Sunday, June 30, 2002

CHICAGO

I made a trip to Chicago during the weekend. I had a great time! I visited among other things the Sears Tower and Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio.

Wednesday, June 26, 2002

LINK

I have added The Middle East Forum to the War on Terrorism category. Read Daniel Pipes', director of the Middle East Forum, article, Bush is rewarding terrorism.

Monday, June 24, 2002

PALESTINIAN STATE?

President Bush has stated that it is ok to create a new terrorist state. What do you think about this statement by Bush:

"I can understand the deep anger and despair of the Palestinian people. For decades you've been treated as pawns in the Middle East conflict."

Don't you think that the majority of the Palestinians are in favor of Arafat's terror regime? Why should Israel cave in to the demands by the terrorists? I don't think that you should negotiate with the enemy. The Detroit News has a good editorial, Don't Reward Terror with Palestinian State. Scott Lindlaw at The Washington Post has a piece on President Bush's "plan" for the Middle East. For a rational approach, read the editorial, Israel Has A Moral Right To Its Life. Why reason and justice are on Israel's side. [Via Fredrik Norman.] Here is a great quote by Yaron Brook and Peter Schwartz:

"The growing demand for Israel to negotiate with Arafat comes from an unprincipled, range-of-the-moment mentality. Surrendering to extortion�which the "land-for-peace" catechism endorses�is profoundly immoral and impractical."




Saturday, June 22, 2002

SKYSCRAPERS

If you like skyscrapers, go to SkyscraperPage.com.
POLITICALLY CORRECT COFFEE

How crazy are the people in the city of Berkeley anyway? Read about the politically correct proposal in The San Francisco Chronicle. Related: my post, ANTI-REASON AT UC BERKELEY.

Friday, June 21, 2002

Thursday, June 20, 2002

FINANCIAL TIMES

The Financial Times has a piece on weblogs. [Via InstaPundit.]
OLIVER STONE

Oliver Stone is in the process of making a documentary on Yassir Arafat. Stone said the following regarding the conflict in the Middle East:

"The (Jewish) settlements (on the West Bank) -- they are something else. The Israelis have no business in the West Bank. The settlements have to be gotten out of the West Bank."

Should we put any kind of trust in the guy who has been involved in movies like Wall Street and Natural Born Killers?

Wednesday, June 19, 2002

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

Great to hear that Southwest Airlines has the guts to charge fat people for two seats. More power to them! Miriam Berg, president of the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination, has the following to say:

"The fact is that Americans are getting larger. This is what the population looks like, and an airline has an obligation to make its seat fit the population."




"HYPERTEXT"

Read Foreseeing the future: The legacy of Vannevar Bush by Erin Malone. Maybe the folks at NPR should read the above mentioned article?! ;) [Via InstaPundit.]
LINK

I have added SwoopTroop.com to The Good Life category. Related: my post HEROISM.



WINE AROMA WHEEL

I have received my Wine Aroma Wheel from A.C. Noble at the Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California. I look forward to test some wines in the near future! For more information on wine, go to this post. You are more than welcome to join The Good Life community if you want to discuss wine and other good things in life!
CREATIONISM

Read John Rennie's article, 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense, in the Scientific American. See also my post on "Intelligent Design Theory."
DRUDGE REPORT

From the Drudge Report: "The front page of the DRUDGE REPORT was viewed 4,997,679 times on Tuesday -- marking an all-time high in its 7-year history!"

Congratulations Matt Drudge! Keep up the good work!

Monday, June 17, 2002

PAC-MAN

Check out this piece on Pac-Man. I got in a nostalgic mood after reading it... :)

EU AND IRAN

From The Financial Times: "European Union foreign ministers on Monday gave the green light to launching formal trade relations with Iran despite heavy pressure from the US and Israel, which lobbied hard to delay negotiations or impose strict conditions."

Why trade with the enemy? Maybe the bureaucrats in Brussels are afraid that they will not be able to get their hands on caviar from Iran?! ;)
TED TURNER

Ted Turner must be full of beans. Listen to this statement:

"The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers, that's all they have. The Israelis ... they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make a case that both sides are involved in terrorism."

Maybe Turner should concentrate on his restaurant business instead...

