Ayn Rand & Objectivism – Everything you need to know

Born in 1792 in Monaco, Aynamal “Ayn” Rand was a divisive figure from her very first day. Born with a twin sister, Rand consumed said twin out-of-utero, leaving little left but rib bones and patches of hair from the twin. This incident was inpirational to Rand, who was often quoted as saying “the weak, like my twin, must be used for food by the strong.”

A gifted student, Rand was a world-class juggler and spent her early days traveling throughout Europe in a circus. It is there, Rand said, that she added to her philosophical leanings. “If you listen to enough clowns, you’ll eventually believe anything,”she once told Maxim Magazine.

An adulteress, Rand went on to college at the University of Hawaii, where she continued to work on her life philosophy. “I realized that if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. But if you shoot that man in the head, you get to keep the fish and help overall unemployment numbers.”

The middle years of Rand’s life are a confusing morass of information and misinformation. It is said she worked as a carny, hot dog vendor, and actress, notably starring as “Bonzo” in the Ronald Reagan film “Bedtime for Bonzo.” During this film, Rand had a short affair with Reagan, which was logical as Reagan was also an adulterer.

Rand wrote a pair of books, “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged.” Sadly, both books were burned en mass and only a few survive today. The reasoning behind the burning of Rand’s books had little to do with its controversial material, but more because they were just so terribly bad that most American intellectuals believed their mere existence could destroy literacy around the globe.

Years later, Rand tried to foist on the word a new philosophy known as “Objectivism.” The key component to Objectivism can be stated thusly: “If someone has an object, kick them in the nuts and take that object. You are now the Objectivist.

The philosophy was met with almost universal hatred and much poo-throwing, with most admitting that even poo-throwing probably didn’t convey the pure fecal matter that had escaped from Rand’s obviously demented mind. Still, Rand did not back down from the criticism. As many objected to the book’s selfish themes, Rand fought back with her next book, simply titled “I Got Mine, You Can Suck It.” The book is extremely popular with people who are already rich and don’t want to feel guilty when they step over dirty bums on their way to work.

Ayn Rand was also a drug addict and homphobe. She despised L. Ron Hubbard because his scam was much more successful than hers. Ayn Rand died in 1982, and we’re all the better for it.

For more information on Rand, please use Google or the public libraries she so hated to research. If you find you still have an interest in Rand, start a small club and talk about her as much as you like. Or just talk to yourself about her, as her ideas make a great deal more sense when no one else is around to laugh at them.

Aside from that, don’t publicly comment about Rand anywhere, or you be be humiliated until you go away. Millions of words have already been wasted on her, and much like Flat-Earthism, Rand has been judged. Her pseudo-philosophical claptrap has long been tossed into the nonsense file of human thought, and the fact that you just learned about it doesn’t make her “philosophy” any less ridiculous.

–WKW

How’s that Austerity going, Greece?

Shockingly, turning the population upside down and shaking them to collect loose change isn’t working out as well as the EU or Greece hoped. From Der Spiegel:

This dire prognosis comes even despite Athens’ massive efforts to sort out the country’s finances. The government’s draconian austerity measures have managed to reduce the country’s budget deficit by an almost unbelievable 39.7 percent, after previous governments had squandered tax money and falsified statistics for years. The measures have reduced government spending by a total of 10 percent, 4.5 percent more than the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) had required.

The problem is that the austerity measures have in the meantime affected every aspect of the country’s economy. Purchasing power is dropping, consumption is taking a nosedive and the number of bankruptcies and unemployed are on the rise. The country’s gross domestic product shrank by 1.5 percent in the second quarter of this year. Tax revenue, desperately needed in order to consolidate the national finances, has dropped off. A mixture of fear, hopelessness and anger is brewing in Greek society. …

The entire country is in the grip of a depression. Everything seems to be going downhill. The spiral is continuing unabated, and there is no clear way out. The worse part, however, is the fact that hardly anyone still hopes that things will improve one day.

Unemployment is at 70 percent in some areas of Greece, says the story. Remember this when you hear U.S. politicians talk about “Austerity.” Because it means austerity for everyone but them and their corporate overlords.

–WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – Bat Guano Crazy

Bats. Why did they have to be bats?

News/Politics

Pakistan Floods: Capitalism not stepping up to the plate to help out Pakistanis stuck in a watery hell.

We Found the Oil!: How about that? It seems 80% of the oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico is still there. Could this mean British Petroleum … gasp … lied to us?

Iraq Violence: 50 killed by a suicide bomber, as the “victory” in Iraq gets increasingly bloody.

Karzai Kicking: Afghan President Hamid Karzai orders all private security contractors out of the country within four months. In other news, U.S. begins drawing up “Time to Go, Hamid” assassination plans.

Unemployment Lies: Five myths about unemployment.

Interesting

Batsanity: At least 500 people have been bitten by rabid vampire bats in Peru. Rabid Peruvian Vampire Bats. There can be nothing more terriofying, in my book.

Forget Her Not: Michelle Philpot’s accident left her mind stuck in 1994. Meaning that at very least, she missed the entire Bush presidency.

Blogs

Rude Pundit: The families and loved ones of 9/11 victims don’t really have a say in what happens next in NYC.

Media Matters: The further adventures of Maureen Dowd.

Glenn Greenwald: Journalistic integrity is not applicable when dealing with OMG MUSLIMS!

Talking Points Memo: Tea Partiers oppose Net Neutrality like good little GOP soldiers.

Crooks & Liars: Pam Gellar led the anti-Mosque charge. Has the U.S. media gone completely insane?

Warning

Don’t Drunk Dial Freedomworks. Just don’t.

–WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – July 28, 2010

Humans – the cure for a tranquil planet.

News/Politics

Oil Spills for All!: It seems few things are more American that having oil spew out of the ground uncontrollably. It happened in the Gulf of Mexico. It happened in the Gulf of Mexico again. And it happened in Michigan.

Static Kill!: If oil companies spent as much money protecting their product as they did in creating spectacular names for how to stop it when it starts spilling, this would be a far less oily nation.

War Supplemental Passes: Another $37 billion is heading to Afghanistan, where things continue to be quite deadly.

[Read more]

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – July 26, 2010

Let’s take a walk.

News

War Games: South Korea and the U.S. are conducting war games in an attempt to see just how friggin’ nuts Kim Jong-Il can get.

Wikileaks Documents: The largest intelligence leak in history shines a light on Afghanistan and puts Wikileaks in the crosshairs.

Corning Cocoa: Hedge fund managers weren’t hated enough, so one of them decided to corner the cocoa market and crank up the cost of chocolate.

Blogerty Goodness: If you used Blogerty, you’ll be getting your information back. Unless you’re a terrorist. Then you can suck it.

Hayward Out at BP?: Tony Hayward is likely a goner at British Petroleum after his PR effort helped make things work. Hope he’ll get by on whatever multi-million severance package he gets.

Today in History

The Cuban Revolution began on this day in 1953, led by an elite named Fidel Castro who figured the lesser people would be happier poor. Or dead if they bitched about it.

Blogs

News of the Restless: A thorough collection of F’n wankers.

Martin Wolf: The political genius of supply-side economics.

Paul Krugman: The only thing Republicans disliked about George W. Bush were his approval ratings, not his economics.

Media Matters: Social Security is a ponzi scheme, so kids today should put down the video games and get to work.

Word of the Week

Context.

–WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – July 23, 2010

Before you watch this campaign video for Alvin Greene, remember one important thing – you’ll never be able to unwatch it.

News/Politics

What’s Another War?: North Korea has threatened a “physical response” to joint U.S. and South Korea military exercises. But, hey, saner heads will prevail, right?

An Independent Kosovo: The World Court says Kosovo’s unilateral secession from Serbia in 2008 did not violate international law.

Buy American: Ford announces a solid profit.

Put this in your pipe and smoke it: If California legalizes marijuana, the benefits will easily surpass any negative effects as pot will go corporate. (negative effects include muchies, watching bad TV shows, giggling.)

Sherrod Firing: No-Drama Obama tries to get control of the Shirley Sherrod mess, which shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Climate Change: Maybe the next Democratic President will get around to doing something about climate change.

Newsiness

Aliens Amongst Us: The fifth person that reads this will believe that space aliens are living amongst us, disguised as humans.

Mugged: For your viewing pleasure, some famous mug shots.

Mormonism Vs. The Necronomicon

“Either you’ll go mad from the revelation, or be on your knees begging for a new dark age.”

Blogs

Politics Daily: Sarah Palin has all but admitted she’s not tough enough to run for President.

Digby: A long but worthwhile guest post by Batacchio on the Social Contract.

Mediaite: Republicans won’t be letting go of Shirley Sherrod or the USDA any time soon.

Instaputz: Andrew Breitbart’s ability to be wrong is multifaceted.

Shoq Value: Integrity tests should apply to information, too.

–WKW

John McCain to cut taxes for Intel; also, Intel announces biggest profits ever

In a hilariously sad debate, John McCain met GOP opponents J.D. Hayworth & Jim Deakin. Toward the end, McCain made it clear that he would cut corporate taxes, making a point to mention Intel as one of those corporations.

Interestingly, today Intel announced it’s most profitable quarter in its history:

Intel said it swung to a fiscal second quarter profit late Tuesday, in what CEO Paul Otellini called the company’s best quarter in its history.

Intel earned $2.9 billion, or $0.51 per share, versus a loss of $398 billion, or $0.07 per share, in the same quarter last year when Intel paid a $1.45 billion charge to European regulators. Revenue rose 34%, to $10.8 billion.

But McCain – who defended voting against unemployment insurance extensions – wants them to do better.

–WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – July 14, 2010

The arrival of heavily armed monsters barely caused a stir with most Americans (HT Dvorak).

