War Veteran

My grandfather, Jim Mertz, fought in the Second World War. He was an officer in the Navy: he commanded the USS Sturtevant, a destroyer escort. I've been privileged to meet some of the men who served under him. They credit him with keeping them safe through the war, with returning them to their lives and loved ones.

My grandfather's quiet and commanding presence has always been apparent to me. So when I first saw this picture just a few years ago, I immediately fell in love with it for just that quality. (He's also very handsome. No wonder my grandmother fell in love with him!) It's actually the only picture I have of him from those war years, or as a young man.

Happily, he's still doing well at the age of 93. He ran a successful slate business well into his 80s. He still sails the Newport Bermuda Race every other year. We even e-mail on occasion. He's quite a remarkable man.

Officially, Jim Mertz is my step-grandfather: he married my grandmother (Allegra Knapp) when my father was two years old. Since I never met my official grandfather (Jim Brickell), all that means is that I'm not fortunate enough to have my grandfather's long-lived genes.

As you might have guessed, Jim Mertz is the source of my middle name. And given the source, I'm proud to wear it.

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Unexpected Numbers

Suprisingly, economic analysis reveals that the skewed male to female ratio in parts of Asia can be largely accounted for by disease in pregnancy, rather than misogynistic practices. (In this case, unlike many feminist wet dreams, misogyny was actually a fairly plausible hypothesis.)

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On Tenure, Again

VDH is right: Tenure has long since outworn its welcome. (I would say more, but I have too many thoughts swimming in my head about all the ills of academia to write down just a few. In any case, tenure is obviously just one small part of the problem.)

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Phallic Logo Awards

"The game designers across the nation are playing is; can they design a logo and get it approved without the client realising it's a big spurting penis?" (Via Linkfilter.)

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Alias Season Finale

Paul and I just watched the season finale of Alias. At first, it seemed like all the storylines were wrapping up rather neatly. So I indignantly complained to Paul, "Where is the cliffhanger?!?"

Then we got to the last few seconds. And they warranted a loud "Holy crap! What the fuck!?!" plus a TiVo rewind. (Yes, my mother ought to wash my mouth out with soap. I do swear like a sailor on occasion.)

So I guess I got my cliffhanger after all!

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The Dark Side of Technology

All too often, the technological marvels developed in (relatively) free countries are used by despots to more effectively command, suppress, harass, intimidate, destroy, and massacre their own citizens. So it's delightful to see the tables turned for a change: bloggers in China are using the internet to expose government corruption, advocate reforms, and more -- at much less risk to themselves than in years past.

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The Success of the Colorado Books Project

I'm very happy to report that Front Range Objectivism's Colorado Books Projects was a great success. Here's the May 22nd announcement from Lin Zinser:

CONGRATULATIONS!!! We have succeeded in raising the necessary funds for ARI to contact teachers over the entire state of Colorado and solicit their interest in teaching Ayn Rand in the classroom -- that is, teaching Anthem and The Fountainhead in high school classrooms, with lesson plans and other tools for teachers.

I am so pleased and excited about the prospect that I can hardly contain myself. I want to thank each and every one of you who contributed to this project. We actually raised more than the required amount -- but every dollar will be spent with ARI in placing Ayn Rand's books in Colorado classrooms.

I am still tabulating contributions, but it looks like we raised over $11,000. I want to also thank Steve D'Ippolito -- whose challenge raised about $2,000.00 in 2 days. In all, 41 people contributed to raise all of the money, and to each of you who contributed, I want to add a personal thank you. All of you contribute to make Front Range Objectivism the success that it is.

I will keep you advised of the progress as I work with the Ayn Rand Institute to install the books in the classrooms. Be proud!!!

Have a wonderful day!

Lin

Thanks and congratulations to everyone who donated!

In my original (and now updated) post about the Colorado Book Project, I wrote: "In my recitations, I usually end up presenting some idea of Ayn Rand's at least once in the semester. I always ask my students whether they are familiar with her work, particularly with her novels. If I'm lucky, I might get one or two students. Mostly however, I get blank stares. I'd like to change that -- and I think that ARI's program is the way to do it."

I'm very excited to see the fruits of this project in the freshman I teach.

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Sick Sick Sick Sick

As you might have guessed from the title, I'm sick. That makes four illnesses this year: two colds and two flus. I will likely be too sick to exercise for a week, then will require three weeks to get back up to full strength. Lovely.

Honestly, if people would only take some elementary sanitary precautions, such as not allowing their sick children to snot all over everywhere, such impositions upon others could be avoided. Our friends the Bretts, for example, always warn us about any sick children and offer us the option to cancel.

I was good enough to cancel my Friday appointments today, so that I don't get others sick. Is that kind of consideration so hard for others?

(Yes, I know I'm bitter. In this case, I've earned it.)

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Snappy Answers

My friend Greg Perkins and I were trying to come up with a snappy reply to rude comments like:

"Oh, you like Ayn Rand? Yeah, I read her in college but then I grew out of it."

"Oh, you like Ayn Rand? You'll grow up out of that sooner or later." (I'm a bit too old to hear that one anymore!)

Although the first does imply that agreement with Ayn Rand is immature, it's not nearly as condescending and offensive as the second. So in that case, I'd likely press the person as to why they abandoned it, as that's of interest to me.

As for the second, I'd be inclined to walk away from the person. Or just stare at him in amazement for a few seconds until he squirms in his seat. Or tell him that that's surely what all those grown-up Nazi's told their children who weren't so enthused about exterminating the Jews. (Ouch!)

