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:
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!
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.]
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.
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.
"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! :)
According to Reuters, nobody at the Environmental Protection Agency told their boss about the report on "global warming"! More posts: HOT AIR, HOT AIR II and EPA.
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:
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.]
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.
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."
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.
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:
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.
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?"
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:
Check out: Laogai Research Foundation. It is "a non-profit organization dedicated to collecting information about China's vast system of forced-labor camps."
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!
Bush commented on the report by saying: "I read the report put out by the bureaucracy." So, is it time to do something about the practice of junk science at the Environmental Protection Agency?
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:
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:
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.
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.]
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:
