caroljane

Update -- there are unconfirmed rumours that Bertie's balloon was powered not only by hot air but by Cold Chopped Logic, the tradename of his controversial patented fuel, and that this risky combination of propellants is suspected as a factor in the disappearance of his craft.

To Counselor O'Garrulous of Hinterland: You are mistaken that there are "a lot of women-haters" on OL. Nobody hates women on this site. They would not dare.

Despite my many candid stories on this thread, I have been reluctant to explain some of the details that were especially painful. For example, I previously described Wendy's plagiarism as "intensely personal." This story is a major reason for my description. I doubt if anything hurt me so much as the timing of Wendy's plagiarism. I later felt that I had been kicked in the head by a former close friend while I was down on the ground and virtually helpless. In one of my replies to Richard "Normal" Martin, I noted that I had a nervous breakdown during this period. I vividly recall something that happened a few days before marshals showed up to evict me and A. from our Long Beach apartment. While lying in bed next to A., thinking about how badly I had fucked up and anticipating my dim prospects, I started to sob. I rarely cry, but his was not normal crying. It was deep, primal sobbing. It continued for at least a full hour, and, despite repeated attempts, I could do nothing to stop it. I just kept sobbing and sobbing and sobbing. I even put a pillow over my head at one point so as not to worry A. more than I already had. This went on for so long that my stomach was extremely sore for a week thereafter. I couldn't even cough without considerable pain. Then, not long after moving into a motel, I started hallucinating big time. Most of the hallucinations were intensely sexual; I could look at a newspaper, for example, and see sexual images. Then one day, while standing in line at a bank, I looked at an abstract mural on the wall and saw sexual images everywhere. I didn't panic, but being the introspective type, I thought to myself (and these were my exact nonverbal words): "I am now officially insane. Now I know what it feels like to be insane." Somehow during all this I managed to maintain a brisk writing schedule and thereby generate a good income, but I didn't know if I could ever pull out of my self-described insanity, especially while moving from one motel room to another. This brings me to the last conversation that I ever had with Wendy. I mentioned this phone conversation in one of my replies to Brad, but now I will explain what happened. I was able to get out of my predicament with the Mexican Mafia in Long Beach by quickly moving to SF, after JR had kindly offered to let me stay with him for a while. Not long after I moved in, JR and I got drunk on some thick sludge that he called "beer," and, as I began to reminisce about my recent misfortunes, I felt that I needed to talk to Wendy. I didn't know exactly why, except that I felt she, and she alone, would understand the hell I had been through. I assumed that Wendy would not answer a phone call from me, so I asked JR to call her and ask if she would talk to me. Jeff agreed, but, as I expected, Wendy refused. Then something unexpected happened: Wendy called back a few minutes later and asked to speak to me. The following is a nearly verbatim account of our very brief conversation. "Hi, Wendy. It's good to talk to you again." "George, this is all too painful. I can't stand it. It's too painful." I knew exactly what Wendy meant, so I said, "Okay, I understand. I won't call again." In those few words that Wendy said to me, spoken in a guttural voice, I detected so much honesty that I cried after hanging up the phone. Little did I know what awaited me three years later, after the publication of TRW. Ghs That yours is a love story, in addition to every astounding thing else, is the most poignant part of all.

This makes perfect sense to me. Makes perfect sense to me as well. When reading the original FOR passages Ghs posted and comparing them Wendy's almost identical versions, I wondered why she did not even try to camouflage her copying of these passages more. The only explanation I could think of was that for some reason she must have felt very safe in proceeding like that; but what was that reason? Did she feel safe because she knew George was philosophically opposed to the idea of defending "intellectual property"? I think she did know about this, but what George wrote in the passage you quoted above makes Wendy's brazenness in copying even more "explainable": She thought George would never recover. Everything falls into place now. Way to go, Wendy. The literary equivalent of purse-snatching from the wheelchair-bound. Entrepreneurship at its finest!

First, a moment of silence. We have just learned the sad news that Bertie, popular Objectivist Living house troll, is missing and presumed dead. Bertie was on his way to an OL tea party in Florida via Berlin, Warsaw, Calgary, Smolensk and Chicago, when his hot air balloon vanished somewhere over Veritas, Lithuania. On behalf of the BOTW committee we extend to the bereaved community of hapless trolls worldwide, our sincerest bewilderment. On a happier note we are pleased to announce the inaugural BOTW - Bridge Over Troubled Waters Award! The winner is Objectivism Online, who recently featured an inspiring quotation by Nathaniel - not Hawthorne, not West, but (drumroll) Branden!!! Congratulations to the producers, facilitators and moderators of this Giant Step for Objectivistkind. HOT CURRENT TOPIC AWARD Plagiaree George H. Smith's My Amazon/ McElroy thread is approaching 20,000 readers with no sign of abatement. Though some have remarked that Smith is no Theseus and McElroy is a sorry excuse for an Amazon, the saga has been compared to Dynasty and attracted a community of devotees. Will the role of Bertie be recast? Will Wendy Xrated be induced to make a guest appearance? We're all staying tuned. Still, the thread has a ways to go to beat the 29,000+ numbers of Oonline's smash hit, "How Old Are You?" And finally, the CAROL CHANNING AWARD goes to Dennis Hardin. On Oonline (what a week they're having!), Dennis shares that back when Hello Dolly was the biggest hit on Broadway, he passed up a ticket for it in order to see Ayn Rand at the NBI. Sources close to Dennis say that it was well worth it. Rand's rendition of "I Enjoy Being a Girl" was nothing short of spectacular, and after her encore of "Yankee Doodle Dandy", there wasn't a dry wit in the house.

You gotta have conflict, so have it from without. Imagine a future US which has defederalized into a bunch of independent regional republics, some are objectivist and some are..not so objectivist. I'd guess it would look like, Southwest Good, Northeast Bad.

You gotta have conflict, so have it from without. Imagine a future US which has defederalized into a bunch of independent regional republics, some are objectivist and some are..not so objectivist. I'd guess it would look like, Southwest Good, Northeast Bad.

Do you mean "state" or "society." As Peter Reidy noted, government would be miniscule. Ayn Rand's essays present her views. Read them carefully without your own prejudices. Just for instance, "Roots of War" suggests that she was not a supporter of the US war in Europe 1941-1945. Her testimony in front of HCUA was not her intended presentation. She wrote about that, as well. There would be no taxation, of course. She suggested a fee for court services. Nonetheless, she insisted that government must be limited to - and therefore must provide - army, police, and courts. Yet, there is nothing to prevent private guards, or adjudication. Today's Objectivists say that the government provides a monopoly of law within which any business - including private police and private courts - would operate, only that there could be no competing system of laws in that place. In Atlas Shrugged Judge Narragansett amended the Constitution to prohibit any law restricting production or trade. But the government is not society. In an Objectivist world - one where at least a quarter of the people explicitly recognized the Basic Principles of Objectivism - government would be unimportant. You have been pointed to Robert Heinlein. Have you read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress? Have you ready L. Neil Smith's "Probability Broach" novels, or his Pallas (in our world; not the Broach)? How about the cyberpunk novels? Also, how long has this society been Objectivist? Think about the change from 400 BC to today. Then imagine that in three generations. Government is a horrible waste of resources. Religion is a horrible waste of human potential. Free people of those and we would explode into space and across time. You could use these very Objectivist message boards themselves as models for space stations, ships, moons, planets. They are privately held, relatively open yet personally and absolutely enforced, each producing the same mix, but in different ways. Look at the ancient Greek world before Rome, especially the archaic to classical period, or Europe of the High Middle Ages, or China in the time of the Warring States. Any time you have a broad cultural matrix of common language, etc., but weak central authority, you get these blossomings. Richard P. Feynman was a hard-headed guy, but he found no metaphysical reason for death. The body repairs and replaces itself all the time. We know of babies who lose a finger and grow a new one back. Imagine what that promises. James L. Halperin is the co-director of Heritage, the largest numismatic auction firm and the third largest auction firm in the world. Most people call it "coin collecting" but numismatics is the art and science that studies the forms and uses of money. It is the largest unregulated money market in the world. Silly conservatives say that inflation destroys the value of money, but "worthless" Zimbabwe notes sell for five bucks. Figure that out. Any way, Jim Halperin wrote two science fiction novels, The Truth Machine and The First Immortal. They are examples of how a capitalist sees the future. Basically, if you set any Objectivist society far enough in the future, any advance you can image will be probable. Myself, I look at Isaac Asimov's "Spacer" worlds - Solaria, Dawn, Aurora - enjoying sparse populations and robots to serve them. In his universe, they collapse, but I think otherwise. Have you read Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy? It is a national socialist utopia set in 2000 as seen from 1886. What you want to avoid is the "tour guide" story in which the hero happens to meet the love of his life, who looks just like the girl he left behind. Rather, you would have actual, interesting drama play out in the world you create. That's tougher.

Do you mean "state" or "society." As Peter Reidy noted, government would be miniscule. Ayn Rand's essays present her views. Read them carefully without your own prejudices. Just for instance, "Roots of War" suggests that she was not a supporter of the US war in Europe 1941-1945. Her testimony in front of HCUA was not her intended presentation. She wrote about that, as well. There would be no taxation, of course. She suggested a fee for court services. Nonetheless, she insisted that government must be limited to - and therefore must provide - army, police, and courts. Yet, there is nothing to prevent private guards, or adjudication. Today's Objectivists say that the government provides a monopoly of law within which any business - including private police and private courts - would operate, only that there could be no competing system of laws in that place. In Atlas Shrugged Judge Narragansett amended the Constitution to prohibit any law restricting production or trade. But the government is not society. In an Objectivist world - one where at least a quarter of the people explicitly recognized the Basic Principles of Objectivism - government would be unimportant. You have been pointed to Robert Heinlein. Have you read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress? Have you ready L. Neil Smith's "Probability Broach" novels, or his Pallas (in our world; not the Broach)? How about the cyberpunk novels? Also, how long has this society been Objectivist? Think about the change from 400 BC to today. Then imagine that in three generations. Government is a horrible waste of resources. Religion is a horrible waste of human potential. Free people of those and we would explode into space and across time. You could use these very Objectivist message boards themselves as models for space stations, ships, moons, planets. They are privately held, relatively open yet personally and absolutely enforced, each producing the same mix, but in different ways. Look at the ancient Greek world before Rome, especially the archaic to classical period, or Europe of the High Middle Ages, or China in the time of the Warring States. Any time you have a broad cultural matrix of common language, etc., but weak central authority, you get these blossomings. Richard P. Feynman was a hard-headed guy, but he found no metaphysical reason for death. The body repairs and replaces itself all the time. We know of babies who lose a finger and grow a new one back. Imagine what that promises. James L. Halperin is the co-director of Heritage, the largest numismatic auction firm and the third largest auction firm in the world. Most people call it "coin collecting" but numismatics is the art and science that studies the forms and uses of money. It is the largest unregulated money market in the world. Silly conservatives say that inflation destroys the value of money, but "worthless" Zimbabwe notes sell for five bucks. Figure that out. Any way, Jim Halperin wrote two science fiction novels, The Truth Machine and The First Immortal. They are examples of how a capitalist sees the future. Basically, if you set any Objectivist society far enough in the future, any advance you can image will be probable. Myself, I look at Isaac Asimov's "Spacer" worlds - Solaria, Dawn, Aurora - enjoying sparse populations and robots to serve them. In his universe, they collapse, but I think otherwise. Have you read Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy? It is a national socialist utopia set in 2000 as seen from 1886. What you want to avoid is the "tour guide" story in which the hero happens to meet the love of his life, who looks just like the girl he left behind. Rather, you would have actual, interesting drama play out in the world you create. That's tougher.

Wendy's silence is not perplexing at all to any outside observer. She has nothing to say, no defence at all, and for her the chapter is closed. She "wrote" her book and made her money. She knows there won't be any legal repercussions. Maybe she has unspecificied health problems which she is bearing bravely, but which your persecution is exacerbating, you beast.