I'm looking for replies with that Miss Manners kind of flair: polite on the surface, yet devastatingly nasty underneath.

In the comments, feel free to post other absurd comments that people make about your Objectivist views (e.g. "Deep down, you know that you're rebelling against God") and possible replies.

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Nothing to Say

Sometimes, I just have nothing to say. Like last night. And this morning. And probably this evening. And maybe tomorrow morning.

Personally, I blame my subconscious. Regular blogging will resume once it stops being so damn recalcitrant and lazy.

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The Durango Bike Trip

I'm pleased to report that Paul and I very much enjoyed our bicycling trip to Durango last week. We left on Saturday, then returned on Friday. We drove there, we biked, we biked, we hiked and rested, we biked, we biked, and we drove home. It was good.

We stayed at the Blue Lake Ranch, a fabulous bed and breakfast outside of Hesperus, about 15 miles west of Durango. We ate a yummy and plentiful breakfast every morning in the main house, surrounded by its gorgeous gardens. Here's the amazing view upon entering the property, as well as a shot of the main house.

 

We were housed off by ourselves in the Historic River House, a small cottage with two bedrooms, living room, and a kitchen, about a mile from the main house, right next to the La Plata River. After a hard day's ride, it was nice to be so totally secluded. Here's the River House, then a view from the house toward the road.

 

On our first day, we biked the Baker's Bridge Loop, about 27 miles of beautiful country north of Durango. (I didn't even think to take pictures on the first and best leg of the route, East Animus Road.) On the left is just a boring view from US 550. On the right is a massive waterfall -- in someone's backyard in a fairly suburban old neighborhood. I kid you not.

 

On our second day of biking, we did a long loop of 56 miles through both Mancos and Cortez, west of Durango. The first leg (on the Domingo-Escalante "Highway") was utterly lovely, but the rest was mostly just grueling, with way too much traffic. We were pretty dead by the end. These are just two sights from the first leg.

 

We rested on our third day with a leisurely drive through and hike in the Mesa Verde National Park. Hey look, it's us!

 

Here's a view from a lookout point, with a cool picture of some scrub oak.

 

On our hike, we passed by various cool water carvings in the rock, such as these two.

 

Here you see a mineral stain, a set a narrow stairs, then a very cool grove of oddly-burned trees.

  

On the fourth day, we biked 40 miles from Bayfield (east of Durango) up to the Vallecito Reservoir and back. We stopped to watch the mules and horses in this dandelion-studded pasture playing. The mule foal in the left-hand picture was absurdly cute with strong stance and big ears. On the right is just an ordinary view of countryside through which we traveled. (Oh, to have to endure such painful sights for hours on end!)

 

On the left is the Los Pinos River. On the right is the Vallecito Reservoir, with the stark snow-capped mountains in the distance.

 

On the fifth day, we biked from Arboles to CO 160 and back, all on CO 151. It was an easy 36 miles, except for a killer hill at the very end. First we're headed into some cool rock formations, then we have an extra-cool one.

 

Overall, I was very pleased by our choice of routes. Some were prettier than others, some were more difficult than others, some had more traffic than others. But all were fairly well-described in the book I used, Road Biking Colorado. I'm certainly looking forward to finding other cool places to bike in Colorado with it.

I was also pleased that my leg muscles were only the slightest bit sore on occasion. That's substantially due to my 40-60 minutes of running and/or rowing per day. However, my new clips also definitely helped distribute the work between my quads and my hamstrings. (I'm pretty sure that the clips made a difference, since Paul's legs tended to be sore, even though we run and row almost identical distances these days.) Unfortunately, I did also have some fabulous pain in my right foot while biking that required occasional stops and massages. That was probably because I needed to break in my shoes beforehand, but didn't have time.

Of course, this trip wasn't all about physical exercise! While bicycling, I listened to the whole of Homer's Iliad, thanks to my not-so-new iPod and my new Audible subscription. (It was Samuel Butler's prose translation. I'm sure that it has various defects qua translation, but it did have the overriding virtue of being available as an audiobook. It was also well-read.)

Pathetically, I've never studied any Homer before whatsoever. Both The Iliad and The Odyssey have been on my long-term reading list for a while, but they were bumped to the top after listening to Elizabeth Vandiver's fantastic Teaching Company course on them late this spring. (I've also heard her Classical Mythology course, which is excellent. She is the topmost cream of the generally excellent Teaching Company crop, I think.) I enjoyed The Iliad immensely, in substantial part thanks to the background context provided by Vandiver's lectures. (I also think that it was good to listen, rather than read.) Obviously, The Odyssey is next on my list.

Since I'm an integrated kind of girl, my back-at-the-River-House reading was Victor David Hanson's and John Heath's book Who Killed Homer?. I hope to blog on it soon, since his criticisms of academic classics really helped me crystallize my understanding of the essential ills of academia (in humanities) at present. It's far worse than even most Objectivists realize, I suspect.

Overall, I must report that our Durango Bike Trip was a fantastic vacation. Now it's time for me to get my nose back to the grindstone, as I have far too many incompletes to finish up -- not to mention a ton of independent studying and learning to do.

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Starbucks Starschmucks

As far as I am concerned, there are two big reasons to prefer Peaberry's to Starbucks:

1. Third Street Chai (rather than that all-sweet and no-tea stuff served by Starbucks)
2. Free wireless internet (rather than the uber-expensive T-Mobile Hot Spot at Starbucks)

I am presently enjoying both. Life is good.

