thanks for the insight

While I agree with jdg, Thoritsu and others who are in favor of this decision (obviously, or I would not have started this thread), I would think it would be less divisive to the members of the Gulch in that the changes were made were for personal use not as a commercial product: I get to jailbreak my phone; I get to fix my car.

Jan

We had no problems with MS on that - in case of major disaster (such as Katrina) we told our customers (even the ones who were not on support) to go out and buy a new PC (because their offices had been destroyed) and we would reinstall SL on it and copy in their most recent backup of their database. The new PC came with a copy of Windows (but often they lacked a copy of their backup and had to start from scratch). It is when a more normal breakdown occurs that we have discussions over the licenses of MS and Pervasive.

Jan

Jan

But it is sooo REAL for the projected AS mini-series. We were blue-skying how to make AS happen in the near future in a world with much broader power distribution than the 1950's. And now it is happening in front of our eyes.

Jan

Point for being bad.

Jan

Point for being good.

Jan

When you buy a Windows version, you get two things: a download or disk with the product on it and a license key (string of letters and numbers) that is now registered to you. If your computer dies, you are supposed to be able to reuse the disk or to get another copy of that same version, as long as you have a copy of the license key.

It is not just MS that does this - we used a Pervasive db for many years, and it worked the same way (but if our customer had lost the license key they had to re-buy the product).

(We just keep track of our customers and reload our software on their new computer...but they have to have a copy of their data! Most of our medical facilities are Very Bad about doing backups and as often as not, the data is lost. That means: your past medical record is wiped out of existence.)

Jan

That would be a fun job!

Jan

Yes, the idea that you were not allowed to repair your own car any more was absurd. Even though this process seems to be rather labor-intensive, I think it changes the default in the direction of letting you dink with things for your own use.

Jan

This is my view. We are dealing with the 'Gas Laws' here, and if we do not understand that we will waste a lot of effort. The US border with Canada does not have to be strongly protected, because it is already in equilibrium. The US border with Mexico represents a huge tech and infrastructure difference and we have to have a strong 'container' if we are going to prevent our 'coming to equilibrium' with a Mexican level of tech.

Jan

Chuckle. (Glad I was not drinking something when I read the last line.)

I read an article about Ireland, and the key there seems to have been to 'cobble together some sort of peace' so that a generation could grow up without having gang-warfare-death as part of its natural environment. Once parents were able to raise a single generation of kids without having to become blase about half of them getting killed, and those kids were able to grow up being able to think of 'what they wanted to do with their lives' the urge to relentlessly kill-and-be-killed withered away.

This is a solution that is strong because it partakes of human nature - no parent wants to see his kids slaughtered. We do not have an entry point into this that bypasses the religious fanaticism of the ME, however. Hating, killing, and dying are as normal a part of their lives as going to the grocery store is of ours.

Jan

This was a heartening article to read. Bravo Carson!

Jan

That is a good one. I also like the "I know not with what weapons WWIII will be fought, but WWIV will be fought with sticks and stones" quote. I think that was what made a lot of people see that when your tech has developed sufficiently that you could destroy the planet we had to evolve more self-control (at least until we have force field technology...!)

Jan

The article ended on a sour note, but the first part was inyourfacegreenies great. What it is saying is that the same thing that happened in agriculture is happening in petroleum: Predictions of starvation in India by the 1970's were forestalled by the development (in the 1950's and 60;s) of short wheat and better fertilizers. Now we have the predictions of fossil fuel depletion by 2050 being derailed by technological improvements in extraction processes.

Predictions, such as the famous case of London being buried by horse droppings by 1890, do not take into account qualitative changes in technology (ie cars) - they always rely on projecting current tech into the future.

Jan

I am stunned and aghast with appreciation. This is wonderful!

Jan

This is a wonderful opportunity for Exxon to call all global warming into doubt. Generally, when you get 'the US vs [someone else]' the other side is outgunned - but in this case, Exxon has big enough guns to productively fight back.

What Exxon needs to do is embrace this opportunity to challenge the very concept of global warming: ie "We cannot have 'known about Global Warming in 1977 because Global Warming does not exist." Exxon should go for a high-publicity trial that pushes Climategate evidence that the Global Warmers themselves knew that Warming was a farce.

Jan

My point exactly. Society dumped socialists 'where they could not do any harm'...in Academia. After all, what harm could they possible do in raising 3 generations of children into socialism? The bengal tiger was not tame, just patient.

We are reaping the crop that has sprung from these tiger-teeth.

If we want to enact a 'slow' and relatively non-destructive change in our culture in the direction of valuing individual freedom and achievement, it will take another 3 generations to do this. The other choice is for there to be a calamitous collapse of society - and hope that you and I will be amongst the survivors. Reality will destroy socialism; we can rebuild; but much will be lost.

Jan

He was an altruist and a deist as well as a genius, but he had a lot of insight. If I cherry-pick amongst his quotes, I can come up with some that are remarkable:
• Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift.
• Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.
• Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
• The environment is everything that isn't me.
• People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results.
• He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.
• Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.
• I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
• I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.
• I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
• A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be. Information is not knowledge.
• It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
• Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow - perhaps it all will.
• Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.
• Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
• Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
• Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

Jan