 18.8.01 Also, zebra mussels are now in the kiosk. In addition to screwing up the ecology of various lakes, they have cut my feet up pretty good. Ow.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 21:28 -- link -- peer review
Back in Hamilton. Stuff sort of unpacked. Long post about Brunchmeet coming later.
I downloaded They Might Be Giants' new album today (Mink Car), yet I'm still listening to Splashdown's Blueshift.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 21:25 -- link -- peer review
16.8.01 I'm up too late finishing my paper, which means I'll be getting too little sleep before Brunchmeet. Ah well. See you on Saturday.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 02:11 -- link -- peer review
The McDonald's website has an Eating Right page. The first line says "Having a tough time getting the kids to eat their veggies and balance out their diet?" To which I say, don't take them to McDonald's! I'd put McDonald's in the kiosk, but then I couldn't in good conscience ever take it out. I've been told that they've done a fair bit to clean up the meat industry by refusing to buy from companies that engaged in some particularly inhumane practices, so they've got that going for them. But then I consider the inhumane things that they do to the meat once they've got it. Someone needs to file a false advertising suit against McDonald's for claiming to sell "hamburgers."
(link indirectly via wockerjabby)
posted by Stentor Danielson at 00:51 -- link -- peer review
15.8.01 It really worries me that some people have Pennsylvania Turnpike fan pages.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 13:20 -- link -- peer review
Today was spent working on my research writeup. 9000 words and counting. I have to finish it tomorrow. Ugh.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 02:21 -- link -- peer review
Two days to Brunchmeet. Thursday at 11 I'll be picked up at the Mahoning Valley exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike by one Barbara "sandrylene" Wilkie. Then it's off to the Birdsall cabin on Lake Cayuga. I get a bonus night of Brunchmeet with just the Birdsalls, due to a lack of residence were I to return to Hamilton on Friday. So Saturday I get to brave the bus trip from Ithaca to Hamilton by way of Binghamton. Darn Short Line not running a direct bus...
Turning on the printer to print out the directions to the cabin (I'm not driving, but I'm paranoid) just woke up my cat (Quincey), who has been sleeping on top of a bookbag that is sitting on our dining room table.
All this means that after Wednesday night, I'll be blogless until sometime Saturday (provided I can get my stuff out of storage right away). And then starts the fun and excitement of Band Camp. See Marty the Amazing Lush! Marvel at Mike Orlando, the Bearded-But-Moustacheless Man! Meet the real Amanda Hope!
posted by Stentor Danielson at 02:13 -- link -- peer review
Danielson's Law states that the potential validity of a theory is inversely proportional to the fraction of the argument supporting it that consists in accusations of brainwashing, closemindedness, obstructionism, and refusal to discuss the issue on the part of the establishment.
V = 1/P
Where V = validity of the theory
and P = percentage of words devoted to accusations of closemindedness, etc.
By Danielson's Law, the FBI alien conspiracy rates a 2 (1/.5), Eirich von Däniken rates a 1.5 (1/.6667), and Time Cube rates a 1.0001 (1/.9999).
posted by Stentor Danielson at 00:55 -- link -- peer review
14.8.01 Fnordia has a blog now. And I got to go on a secret undercover mission into her template to install Reblogger. Use it well.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 02:33 -- link -- peer review
I finshed Atlas Shrugged today. Finally. Overall, I thought the story was good, but the philosophy got overbearing at times (although it makes sense, as it was her last work of fiction before she switched over to just writing essays about Objectivism). I'm kind of ambivalent about the ending, specifically the fate of Eddie Willers. On the one hand, I really liked Eddie (though I can't really explain why), especially once she turned Jim Taggart from a well-meaning altruist into a bastard as selfish as any objectivist but without their ban on the use of force, who was only using "the public good" as an excuse for grabbing power for himself and tearing other people down. So I was disappointed that Eddie (spoiler, highlight to read)wound up laying on the tracks in front of a stalled and abandoned train. But on the other hand, despite knowing that, as a treatise on Objectivism disguised as a novel, the book would end with the Objectivists triumphant, I was sort of hoping for a more cynical end. In this respect (spoiler)I was disappointed with "Project F" -- I was hoping they had gone beyond traditional torture and come up with a way -- like a drug to increase suggestibility -- to make Galt work for them, which would lead Dagny to have to kill him lest his genius be used to prop up the looters, or something like that. So maybe I should be happy that Eddie met defeat, since there was a cynical ending for at least the one guy I liked.