EGYPT

From The Jordan Times: "...Egyptian academics and intellectuals opened discussions Sunday on eliminating the Jewish state." [Via Watch.]
OBJECTIVISM

I have added Phil Oliver's Objectivism.net to the Objectivism category.
"MARTYR" NECKLACES

Here is an example on how the idea of altruism has an influence on the Palestinian youth. Related: my post, CRUCIFIX FASHION?


IRAQ II

Is it the final countdown for Saddam Hussein? Read the article, Bush Considers Options in Iraq. Read Margaret Thatcher's article, Don't Go Wobbly, in the OpionJournal (registration required). [Via Watch.] Related: my post on June 6.
FORTUNE

Fortune magazine has issued a list of cool companies. Pyra Labs is one of the companies on the list. [Via Glenn Reynolds' InstaPundit. I don't agree with Laurence Simon's negative comments on Microsoft. Support Microsoft's freedom to innovate!]
MEXICO 0 - 2 USA

Yeah! The American soccer team has advanced to the quarterfinals!

Coach Bruce Arena: "We know we represent the greatest country in the world."

Do you think that soccer will become more popular in the United States? For more information, go to Major League Soccer.

Sunday, June 16, 2002

THE ENEMY OF REASON

Read David White's article, Jackboots and Sandals, on Bruce Hill's blog War Now. [Via InstaPundit.]

Ayn Rand wrote a great analysis of two philosophical archetypes, Attila and the Witch Doctor, in her book, For the New Intellectual. Here is a quote:

"The essential characteristics of these two remain the same in all ages: Attila, the man who rules by brute force, acts on the range of the moment, is concerned with nothing but the physical reality immediately before him, respects nothing but man's muscles, and regards a fist, a club or a gun as the only answer to any problem�and the Witch Doctor, the man who dreads physical reality, dreads the necessity of practical action, and escapes into his emotions, into visions of some mystic realm where his wishes enjoy a supernatural power unlimited by the absolute of nature." -- Ayn Rand (1961) ["For the New Intellectual," For the New Intellectual, page 14.]


CYBER ATTACKS

Fox News: Foxnews.com, Other Sites Attacked.

ABC News: News Sites Under �Syn� Attack.

SEARCH ENGINE

Read Fara Warner's story, How Google Searches Itself, in the July issue of the Fast Company Magazine.

Learn more about Google Inc. on Tech TV's web site.

Saturday, June 15, 2002

ANTI-REASON AT UC BERKELEY

Karen Alexander has an article about anti-Semitism at the San Francisco State University and the University of California, Berkeley. [Via InstaPundit.]

For more horror stories what's going on at Berkeley, check out:
The Ayn Rand Institute's press release on 10/25/01: Berkeley Leftists vs. Free Speech. Campus Newspapers Stolen for Running Pro-America Ad.
The Daily Californian: Daily Cals Stolen, Replaced With Protester Fliers. Fliers Call for Daily Cal Boycott.
The Daily Californian 06/04/02: Berkeley Faculty, SJP Press UC for Israel Divestment. Petition Asks UC to Lobby U.S., Israeli Governments.
OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY

From The Oxford English Dictionary Newsletter: "The NAEU is also working closely with the new words group in Oxford, carefully reviewing the high-profile new words that are so often of American origin, and drafting new entries for words that have come to our attention. Some of the words we have drafted in recent months include tipping point, gentleman's C, weaponize, collateral damage, blog, skeevy, and perp walk."

THE NEW ECONOMY

Go to Wired magazine's web site and read James Surowiecki's article, The New Economy Was a Myth, Right? Wrong.

For a rational approach to the financial markets, go to InterMarket Forecasting, Inc.

I gave some book suggestions on May 17.



1968 FLASHBACK?

Are the hippies back in the political limelight? Check out this statement by several "prominent" Americans. Here is a quote:

"The government now openly prepares to wage all-out war on Iraq - a country which has no connection to the horror of September 11. What kind of world will this become if the US government has a blank cheque to drop commandos, assassins, and bombs wherever it wants?"

Iraq has no terrorist connection?! This is an incredible stupid statement! Granted that Iraq is not the headquarters of terrorism, Iran has that role, it still belongs to the "axis of evil" and it is an enemy to America and the rest of the Western world.

Read Hatred of Western Civilization: Why Terrorists Attacked America by John Lewis.

Support a good cause, buy a "Make War--Not Love" T-Shirt.


Friday, June 14, 2002

SPAM FOR BREAKFAST?