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Hammering on the Libertarians

Over the past few years, I've watched my friend Ari Armstrong grow increasingly disenchanted with the Libertarian Party. It's been rather interesting, I must say.

When Paul and I first moved to Colorado in 2001, Ari was actively involved with and supportive of the Colorado LP. For example, he organized the May 2002 Convention of the COLP, even inviting me to speak. (I accepted. It was actually something of a wake up call for me, in that it was my first exposure to the rank and file of the Libertarian Party, as opposed to my prior acquaintance with libertarian intellectuals as an intern at the Cato Institute in college. As my altogether too mild write-up of the convention indicates, I was particularly disturbed by the widespread animus toward any sort of authority -- not merely the authority of government, but also the authority of principles, objectivity, and even reality itself. Still, I was slow to realize that such subjectivism is inherent in the libertarian movement itself -- but just more obvious in the Libertarian Party.) Ari wasn't entirely happy with the COLP back then, but he was willing to work within it.

Since that time, Ari has been slowly reconsidering his views of the LP and of the libertarian movement more generally. Back in May 2004, he wrote a thoughtful reply to Peter Schwartz's essay on Libertarianism, part in agreement and part in disagreement. In July 2004, he cut his ties with the Colorado Libertarian Party for their naked hostility to his well-justified concern for political principles. Just last month, he wrote an essay showing that "the problems Schwartz described two decades ago are widespread" in the libertarian movement. He's since detailed even more examples.

I've been intrigued by the course of Ari's disenchantment with L/libertarianism largely because it parallels my own slow rejection of David Kelley's bastardization of Objectivism. Like me with respect to TOC, Ari was an insider with the COLP for so many years -- meaning that he can point to noteworthy particulars hidden to others. He also cut ties on principle, despite many years of investment into the organization. However, perhaps the most noteworthy commonality is that both of us were deeply influenced by the particular people and general culture of Front Range Objectivism. Our respective intellectual courses were shaped by our involvement with that intellectual community of serious Objectivists -- both for the better, I might add.

Front Range Objectivism is extraordinary just for the size and scope of its activities. Via FROST, it has six well-attended supper talks with prominent Objectivist speakers every year. Via FROG, it conducts two fun and engaging monthly discussion groups with almost 20 active participants each. Via FROLIC, it has a monthly social dinner with an average attendance of about 18. To my knowledge, no other Objectivist group in the country is doing anything like that.

However, Front Range Objectivism is particularly extraordinary for the influence that it has upon its members. The culture of FRO fosters the development of serious Objectivists, i.e. of people who actively seek to understand the philosophy deeply and consistently apply it to their lives. I've certainly benefitted from that culture, as my break with TOC suggests. Paul has also been changed by it, largely in that he has become far more seriously interested in Objectivism since our move to Colorado. And Ari, although still doubtful of certain tenets of Objectivism, has profited from it as well.

From what I've seen of Objectivist groups over the years, that's pretty damn astonishing. (Certainly, in my own case, no one was more shocked than me!) Lin Zinser -- and all the others who made and make Front Range Objectivism what it is -- deserve the warmest of praise for all that they make possible.

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Bizarre

My Google News Alert on "Ayn Rand" does often bring oddities into my mailbox. Consider this editorial. It begins with a random, scattered collection of comments on Objectivism and Ayn Rand. Then it offers its criticisms:

Like many "isms" that are built around a particular point of view, followers of Objectivism have a hard time giving rational explanations for the variations in the human experience. To give one example: United Airlines is in the process of seeking to default on the pension system of its employees. Objectivism would say such an act was necessary to keep the company going. But that is hardly a consolation to the employees who are losing out, especially when they perceive there could be other ways for the company to get out of its financial difficulties.

A major problem with Ayn Rand's approach is her emphasis on what she considers to be intelligence. In her view, the world's problems are solved if intelligent people are allowed to have their way. But that ignores the fact there is no absolute definition of intelligence, despite her attempt to do so by introducing characters in her novels who follow similar thinking patterns.

Some people said Mussolini was intelligent because he made the trains run on time. What else he did on the country he ruled was something else again. A case could be made for the intelligence of Mao Zedong, but the condition of the country he ruled turned out to be anything but an Objectivist's dream. If altruism is a weakness, as Ayn Rand suggested, leaving the poor to live or die on their own abilities -- or lack thereof -- is logical only by the application of strict authoritarian principles that fly in the face of claims that authoritarian regimes are a hindrance to the development of man.

An "ism" that insists on a specific attitude on the part of everyone is an "ism" that ignores the reality that there is -- and should be -- a wide variety in the minds of individual human beings.

Really, I do wonder whether our educational system is so bad that it prevents even the rudiments of thought in those subject to it.

How could anyone think that the basic difference between Peter Keating and Howard Roark is one of intelligence? Or how about that Eddie Willers is a better man than Robert Stadler because between he's smarter than him? Or that Hank Rearden ought to have his way over Orren Boyle because he has more brains? Or that Lillian Rearden failed to control Hank because she just wasn't smart enough? Nowhere in Ayn Rand's fictional or philosophical universe does raw intellectual might make right.

And just how is the supposed intelligence of Mussolini and Mao Zedong supposed to enable them to impose their will upon a nation, in total defiance of reality? How are absolute principles the same as authoritarian regimes? How is the flowering of a multitude of opposing views supposed to constitute respect for reality?