I don't know what the statute of limitations is, but there is no way I will change my mind. Although it is never pleasant to be the subject of baseless and vicious allegations, in this case I welcome them, since the allegations reveal a lot about the character of the person behind them, i.e., Wendy. Wendy started these rumors, and she has been stoking them behind the scenes during the latest phase of the plagiarism scandal. This stupid tactic will backfire in the long run. I have provided abundant documentary evidence of Wendy's plagiarism, so I don't need help there. But over the years I have heard people question whether Wendy could be so vicious as to deliberately plagiarize seven years of my work. I could present textual evidence until I was blue in the face, but so long as this question of Wendy's character was left hanging in the air, it gave some observers reason to doubt. They would typically appeal to the "there are two sides to every story" cliché, because they had convinced themselves that Wendy was incapable of the degree of moral turpitude it would take to explain her massive plagiarism, if my account is accurate. These fence-sitters need remain perplexed no longer. They can now see for themselves, through Wendy's allegations against me and their elaboration by her proxies, such as Richard Martin, that she can go well beyond the viciousness required for massive plagiarism. It is one thing to be told about a vicious smear campaign, but it is quite another to witness that campaign in real time, as it unfolds. Potentially thousands of people are watching as Wendy goes about her latest work, so they will see for themselves what I have been talking about for 13 years. Wendy's "poor little me" routine, her posturing as an innocent victim in all this, is being shot to hell as we watch -- and very few people will buy into her lies after this. Ghs It is also noteworthy that this time around, nobody except her husband has come to her defence - not just nobody reputable, but nobody at all who was willing to identify himself. Not one person.

Indeed. Well, my sport is hockey, which is pretty much a blabfest the whole season long. I wasn't talking about tears from the combatants however, but misogyny among the spectators/

Richard's behavior will hurt him a lot more than it will hurt me. And unless we get a credible denial by Brad stating that neither he nor Wendy had anything to do with Richard's appearances on OL, then their repuatation, such as it was, will be shot to hell. An innocent person does not stoop to this kind of lowlife tactic. Rather it has "I'm guilty as hell" written all over it. What gets me is how moronic all this is. Assuming that Brendy is behind all this, this tactic will do nothing more than make them look like creeps. As junkies go, Richard was a pretty stable guy when I knew him during the early 1990s. But he has obviously gone off the deep end. Ghs It is always pathetic when people who have a narrow grasp of technology, and/or have abandoned it for awhile, suddenly decide to mount and hold forth. I think it is along the lines of something MSK used to call "proclaiming." And this is not even decent "proclaiming," in that it is of the more sordid, crude, ignorant variety. <---hey, isn't that how fuck-sticks write on a good day? You are right, GHS, in that it gives one pause to think (enough for a Kleenex, at least, due to mucus buildup): Why would someone fall on the sword like that? In this case, a sword made out of fucking bacon, or something. O, the Moral Outrage<tm>! The only times I have ever seen someone do something this stupid and pathetic is over a chick. You'll do anything once you are in Bat Country, with the scent in your nostrils. In this case, a scent that most likely smells like the inside of a fucking coffin. <---find the quote. Yeah. Jazz it up, Mitchell. Lay down the heat. Watch your wiener shrivel. rde Oh, yeah. rde, watch your mouth. I get it, you are supporting and defending George, as are all his friends here. His stupid and cowardly enemies have hit at him through the irrelevant avenues of his sexuality and alleged past misconduct, and you are hitting back at them in kind. But enough with the misogyny. Your own wife will one day have a wrinkled pussy (as if they aren't all wrinkled to start with, maybe you hadn't noticed), and not appreciate such casual dismissal of it from men in general.

George, It is too bad you are philosophically opposed to lawsuits. You have been defamed in front of a sizeable audience (18,ooo and counting) by an "anonymous"source who is easily identifiable.

Think about this.