From Pacific Business News: "The 78 McDonald's outlets in Hawaii have begun test-marketing a breakfast meal that consists of egg, rice and Spam."

Do you like SPAM? I haven't tested this food product yet...

Writing this post made me hungry. It would be nice to have some sushi right now! :p

SAUDI ARABIA

Here is a disturbing example of what kind of propaganda TV they are watching in Saudi Arabia.

Andrew Dalton gives the following comment:

"Since this crap is financed by the Saudi royal family, now is as good a time as any for me to draw attention to an elephant that has been standing in the room for quite some time: the Saudi government is our enemy."

"Corsair the Rational Pirate" has the following solution:

"Why the US continues to support this shithole of a country is beyond me.... Oops, forgot about the oil. So we should just go in and take it, set up minefields all around it, and kill any camel jockey rag head who gets too close."

Read A War against Islam by Robert Tracinski.




BLOGS

I have added Steven Den Beste and Mark Wickens to the Blogs category.
TAMPERING WITH NATURE

I watched John Stossel's program, Tampering With Nature. I thought the program was pretty good. It is scary how young kids are indoctrinated with environmentalist propaganda.
WHY BLOG?

Read Meg Hourihan's article, What We're Doing When We Blog. [Via InstaPundit.]
PAKISTAN

After the bomb explosion at the U.S. Karachi Consulate, I definitively agree with Robert W. Tracinski's column, Time's Up for Pakistan.


CAMPAIGN AGAINST SERVITUDE

George Bush has been delivering the commencement address at The Ohio State University. Here is a quote by Bush:

"You will determine whether we become a culture of selfishness and look inward - or whether we will embrace a culture of service and look outward."

I don't want to become Bush's slave. I am an individual who believes in freedom. America was founded on the principle of individualism. Read Andrew Bernstein's editorial, What Young People Really Need: Not Volunteerism but Happiness and Heroes. Check out The Ayn Rand Institute's Campaign against Servitude.

SOUR GRAPES

Here is the follow up to my post on June 7, NEWSPAPER TOOK A BITE OF THE ONION. The state-run Beijing Evening News said the following:

"Some small American newspapers frequently fabricate offbeat news to trick people into noticing them, with the aim of making money.This is what the Onion does."

How about the censorship of news media in communist China?



FLAG DAY II

Here is an interesting tidbit about the origin of the melody of The Star-Spangled Banner. [Via InstaPundit.]

"May our club flourish happy, united and free!
And long may the Sons of ANACREON intwine
The Myrtle of VENUS with BACCUS'S Vine." [The Anacreontic Song, verse VI.]

Let's party! Open a bottle of wine and celebrate the greatest country in the world! :)

Thursday, June 13, 2002

Wednesday, June 12, 2002

"ENGINEERIST"

Steve Den Beste has a post on how he is describing himself in philosophical terms. I agree with his thoughts on Liberals and Conservatives. I call myself a radical for capitalism. I am an Objectivist. I am opposed to the Libertarian movement. I don't agree with Steve's pragmatism:

"We Engineerists are intensely pragmatic. We don't try to come up with overriding philosophies ("wealth is evil", "Government regulation is evil", "America is evil") and then judge everything based on it. Individual cases are taken as they come, and the only criterion for any given proposal is practical: will it work better than the alternatives?"

If you want to live a good life, you should guide it in a principled way. If you don't have an integrated system of ideas, i.e. philosophy, you will sooner or later get lost. You will have a mixed bag of ideas, contradicting each other.

"In the Objectivist view, moral principles are not luxuries reserved for "higher" souls or duties owed to the supernatural. They are a practical, earthly necessity to anyone concerned with self-preservation.
The only alternative to action governed by moral principle is action expressing short-range impulse. But for man, as we know, the short-range, viewed long-range, is self-destructive. This is the practical point missed by pragmatism, which tells people to judge each choice not by reference to abstract theory, but only by its results after it has been tried; which insists that today's results need not recur tomorrow; and which urges that each situation be approached "experimentally," "on its own terms." Such a philosophy amounts to the declaration: drop your mind, discard your capacity for thought, decide each case perceptually. This is precisely what man cannot do; not for long." -- Leonard Peikoff (1991) ["The Good," Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, page 218 - 219.]

For a good introduction on Objectivism, go to The Ayn Rand Institute's web site.