The mind boggles.

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Today's Medical Joke

The doctor said, "Joe, the good news is I can cure your headaches. The bad news is that it will require castration. You have a very rare condition, which causes your testicles to press on your spine, and this pressure creates one hell of a headache. The only way to relieve the pressure is to remove the testicles."

Joe was shocked and depressed. He wondered if he had anything to live for. He had no choice but to go under the knife.

When he left the hospital, he was without a headache for the first time in 20 years, but he felt like he was missing an important part of himself.

As he walked down the street, he realized that he felt like a different person. He could make a new beginning and live a new life.

He saw a men's clothing store and thought, "That's what I need -- a new suit!" He entered the shop and told the salesman, "I'd like a new suit."

The elderly tailor eyed him briefly and said, "Let's see... size 44 long." Joe laughed, "That's right, how did you know?" "Been in the business 60 years!" the tailor said. Joe tried on the suit. It fit perfectly.

As Joe admired himself in the mirror, the salesman asked, "How about a new shirt?" Joe thought for a moment and then said, "Sure." The salesman eyed Joe and said, "Let's see, 34 sleeve and 16-1/2 neck."

Joe was surprised, "That's right, how did you know?" "Been in the business 60 years!" Joe tried on the shirt, and it fit perfectly.

Joe walked comfortably around the shop and the salesman asked, "How about some new underwear?"

Joe thought for a second and said, "Sure."

The salesman stepped back, eyed Joe's waist and said, "Let's see...size 36."

Joe laughed "Ah ha! I got you! I've worn size 34 since I was 18 years old."

The salesman shook his head, "You can't wear a size 34. A 34 underwear would press your testicles up against the base of your spine and give you one hell of a headache."

New suit = $ 400

New shirt = $ 36

New underwear = $ 6

Second opinion PRICELESS

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Theodore Dalrymple on Islam

Theodore Dalrymple's article on the current trajectory of Islam, entitled "When Islam Breaks Down," is a bit old, but just as relevant and interesting today as in 2004. By the accumulation of little bits of evidence, it shows how and why Islam in its current form is so chaotic, brittle, extreme, and personally destructive.

(Theodore Dalrymple is one of my favorite authors. His collection of essays
Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass was fantastic, both in content and style. I discovered it thanks to Robert Tracinski of The Intellectual Activist.)

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Free Ayn Rand Books for Students

One of Lin Zinser's many amazing Front Range Objectivism projects is the "Colorado Book Project."

A few years ago, the Ayn Rand Institute surveyed high school teachers and discovered that the major obstacle faced by them in teaching Ayn Rand's fiction is the lack of books. The school bureaucracy makes it difficult to obtain them from the school, and they are expensive to buy out-of-pocket. So ARI started a "books" program to remedy that problem. With the help of directed donations from supporters, teachers in a given area are solicited for the program. They can order any number of free copies of Anthem and The Fountainhead from ARI, along with teacher's manuals (also available online). ARI's only demand in return is that the teachers agree to actually teach the novels. Some supporters of this amazing project have bought whole states; others have purchased counties or cities. However, as far as I understand, much of the country remains as-of-yet-unclaimed.

Lin Zinser is aiming to claim the whole of Colorado for Front Range Objectivism. (Actually, Denver county and some other areas have already been claimed. But FRO will happily take the rest.) So she's asking for donations, large or small. I second that request, as I think it's an extraordinarily worthwhile project. (Of course, for those of you outside Colorado, feel free to inquire with the Ayn Rand Institute about supporting the project in your own area!)

Below, I've reproduced Lin's letters to the FROST mailing list, as they offer more details. If you have any questions, please contact her at Lin@Zinser.com.

March 6, 2005

As many of you are aware, The Ayn Rand Institute has a special project to place Anthem and The Fountainhead in high school English classes across America. In the past year and a half, books have been or are being placed in several counties in Colorado, including Gilpin, Douglas, Park, Arapahoe, Denver & Adams.

Wouldn't it be excellent, outstanding, outrageous and fantastic for every Colorado high school student to read Anthem and the Fountainhead? Imagine what your life would have been like if it had been taught to you in your high school, by a teacher using a lesson plan created by the Ayn Rand Institute? Can you even imagine that?

I would like to see books placed in as many high school classes in Colorado as possible for next year's classes. ARI estimates that it will cost approximately $9,750 to place more than 1200 books in the remaining Colorado school classrooms where teachers will use them. With significant donations ( $3000 or more), a donor can get its name placed on the bookplate placed in the front of each book which also has ARI's name and website on it. As you know, I am dedicated to spreading Objectivism along the front range -- and more. Help me put www.frontrangeobjectivism.com in all of these books alongside ARI's.

All of the monies for this project are tax-deductible if the checks are made payable to ARI. Please make your checks payable to the Ayn Rand Institute and forward them to me. I would prefer that the checks be dated April 18, so that I have time to gather them and to send them off as one package. That is the deadline -- April 18. I will remind you that April 18 is the 230th anniversary of Paul Revere's ride and the opening round of the war for American Independence. We can make April 18, 2005, the opening round of the war for the independence of the minds of Colorado's youth.

If you would like to help, please forward your checks payable to the Ayn Rand Institute, to me

Lin Zinser
8700 Dover Court
Arvada, CO 80005

Finally, if you have any questions, or want a written pamphlet from ARI -- please let me know and I will forward it to you by US postal snail-mail.