There are a lot of problems I have with Objectivism, but I won't bore you with them. I just have one nagging question: How would an Objectivist society pay the police and the army? John Galt says quite explicitly that there is a role for government in protecting the necessary preconditions of a rational society -- enforcement of laws against theft, muder, etc, and courts to judge contract disputes, and a military to provide defense against outside threats. But I can't see any way that taxes could be considered anything other than "looting," and thus antithetical to Objectivist principles. And since Objectivism refuses all forms of compromise (never mind that every trade is a compromise between a seller trying to get as much money for his goods as possible and a buyer trying to pay as little as possible), there's no way to say that a little tax is ok because the need for police protection outweighs the evil of taxation. It's possible, I suppose, to have some sort of privatized policing (though that seems liable to turn into a protection racket) and private dispute mediation in place of courts. But I can't imagine how a privatised army (wherein a person exchanges money for the service provided if they want the service) could work. Would they let the invading Canadian armies take over 203 Elm Street because Mr. Smith didn't want to pay for the army, but defend 205 Elm Street because Mrs. Jones bought the full military package (including the missile shield option)?
posted by Stentor Danielson at 00:49 -- link -- peer review
13.8.01 Normally I can type my email username without looking at the keyboard, or even thinking about it. It's not a set of letters; it's just a series of finger movements. But today something got just a little out of place, and I nearly attempted to log in as "sdabriewski."
posted by Stentor Danielson at 23:11 -- link -- peer review
I already posted about Ronnie's Old Ladies Tour, but there are a few things I forgot to mention. I forgot to mention that Palmerton Pizza makes the best pizza in the world, much unlike the undercooked and flour-coated substandard pizza you get from Slices. Of course, Slices has a lot of sentimental value attached to it, from three years of Thursday nights at the Maroon-News office.
I forgot to mention that Ronnie's mom's car is very tiny. Even Trevor had trouble fitting in the back seat, and it didn't help that Ronnie had the driver's seat all the way back.
I forgot to mention that Ruth's house features a fiestaware-orange decor.
I forgot to mention that Leanne's jeans kept ripping more every time she got out of the car.
I seem to do this a lot. I'll get down the bare facts of what happened, outlining the whole thing but never taking the time to fill in all the details that make you really feel the scene. I'm too much of a journalist, I think. A news writer, not features.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 00:29 -- link -- peer review
12.8.01 I've hit John Galt's long long long speech, and I can see why so many people skip it. I really appreciate that Ayn Rand took time out of her busy schedule to tell me that I am the pinnacle of all evil, that I am not human but rather a suicidal monstrosity, and that she hates me with every fiber of her being. Only she said it in stronger terms.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 19:00 -- link -- peer review
Mmmm, zucchini bread.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 18:58 -- link -- peer review
I saw Ronnie for the first time in well over a year today. He was one of my best friends in high school, but after we graduated he dropped out of college and moved to Texas with his girlfriend. Now he lives in Arizona, as does my other best friend Chris, working in the produce department of a grocery store.
As soon as I got home from church, I heard someone yelling "hey, Stenny!" I thought it was my brother, but then I looked over at the door and there was Ronnie. He had come back from Arizona for a week in Ocean City with his mom, her boyfriend, his brother, and their two girlfriends. So he had only one day in Palmerton before he had to go back.
Trevor, Leanne, Ronnie and I drove down to Palmerton Pizza, where we met up with Jackie and Nicole George. I didn't eat much, because I had had ice cream right after church. Ronnie was his old hungry self, and he sucked down three slices and a big order of fried mushrooms. Then we headed to Lehighton to visit Matt Snyder's grave. They didn't have a tombstone put in yet.
We ended the get-together with a Whirlwind Old Ladies Tour. Ronnie had to go visit Chris's grandparents, Trevor's mom, Leanne's grandmother, and Ruth (his old neighbor).
I think I've seen more people I went to high school with today than I have any other vacation in the last two years (and plus I saw Jen and Amanda the other day).
posted by Stentor Danielson at 14:57 -- link -- peer review
My sister's friend Sara(h) was visiting today. And every time I walked in the room someone had to point out that this was Sara(h) Hartman. Yes, I know that I know her sister. Yes, she was in my class. Look, I've talked to Shannah maybe once since we graduated, and not very often before then. It's not like it's some major connection, especially considering how small this town is. Although I did learn through all this that Shannah is moving up in the world -- she's apparently living in Bowmanstown now.
I've also been playing a lot of Civilization. And I'm really bitter at the Senate. Normally my strategy is to build only enough military units to defend my cities, and focus all my resources on building city improvements and expanding my territory. If I want to take over enemy cities, I just build a spy and incite revolts. It's cheaper and causes much less damage than conquering them. But the darn Carthaginians switched to a democracy. You can't incite the citizens of a democracy to revolt (which is one of the reasons I always become a democracy as soon as I can). So I had to break out the cruise missiles and teach them a lesson (I didn't have to, but when it's 1850 and your spaceship is completed and you're just killing time until 2000 so that you can let your population expand as much as possible, you need to amuse yourself somehow). Then my own Senate meets with the Carthaginians behind my back and signs a cease-fire, and won't let me break it. Gah.
Before you think I have absolutely no life (well, I don't, but I'd rather you not think that) I actually started my paper based on my summer research today. I made a nifty flow chart for it and everything. I think I've written about 2000 words, and I've only just begun. And I get to ramble on about Harry Lourandos. Harry Lourandos is my hero. Upon further reflection, declaring that I have a favourite Australian archaeologist doesn't really do much to dispel the idea that I have no life.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 00:33 -- link -- peer review
Just for the heck of it I clicked on a bunch of the blogs listed under "recently updated" when I logged on to Blogger. Three of them were in Portuguese. That is really scary.
posted by Stentor Danielson at 00:14 -- link -- peer review
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