To "The Rational Pirate" and Glenn Reynolds: If you want to buy a T-shirt with the text "Don't Tread On Me" and the rattlesnake, check out ALH Products.
TIME TO COLONIZE MARS II

Read Glenn Reynolds' column, We the People of Mars.... [Via InstaPundit.] For more material on Mars, read my posts of May 25 and May 26.

SHOULD WE BE TOLERANT?

Read Michael J. Hurd's answer to a question about tolerance towards our enemies. Here is a quote:

"If you insist, or imply as this questioner does, that one method of living life is as good as any other -- that the Moslem faith-based method is as good as a reason-based one -- then you see what starts to happen in the world. Look around you, and go to ground zero in New York, for some expansion of this point."
SWEDEN 1 - 1 ARGENTINA

Sweden is now on its way to the second round of the World Cup. Argentina's team has to pack their bags and go home. I wonder if this event will have any impact on Argentina's economy. Read Robert Tracinski's article, Argentina's Intellectual Collapse.

Monday, June 10, 2002

LOVING LIFE

Go to Fredrik Norman's web site and read his post, The Good Life.

I have added Glen Allen Press to the Literature category.

C-SPAN ARCHIVES ON THE WWW

I wrote on May 18 that I missed some TV programs on the C-SPAN channel. You could now watch the following programs on C-SPAN's web site:

* Interview with Ayn Rand from 1961.
* Panel Discussion: "Ayn Rand, Communism and the Hollywood Blacklist."
* Panel Discussion: "The Fountainhead and Today's World."
* Speech: Jeff Britting, Archivist, Ayn Rand Archives on "Ayn Rand and Hollywood: Soviet Film School to The Fountainhead."

[Source: Betsy Speicher's CyberNet.]

Sunday, June 9, 2002

HEROISM

Go to Prodos.com and listen to an interview with Andrew Bernstein. I enjoy reading Andrew Bernstein's novel, The Heart of a Pagan.

Read Andrew Bernstein's article, The Philosophical Foundations of Heroism.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF PUNCTUATION

The Philosophy of Punctuation by Paul Robinson. [Via Arts & Letters Daily.]

Listen to Victor Borge's Phonetic Punctuation system. I have added Werner Knudsen's Victor Borge Tribute site to the Humor category.


Saturday, June 8, 2002

THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE IS MOVING

The Ayn Rand Institute is moving to Irvine (Orange County) from Marina del Rey, on June 30. Read more about the move:
The Orange County Register: Ayn Rand group shrugs off old HQ. Institute that spreads philosophy of objectivism opts for Irvine over L.A. County.
The Los Angeles Times: Ayn Rand Institute to Move to Orange County.
[Source: The Harry Binswanger List.]




TERROR ALERT

This is a scary terror alert from Eyewitness News / CBS: "On Thursday, the FBI issued the alert to state and local law enforcement officials � its an internal warning to cops around the nation, cautioning that al-Qaida supporters in the United States may use nerve gas to poison subway systems in New York, Washington D.C. and other major cities before or during the fourth of July."
[Via Drudge Report.]
"CAPTAIN EURO"

Twelve Stars Communications has created a comic strip in order to promote the European Union! Here is a quote from their press release:

"Captain Euro, Europe's superhero created by Twelve Stars to improve the image of the EU, appeared as a guest star in the famous Channel 4 Programme EUROTRASH hosted by Antoine De Caunes."

I wonder how much this joke will cost the European tax payers. Check out super"hero", Captain Euro. [Via InstaPundit.]

For a real superhero, check out Steve Ditko's character, Mr. A.

Read Jerry Nilson's article, EU � Altruism, Kollektivism & Konflikter. (The article is in Swedish.)

Thursday, June 6, 2002

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Watch Bush's address to the nation and his proposal of creating a new agency called the Department of Homeland Security. Read the text of his speech on MSNBC's web site. It will be interesting to see what will come out of this proposal.

Read this amazing story on ABC News on how terrorists tried to get loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I think it is incredible that nobody took notice of Mohamed Atta's strange behavior.
GET ON THE RIGHT TRACK!

The Washington Post has a story on Amtrak's financial problems. It is time to privatize the whole railroad industry! The great businessman, Cornelius Vanderbilt, went into the railroad business when he was 70 years old! Here is a quote from Edwin A. Locke's book, The Prime Movers - Traits of the Great Wealth Creators:

"By age 76, he had consolidated a number of inefficient, competing railroads into the New York Central system, which became one of the most efficiently run and profitable railroads in the world." ["Independent Vision," The Prime Movers, page 38.]

Ayn Rand's character Dagny Taggart in the novel, Atlas Shrugged, knows how to run a railroad! Read a sample chapter from Andrew Bernstein's CliffsNotes guide, Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Read an excerpt from the novel, Atlas Shrugged.



AMERICAN DINING ETIQUETTE

Harry Roolaart has written a funny and informative article called, The Irrational Exhuberance of American Dining Etiquette. Maybe P.G. Wodehouse's character, Jeeves, has to give the American people a lecture on how to use dining utensils?! ;) For more information on P.G. Wodehouse, read C.A. Wolski's article, Seriously Funny Business: The Comic Fiction by P.G. Wodehouse.

I have added a link to The Wodehouse Society in America in the Literature category.
IT'S THE SKYLINE OF MY YOUTH

Read Dr. Michael J. Hurd's article, It's the Skyline of My Youth, on Benjamin Netanyahu's web site. Here is a great quote:

"We could level all of the Middle East if we had to, except for the oil fields we need to survive, and except for the lone country friendly to freedom: Israel. No, I'm not saying that we should immediately level all of the Middle East. But we should leave no doubt that we're willing to do so if that's what it takes to defend freedom and our very lives."

Wednesday, June 5, 2002

FRENCH FRIES WITH A TASTE OF HOLY COW

From Ananova: "McDonald's is to pay �6.85 million to Hindu and vegetarian groups following claims that it mislabelled french fries and hash browns as vegetarian. The company faced lawsuits after it was revealed that the vegetable oil used to prepare the fries and hash browns contained essence of beef for flavouring purposes."

I don't understand why the above mentioned groups have a "beef" with McDonald's over this issue. Read McDonald's apology. "Do you want fries with that?"
IRAQ

Glenn Reynolds is giving us the alert that Pejman Yousefzadeh thinks it is time to attack Iraq and take care of Saddam Hussein. Here is a quote from his article, Into Iraq? Yes:

"American military action against Iraq is, and should be, a no-brainer. Removing Saddam Hussein from power will deal a severe blow to the cause of international terrorism, and will help ensure that Iraq does not gain possession of weapons of mass destruction."

Yousefzadeh is arguing that an attack against Iraq could start a revolution in Iran. For more on Iran, read his article, You Say You Wanna Revolution?

Check out his blog and read his interesting bio.

DAILY DOSE OF INSTAPUNDIT

You could find plenty of interesting "stuff" at Glenn Reynolds' blog InstaPundit. Here are two things: "Intelligent Design Theory" and "The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement."

The "Intelligent Design Theory" is another name for religious propaganda camouflaged with pseudo-science. Go to Ohio Citizens for Science and sign the petition against the proposal to include "Intelligent Design" creationism into the K-12 public school science standards. Read Robert Tracinski's article, The Bible Belt�s Assault on Education - The Kansas Evolution Policy Attacks the Essence of Education: The Teaching of Facts and Reasoning, Not Feelings or Faiths.

Listen to a debate with the man-hater, Les U. Knight from The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. On a related topic, read Robert Tracinski's article, The "Green" Unabomber
Is the Unabomber an Environmentalist?


REMEMBER TIANANMEN SQUARE 06/04/89

From The Guardian: "China has detained 23 people in a search for the source of secret documents used in a book about the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, a U.S. government broadcaster reported." Read also the article, 'Tiananmen Papers' Provokes Crackdown, in The Washington Post. For more information on the book, The Tiananmen Papers, go to this link on PBS.

Check out: Laogai Research Foundation. It is "a non-profit organization dedicated to collecting information about China's vast system of forced-labor camps."





USA 3 - 2 PORTUGAL

I wonder if soccer will become more popular here in America after today's victory against Portugal. It took me a long time to get interested in American football. It was great to watch the New England Patriots win the Super Bowl XXXVI. Go Pats!

For more information on the World Cup in soccer, go to Bill Davis' World Cup Blog.

Tuesday, June 4, 2002

Monday, June 3, 2002

"GEORGE W. ALGORE"

Read and listen to Rush Limbaugh's take on the article in The NY Times on "climate change." Go to: The Truth Detector...George W. Algore. Rush is mentioning that part of the U.S. Climate Action Report 2002 is directly taken from a report by the National Academy of Sciences. Read Robert Tracinski's article, The National Academy of Dubious Science.
BUSH IS A PRAGMATIST!

James K. Glassman, at Tech Central Station, thinks that George Bush "has abandoned the principles that attracted conservatives to him in the first place." I found this article via Instapundit's site.

Robert Tracinski has written an interesting piece with the title, Who is George Bush? Here is a quote:

"What is missing from Bush's policy is the guidance of long-range, abstract principles. After all, in the Republican primary, Bush was selected as a pragmatist, as someone who could compromise because he was unencumbered by "ideology"�the contemporary epithet for principles."
IRAN

What's going on in Iran? The World Tribune.com has a breaking story with the title, Ruling cleric warns Iran 'on the brink of explosion'. Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini, the deputy Speaker of the Assembly of Experts in Iran, says:

"The people are very dissatisfied, and they are right to be so, and I swear to God that the society is on the brink of explosion."

Is, Reza Pahlavi, son of the Shah of Iran, a potential candidate for leading the country in the future? Here are some quotes by Pahlavi from an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters:

"We cannot have true democracy unless there is separation of church from state."..."The problem is that this system is incapable of reforming. The problem is within the law and the nature of the regime itself."

Here is a quote from Robert Tracinski's article, The Fundamentalist Threat:

"The same phrase, "secular republic," has been shouted in the past few weeks by young anti-government protesters in the streets of Iran. The U.S. needs to give its full support to these secular forces in the Muslim world. But to do this, our leaders have to embrace the idea that America is and ought to be a secular republic�which would require them to renounce the goals of the religious right."






Sunday, June 2, 2002

BEER NEWS

Philip Morris Companies Inc. has agreed to sell Miller Brewing Company to South African Breweries plc. The new company, SABMiller, will become the second-largest brewer in the world! I look forward to see Pilsner Urquell here in America. For more beer news, go to The BeerLog - Pint of view.
HOT AIR II

I wrote a post on "climate change" on May 28. I wonder if the Bush administration has taken advice from some guys in an igloo... According to a flash report by Matt Drudge, the administration has changed their views on "global warming." To get the whole story, read Andrew C. Revkin's article, Climate Changing, U.S. Says in Report, in The New York Times.

Read Den Beste's analysis on the Kyoto Protocol and the green movement's doomsday mentality. Here is a great quote:

"There are people out there who hate everything that the industrial revolution has brought us. They think we're too rich; they think we're too comfortable. There are too many of us. They want to turn back the clock, make the human race smaller again, or if that can't be done at least make it so that the human race uses less. It takes different guises."

Check out The Ayn Rand Institute's micro-site, Environmentalism: The Anti-Industrial Revolution.

WEST POINT

Here are some quotes from Bush's address at West Point:

"If we wait for threats to materialize, we will have waited too long."..."We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt its plans, and confront the worst threats before they emerge."

An al Qaeda spokesman, Sulaiman bu Ghaith, has recently stated: "So beware, America. Get ready. Get prepared. Put on the safety belt."

I hope that the United States Military Academy graduates have been given the right philosophical ammunition. I have problem with the last part of USMA's mission statement: "...and a lifetime of selfless service to the nation."

Ayn Rand said the following at an address given to the graduating class of USMA, on March 6, 1974:

"You have chosen to risk your lives for the defense of this country. I will not insult you by saying that you are dedicated to selfless service�it is not a virtue in my morality. In my morality, the defense of one's country means that a man is personally unwilling to live as the conquered slave of any enemy, foreign or domestic. This is an enormous virtue. Some of you may not be consciously aware of it. I want to help you to realize it." ["Philosophy: Who Needs It," Philosophy: Who Needs It, page 10.]

Click here if you want to have a free audio cassette recording of Ayn Rand�s address, Philosophy: Who Needs It.

SEATTLE ESPRESSO PARTY?

A pressure group in Seattle called, The Early Learning and Care Committee, wants to impose a tax on espresso drinks. Here is a quote by the campaign manager, Lisa Moy:

"Taxing espresso drinks is a guaranteed source of income in Seattle, where many residents can't get through the day without a caffeine hit."

I read about this story on Rick Schrager's web site, Technoerotica.net. Read the article, Seattle Latte Levy May Brew Revenue, on CBS News.

For a historic tour, visit Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum.






MORE LINKS...

I haved added Wander-Lust and Get Linked to the Resources category.