Lin

PS -- I am also interested in doing memoriams for Steve Lund and Bob Zinser for those who are interested, as this is a project both of them would have endorsed.

April 7, 2005

This post is an update to let you know the status of the Colorado Book Project.

The Goal -- $ 9,750

To Date -- $4,660 contributions collected by me or sent directly to ARI

Remaining -- $5,090

I am very pleased so far -- The total amount collected to be sent next week to ARI, or that ARI has already received, that is earmarked for the Colorado Book Project is $ 4,660 or 47% of the goal. YEA!!!!!!!!!

You will recall that the Ayn Rand Institute has a special project to place Anthem and The Fountainhead in high school English classes across America. ARI estimates that it will cost approximately $9,750 to place more than 1200 books in the remaining Colorado school classrooms where teachers will use them. With significant donations ( $3000 or more), a donor can get its name placed on the bookplate placed in the front of each book which also has ARI's name and website on it. Help me put www.frontrangeobjectivism.com and Front Range Objectivism in all of these books alongside ARI's website information.

Several people have asked if I would extend the deadline because of tax season. I will. The sooner we get the contributions, the faster the books get to the schools. But, we will keep the project open until we get funds to do the entire state.

Secondly, some people have indicated they would rather send the money directly to ARI. That is fine. Just be sure and put on the check and enclose a note that you want the donation used for the Colorado book project. It is my understanding that you can also donate shares of stock in place of a cash donation, which might be a better tax solution for you. Just talk to ARI about the details.

Also, some people have indicated some confusion -- these donations are tax-deductible, as I understand it. If you have questions, talk to ARI.

So, send your check to ARI or to me, but in either case make it payable to ARI -- and mark it for the Colorado Book Project. Every dollar helps -- if you haven't done so, please think about donating at least the cost of a book or 2 or 25. grin! Remember, imagine what your life would have been like if you had read Anthem and The Fountainhead in your high school English classes, taught to you by teachers using a lesson plan created by the Ayn Rand Institute?

And for those of you who have contributed already, thank you very much.

Lin Zinser

April 14th, 2005

Just an update to advise you that we are over 55% of the way towards the goal.

To date, we have collected $5,360 towards our goal of $9750.

We still have a ways to go. Remember there are at least 3 ways to contribute to this project.

1) Send check or money order payable to "Ayn Rand Institute" or "ARI" and forward to me -- Lin Zinser, 8700 Dover Court, Arvada, CO 80005-1552. I will be sending our first batch of checks to ARI
next Wednesday, April 20.

2) Send check or money order directly to ARI marked "Colorado Book Project" or "Zinser project" and mail to ARI, 2121 Alton Parkway, Suite 250, Irvine, California, 92606-4926.

3) Contact ARI about donating stock or bonds directly to the Institute with credit being given towards the book project. Contact Duane Knight or Kathy Cross at ARI for the processing of this kind of gift. Phone number at ARI is (949) 222-6550.

Remember, the goal is to put copies of The Fountainhead and Anthem in the hands of high school students in Colorado public schools with lesson plans provided by ARI. All of the monies for this project are tax-deductible if the checks are made payable to ARI.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE GENEROUSLY PROVIDED FUNDS FOR THIS UNDERTAKING!!!!.

Lin Zinser

April 27th, 2005

THANK YOU TO ALL DONORS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE COLORADO BOOK PROJECT.

We are closing in on our goal.

I just sent off to ARI all of the checks that I have collected thus far, and the total that has been committed or contributed is $6,030. This is 61% of our goal.

If you haven't contributed anything yet, please consider doing so. If everyone on the list who has not contributed to buying books for Colorado would make a contribution of only $25, we would be very close to covering the state of Colorado and providing the opportunity for thousands of students in Colorado to read Anthem and The Fountainhead over the next five years.

Think about this.

A $32 contribution would buy 2 copies each of Anthem and The Fountainhead -- books that could change a life in the same way that your life was changed.

A $16 contribution would buy one copy each of Anthem and The Fountainhead -- and give you the privilege and pride to say that you contributed to this project.

What reasons are there for donating? I can think of many. You might say I want to introduce active, eager young minds to Ayn Rand's books -- I want more of the right minds to be aware that Ayn Rand's ideas give "statement and voice to what the best of mankind has always believed."

Or, you might say, I also want to realize in my own life that "what one does not seize from the moment, eternity will not give back." That hope for the future must be its own reward today. Or as Ayn Rand put it, "anyone who fights for the future, lives in it today."

Here is your chance to put your tax deductible dollars working for ARI -- IN COLORADO -- where you live, work and play.

Lin Zinser

In my recitations, I usually end up presenting some idea of Ayn Rand's at least once in the semester. I always ask my students whether they are familiar with her work, particularly with her novels. If I'm lucky, I might get one or two students. Mostly however, I get blank stares. I'd like to change that -- and I think that ARI's program is the way to do it.

Update: Front Range Objectivism did it! Here were the last two e-mails.

May 18th, 2005

WE ARE NEARING OUR GOAL ------

Thus far, $8,505.00 has been either forwarded to me for donation or sent directly to the Ayn Rand Institute for the Colorado Books Project.

THANK YOU DONORS ------

This means that we only need around $1245 to reach the goal. I would like to have all of the money collected and sent to ARI by the end of May. So, here comes the squeeze.

If you haven't contributed any money yet, and you want to contribute money to the project, this is the time. If you want to contribute, but need to wait until June to send money, please pledge your money now so that we can wrap up this collection phase and ARI can send the letters to the schools and teachers NOW.

If you have already contributed money and can donate a bit more to get this done quickly, that would be wonderful.

Remember, this project will put copies of Anthem and The Fountainhead into the curriculum of high schools in Colorado -- and the teaching plans will be those provided by ARI. Many of you have heard Yaron Brook speak about the funnel that will change the culture -- this is the beginning. The first step is to get new young readers -- and this nationwide project, of which the Colorado Books Project is just a part, is a great way to get young readers. The next step is to get them interested in the Objectivist Academic Center -- and to using and applying Objectivism to their academic studies so that there are more scholars and academics who understand and can teach Ayn Rand's philosophy in the schools and universities across this country -- and elsewhere.

I am very excited that we are so close and really want this project to get to the next step. I would appreciate your help.

Lin Zinser

Then Steve D'Ippolito issued this challenge: "If $1000 additional can be raised by Friday, I will donate the last $245." It had a great effect.

May 22nd, 2005

CONGRATULATIONS!!! We have succeeded in raising the necessary funds for ARI to contact teachers over the entire state of Colorado and solicit their interest in teaching Ayn Rand in the classroom -- that is, teaching _Anthem_ and _The Fountainhead_ in high school classrooms, with lesson plans and other tools for teachers.

I am so pleased and excited about the prospect that I can hardly contain myself. I want to thank each and every one of you who contributed to this project. We actually raised more than the required amount -- but every dollar will be spent with ARI in placing Ayn Rand's books in Colorado classrooms.

I am still tabulating contributions, but it looks like we raised over $11,000. I want to also thank Steve D'Ippolito -- whose challenge raised about $2,000.00 in 2 days. In all, 41 people contributed to raise all of the money, and to each of you who contributed, I want to add a personal thank you. All of you contribute to make Front Range Objectivism the success that it is.

I will keep you advised of the progress as I work with the Ayn Rand Institute to install the books in the classrooms. Be proud!!!

Have a wonderful day!

Lin

Thanks and congratulations to everyone who donated! I'm very excited to see the fruits of this project in the freshman I teach.

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New Digital Camera

I've had my first digital camera, an Olympus Camedia D-460 Zoom, for quite some time now -- since April of 2000, in fact. By today's standards, the camera is just pathetic; it's large, clunky, with a crappy battery life and a whopping 1.3 megapixels. Those five human years are like 100 camera years!

Although I'd thought about replacing the old camera with a newer model, I'd never bothered. It still worked well enough for my purposes.

However, the camera just recently died: it only reads its card intermittently. The problem is definitely with the camera, since it won't read either of my two cards, whereas my computer happily reads them both.

So I decided to buy a new camera, as I definitely want to take pictures of the sights on our upcoming trip.

I opted for the uber-tiny Pentax Optio S5i, with an extra-fast, 1 gig card to go with it. (Sheesh, I remember when a gig of hard drive space was astonishing!)

Here's one of my first pictures, of our cat Oliver sleeping on our bed. (I must admit that I was too tired from a morning of gardening to get up out of bed to take any more ambitious pictures.)



He looks like a perfectly cute and fluffy little bunny in that photo, but he was actually glaring at the camera in most of the five or so pictures I took.

Then tonight, I caught Abby determinedly devouring the cheesy tidbits baked onto the lasagne pan.









Go Abby!

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Eric Daniels in Denver

Historian Eric Daniels is coming to Denver to speak on "The Commercial Revolution in American Business" on Saturday, May 21st, thanks to FROST. Details can be found here.

Eric is awesome, so I highly recommend his lectures, whatever the topic. (Indeed, I am quite remiss for failing to announce this earlier.)

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Bicycle Clips

Paul and I will soon be headed to Durango (in southwestern Colorado) for a week of bicycling, hiking, and other forms of energetic fun. (Much to my delight, we're staying at a small private house next to the La Plata River a mile from anyone else at the Blue Lake Ranch.)

Yesterday, I bought bike clips (not straps, but clips and shoes) to anchor my feet to the pedals to make the upcoming miles smoother. I was only able to ride a quick six miles after getting home, as it was getting dark. But wow wow wow. It was a whole different experience, so much better than the regular way.

I can't wait for our trip.

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A Kindness

I must say, it was very nice for the Ethnic Studies department at Boulder to tell us why it deserves to be closed down. (Of course, they were trying to argue just the opposite, but no matter.)

Just one comment: Predictably, the department views its mission as that of "introduc[ing] the diverse perspectives of historically underrepresented communities into the curriculum." Yet "by definition," they claim that requires them to "counter the standard 'canon' of the humanities and social sciences." By definition! Worse still, as the letter makes clear, they want to be able to do that without public criticism.

Unbelievable.

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Done Done Done

Well, I'm finally done my semester. It was pretty grueling toward the end, as usual. (I finished all of my papers on Saturday, but I had exams to grade by Monday.)

As some of you may know, I've gotten just a wee bit behind in my work at Boulder. Okay, I'll admit that it has been pretty bad: I was carrying four incompletes this semester.

I originally got behind in the Fall 2003 semester, as I was desperately trying to sort through the the tangled mess of my association with TOC. That summer, I didn't get much done in the end, despite far too many hours of work, largely due to conceptual problems in writing, particularly an inability to reduce the issue at hand to its fundamentals. (In the course pondering the failures of TOC, my standards for my own work rose dramatically, but my skills lagged a bit behind. I seem to be doing better now, thankfully.)

Last fall, it was nearly impossible to catch up. (In fact, I got one incomplete further behind.) I had three classes at Boulder, plus my course on Objectivism via ARI's Objectivist Academic Center. I was also TAing for the first time: teaching and grading two recitation sections of 26 students each. This spring, I was only taking two classes at Boulder, plus the OAC course, plus TAing two recitation sections of 21 students each. So I managed to knock one incomplete off my total. (I actually finished two incompletes within the one-year deadline, then took a new one.) I'm definitely going to finish up the other three this summer; I've hated having them hanging over my head.

Here are the three just-completed papers:

Better Morally Good Than Morally Lucky for my Spring 2004 "Topics in Values" class. I was pretty happy with this paper. I plan on expanding it for my big "fifth semester paper," so comments and feedback would be particularly welcome. In fact, the more general topic of moral responsibility might be of interest as a dissertation topic.

Animal Wrongs for my Spring 2004 "Environmental Philosophy" class. Oddly, I have another paper to write on animal rights and/or liberation for my Fall 2004 "Animals and Ethics" class. Since I know the topic so well now, I'd like to write something with an eye to publication.

The Inevitability of Alternative Possibilities for this semester's "Freedom and Responsibility" class. (Update: Maybe I'm not so done after all, as problems have cropped up with this paper. I'll post an updated version when it's finished.)

Oh, and Paul and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary last night, with our good friends Cliff and Alexa Brett. They were best man and maid of honor (respectively) at our wedding. Oddly, we share an anniversary: we were married on their sixth anniversary. Happy anniversary Mr. Woo!

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Game Theoretic Analysis of How To Avoid Being Tortured

Diana and I have been watching a lot of espionage-themed television DVD's recently, such as Alias, 24, and MI-5. Hence, it is with great interest that I read this recent post by Tyler Cowen:

Let us say that you have been captured and threatened with torture. You are, for whatever reason, entirely willing to betray the information you hold. Your primary goal is to avoid pain, and perhaps you positively want to squeal. How should you present what you know? I see a few options:

1. Break down immediately, beg for mercy, humiliate yourself, and spill the beans. (If you talk right away, will they torture you anyway? And since no further good information can be offered why should they stop?)

2. Go in acting tough, really tough. At the first sign of serious pain, start crying and switch to strategy #1.

3. Wait until they apply their "best shot" torture, and then talk. They will feel they have done their job and stop.

4. First offer (or make up) compromising information to show your disloyalty to the cause your torturers are fighting. Your confession will then be more credible.

5. Say you don't know anything, try to fight the torture, but break down when you can't stand it any more. You can't fool them, so the best you can do is to actually "go through the wringer." You are stuck in the pooling equilibrium, and trying to deviate only makes you worse off.

Which of these is the most credible signal that you have told all you know? Can you do any better than number five?

And here's one military interrogator's response to those options.

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The Kindness of Morons

Today's moronic e-mail is from Lin Biao :

Subject: Excellent Stolyarov Essay on Slow Drawn Murder Of Terri Schiavo

Thanks for posting referral to the above mentioned piece.
You might want to check out Ilana Mercer's website for
another excellent piece on this subject.
The neocon World Daily Net website has been covering this
for years and has the most comprehensive report on the
whole case. Nat Hentoff has had several excellent pieces
on Schiavo case in the Village Voice and Jewish World Review
websites and even the neocon National Review website has had
several good pieces as has The New American website.
As we all know sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words
as we all know from pictures of Auschwitz, etc.
Pictures in Rodney King atrocity do prove LAPD out of control.
Abortion pictures show bloody killing but justifiable homicide
as fetus in body of another. See Rothbard in The Ethics of Liberty,
by far best pro-choice argument. Much better than Rand weak ones.
Baboons at ARI would be anti-abortion and pro-Palestinian
if Rand had been same. Total uncreative morons from top on
down. I'm atheist and pro-abortion myself but totally disagree
with assisted suicide or forced euthanasia.
Your stuff on Palestinian issue good for toilet paper only.
See works of Alfred Lilienthal and Edward Said and ONE
Chomsky book here, The Fateful Triangle.
Recall your mismanagement of Branden website well, glad that
you have disassociated yourself from the Branden Cult and his
even stupider wife, too bad you went back in warm womb of
Randroid Dumbasses.
Don't bother writing me back, just look up the sources I kind enough
to refer you to.

Ah yes, what a kindness Lin Biao has done me! I would thank him, but sadly I'm not allowed to write back.

However, I am confused on one point: I can see how pictures of abortion show the "bloody killing" of a "fetus in the body of another," but I'm just not sure how they show "justifiable homicide." Ah well, I'm sure it's just self-evident. Or, in Rothbard's case, based upon a totally stupid analogy combined with a rationalistic view of property rights.

Also, since I'm now "in warm womb of Randroid Dumbasses," does that mean that killing me would also be justifiable homocide? That might be nice to know.

Update: Of course, today would have to be the day that Paul gets this e-mail from a GeekPress fan distraught over this week's light blogging (with the subject "How can I live without GeekPress??"): "My formerly shiny happy purposeful life has become a dull miasma of hopelessness and despair." Not fair! I want to be able to do that! (If Paul were reading this now, he would tell me that I have done just that to him, thanks to our loveless sham of a marriage!)