Note to Americans, Insomniacs, Bewildered Browsers and our 3 devoted fans - big shout-out to Raylene in Lawful, N.M!(we'll send you that beavertail recipe soonest!!) Our media year is not as yours. Yours is essentially, post-elections and pre-elections, with a good sprinkling of scandals. Ours is, hockey season, including the next years' draft, lasting roughly from October to July. We fill up the remaining 2 or 4 months, at least for the last decade, in hating on Conrad Black. We don't hate him especially for being a crooked businessman, though his crookedness in his native country was of a particularly scornful and spiteful variety. Heck, there isn't that much capital here to be chiseled, and he always said he wanted to "play with the big boys". We don't hate him for being intellectually superior, and demonstrating that through excellent historical and political writing.We like him a lot for founding a terrific daily national newspaper, in my opinion the best of a good field, which I read faithfully every day. We certainly don't hate him as a person, because everyone who knows him personally attests that he is a loyal friend, a considerate, warm and principled family man, We hate him because, by and large, he hates most of us, the "bozos in the warehouse", the "useless bodies" and "jackals" and "mediocrities" who in his view constituted the Canadian workforce, media and polity when he decided to renounce his citizenship in order to ascend to his proper station in life, that of a British Lord. It's too bad he has to go back to prison, it will only fuel his sense of martyrdom. It struck me greatly that he quoted "If"- the same poem read at Ayn Rand's funeral - at his resentencing hearing. His speech, to me, had a weird echo of Roark's. But what an unworthy echoer. Ah well, just a few months and we can start hating on the Leafs again. At least Brian Burke does not carry on as if he were King Lear, though maybe he has as much right.

Ninth, Bertie seems to have vanished somewhere over the Baltic Sea, does this mean the tea party is off? If he does take up the invite, please assure him that he need not fear any impropriety , I would be there as chaperone to make sure nothing fallacious occurred. Carol Stuart Lynam (Mrs) all frumped up and nowhere to go

Au contraire, you have been ringmastering one here for months now, with some wild sideshows.

Adam, you're quite right to hone in on definition - I was coming from the CBC/BBC "TV Drama" idea and I think LV was just thinking of "non-comedy series".I was too hasty to categorize. But Game of Thrones still rules!

Those are not dramas, they are detective/thriller series. Great but not categorically dramas. The best drama running now is a scifi one - Game of Thrones. The best I've seen in years, in any genre.

FRATERNAL ORDER OF THE SACRED IGLOO local 13 To: M. Riel,Chairman, Membership Committee Hey Mackie, We just got a submission for "emergency membership" from someplace in the States along with a promise of "sizeable donation" and "impeccable intellectual connections" whatever the heck they are, so I am passing it along. This guy hints (well he says straight out) that he wants "to be unjustly incarcerated in the land of his ancestors who include many admirable native peoples and not in the land of despotic vindictive publicity-mad prosecutors" and now that Claudine is an MP and all he says he thinks we can all mutually benefit. This "emergency submission" came through to the Satellite Hut just when we got the NHL Draft on and it screwed up all the wiring again and we missed the first 3 picks and nobody thinks this joker is Brotherhood material to say the least. So the Black Knight or Lord or whatever is your problem now, I guess you could check his credit but he doesn.t sound like a good fit to me. ISS Gord

I think you should put your head back on. The old pic was blurry anyway - you're giving the impression that you look like the Elephant Man or something now! Your real visage must look at least human. OLers all know your inner beauty anyway. (Goes for Brant too)

Jazz is adorable. But in reading of Ghs's relationship with him, I saw alarming similarities to my son Andy's symbiosis with his English bulldog Bodie, whom he persists in regarding as a puppy although he is over a year old. I rushed him to the People's Health Adjustment Centre to check for signs of anarchism(Andy, not Bodie - bulldogs are too dumb to get through Rand, let alone Rothbard). Luckily the tests all showed my dear boy is still solidly lumpenproletariat. The relief! Carol still missing the M and P keys

This is interesting. I don't have a Kindle or the desire or means to get one, but I'd like to see a sample of this genre.Could some kind soul post some excerpts? Objectivist fiction is pretty thin on the ground. I understand Kira Peikoff's novel is being published next year??? so maybe the field is widening.