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Serenity

Paul and I just got back from special preview of Serenity. (As you might recall, the tickets in all ten cities sold out in just a few hours.)

It was fantastic: compelling and novel plot, sharp humor, delightful backstory tidbits, glorious danger, and all the rest. Happily, that seemed to be the common assessment of the audience.

I can't wait to see the final cut on September 30th.

Update: Ari Armstrong has a nice write-up of the Serenity preview. I particularly enjoyed hearing this little tidbit:

Rotten Tomatoes, citing a "CABridges," reported: "Advance screenings of the upcoming movie 'Serenity' were announced last week, with ten showings in ten cities on May 5. Universal had an advertising campaign all ready to go but didn't need it as tickets sold out by the next morning."

Ari also sent out the picture of those of us from Front Range Objectivism able to attend:



That's (top row from left to right) Molly Chiaramonte, John Williams, Lin Zinser, Betty Evans and (bottom row, from left to right) Ari Armstrong, Diana Hsieh, Paul Hsieh, Rob Chiaramonte.

Also, this page contains a review of the film from someone who has never seen Firefly (with some spoilers). As he said: "This movie rocked."

Apparently, some cities were blessed with appearances from the Big Damn Heroes:

Austin - Nathan & Ron
Boston - Sean & Morena
Las Vegas - Joss & Summer
San Francisco - Gina & Alan
Seattle - Adam

Now I'm jealous.

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Because Beschmuz

I've long suspected that I have an animus against the word "because." My suspicions were confirmed in the process of writing my papers on zoocentric egalitarianism and moral luck this spring: I would only use a "because" in a dire situation -- and never at the beginning of a sentence.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I dislike the word so much. It might be due to its harsh sound. It also feels too colloquial to me. Or maybe I have a secret distain for causal connections. Or maybe I'm just too mired in the soft and light skepticism demanded in academic writing.

In any case, it's not good for a writer to have a dislike of such a perfectly good word. Perhaps I'll try to overcome it by using it often, even when I'd prefer not to do so. That way, I'll be able to experience whatever beauty in action it does possess. Or maybe I'll come hate it even more.

Stay tuned! You don't want to miss any of the nonstop excitement here at NoodleFood!

(Speaking of which, I'm also torn as to whether words like "nonstop" should be hypenated or not. In many cases, prefixes like "non" and "anti" aren't really integrated into the word, as are "im" and "de," but rather just tacked onto them. Also, I hate to leave a propositions dangling at the end of a sentence; they drive me batty. Split infinitive are just fine though.)

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Student Malapropisms

I'm busy grading papers these days, so I might have found this list of student malapropisms just a bit too funny. Some students obviously relied too much on oral material from lecture:

12. Regarding Hobbes' view: "in the state of nature man is nasty, British and short."

46. "Descartes states that we have doubts because of the Evil Genius in us."

58. A student wrote about Descartes' "cogito ergo seem" argument.

290. For Hobbes a limited government would be no good because it could never have more power than the subgroups that composed it, which means that it could fall victim to revelry.

Other students were just pretty darn confused:

14. "I believe Plato has the right idea but I don't exactly buy the notion of the forms."

16. "Berkeley's philosophy of immaterialism was the theory I have read which I can relate to due to the ideas I have in my mind."

25. "Ultimately, this objection against this utilitarian way of thinking is well grounded because it is ridiculous under this circumstance to consider only the consequence and not what is actually going to be accomplished."

27. "Although Hobbes' view is contradictory, therefore problematic, it is generally correct in concept and thus can be accepted as valid."

63. "In the Apology, Socrates is wrongly accused of philosophizing."

90. "According to Kant, man "treats himself as an end to all things. He does everything for himself."

104. Writing a test answer to a question about problems with Anselm's ontological argument a student writes: "this doesn't make any sense to me how existence not being a predicate denies a perfectly good argument on the existence of God by Anselm but that is the problem they raise."

119. In writing a paper on whether Socrates contradicts himself regarding one's obligation to obey the law in the Apology and the Crito, a student maintained that he approached "...each issue independently...[deciding] which route of action would represent the greatest good for the greatest number of persons."

134. "Psychological egoism has both good and bad points. It's good in that one's only concern is for one's self-interest. Yet it's bad because seeking one's self-interest means being selfish."

However, I liked this one:

277. The first sentence of a paper on Kant's ethics read: "Kant and his ethical theory is one that begins and ends in much a confusing manner."

But wait a minute: The middle is confusing too!

I did find a few of funny malapropisms in my student essays. Perhaps the best was a reference to a "cereal killer" in a (generally good) paper on punishment. I can see it now: "Detective, he's struck again. Yes, the cereal killer. It was the Corn Flakes this time. I'm sorry, sir; I know they were friends of yours."

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Busy Busy Bee

At the moment, I have lots of e-mail piling up in my inbox. Due to my usual end-of-semester crunch, I don't expect to be answering any of it until next weekend at the earliest, except to put out fires. (So don't be starting any fires!)

Even when I'm really busy, I can generally snatch a few occasional moments to blog. Answering e-mail quickly sucks up lots more time, so I'm just avoiding it altogether at present.

The moral of the story: Don't think that I'm ignoring you; I'm actually ignoring everyone!

P.S. I hope folks are right about Daniel Lee lying about plagiarizing (!) to get a rise out of me. If so, I'll admit it: I'm an easy mark. I should be more alert to the possibility of people who lie for the fun of it, but that psychology is just so foreign to me that I have trouble even remembering it as an option.

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