News/Politics

Small Banks Can Bite It: Seems the bailout of mega-banks has hurt smaller banks. But they can deal with it themselves.

There. Are. No. Jobs.: Why Unemployment Insurance must be extended.

Waiting and Watching: British Petroleum delays a test on it’s latest cap. In other news, oil gushing into Gulf of Mexico.

Shahram Amiri: The Iranian nuclear scientist says he was kidnapped by the U.S. The U.S. says he wasn’t.

Don’t Tell Sarah: But Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin are engaged. Ssshhhh.

Say What You Like: A Federal court tells the FCC to shut the F**k up.

Sports

George Steinbrenner Dies: The Yankees’ owner, one of the most charismatic figures in modern baseball, dies at age 80.

MLB All-Star Game: National League wins exhibition for first time since 1996.

Blogs

Daily Kos: Eek! BLACK PANTHERS!!

Alan Colmes: Steinbrenner’s death a perfect opportunity for Rush Limbaugh to race-bait.

Oliver Willis: Glenn Beck for President!

Balloon Juice: Robert Reich makes economic sense again.

Bible Verse of the Day

There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. (Ezekial 23:20)

Tweet of the Day

“It must be tough for @PressSec to be on Twitter. Just the phrase “result of Bush economy” takes 22 characters.”

Hoax Alert

Who would say such a thing?

“The best way to get the unemployed back to work is to fine them for every day they’re without work”

Why, it’s none other than a “U.S. Representative” named Jack Kimble, who’s neither an actual Rep. nor person. And his “I’ve been misinterpreted” comments have a distinct Martin Eisenstadt smell to them.

Interesting

President Glenn Beck:

–WKW

Jack Welch – a $700-million populist spokesman

Jack Welch – former CEO of General Electric, Net worth, $720 million – had this to Tweet recently:

I wish the President would stop dividing us..Every day he has a new villain..bank execs, insurance companies, doctors, hedgefund managersetc

Sure, Jack, it’s the President that’s dividing us. It couldn’t be preachy people that are worth 30,000 times an average worker makes that divides some.

–WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – June 18, 2010

Ron Artest enjoys his first NBA Championship as the Lakers finally beat the Celtics in a Game 7.

Wolfrum’s Word

History and polls tell us that the Republicans will pick up seats in both the House and Congress in the November elections – and they will. But with each day, the GOP falls deeper into Obama Derangement Syndrome. With Republicans like Joe Barton and Michelle Bachmann defending British Petroleum just to go against President Obama, the GOP has now entered the point where they are cutting off their head to spite their neck. And registered voters and the “small people” will remember that come November. See the rest of my thoughts on this in my latest post at Alan Colmes’ Liberaland.

News

Ethnic Cleansing in Kyrgyzstan: 400,000 people have been displaced by ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, the United Nations announced.

British Petroleum Speaks: As BP CEO Tony Hayward was barraged by Congress, we learned two things – Joe Barton feels BP’s pain and BP didn’t follow safety regulations because they weren’t forced to follow them.

Energy Evils: Right now, the energy bill is languishing in Congress, as political courage is nowhere to be found in an election season. After the election? Maybe then we’ll see a push to get it through.

Gaza Blockade: Israel says they’ll ease the blockade of Gaza. The Arabic media isn’t falling for it.

More: Supreme Court again sides against privacy, the Times Square car bomb suspect gets indicted.

Wolfrum’s Word II

Never have so many sacrificed so much and worked so diligently to make Joran van der Sloot a national story we should care about.

Sports

Lakers Are NBA Champions: For years, Kobe Bryant had a penchant for distrusting his teammates. But in Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, it was Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom and gang that lifted a poor-shooting Bryant, and the Lakers to an NBA championship. Title No. 16 came with an incredibly hard-fought, exciting 83-79 victory. It’s Kobe’s fifth title, and coach Phil Jackson’s record 11th.

Viva La France: If there’s one thing the French hate more than American, it’s their national soccer team. In an incredibly poor performance, France lost 2-0 to Mexico, leaving the Blues with a tough road to advance in the World Cup.

U.S. On The Line: A victory over Slovenia should give the U.S. a spot in the next round. But beware the Green Dragons.

More: Argentina torches South Korea, Pebble Beach frustrating for Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the U.S. Open.

Blogs

Roubini: How to avoid a double-dip recession (Free to subscribe).

Democratic Underground: Dick Armey has spoken - it’s time for “Tea Party” members to become “Republicans” again.

The Brad Blog: It’s official – Alvin Greene and electronic voting machines are both winners in South Carolina.

Tweet of the Day

“Tea Party members have been pretty quiet about the #oilspill because they’re convinced it started in Kenya.”

–WKW

Just Two Years Ago, George W. Bush Promoted “National Homeownership Month”

While time has and most certainly will continue to whitewash the incredible stupidity of his presidency, it’s important to remember just how Republicans govern when put in charge. Because it was just two years ago that then-President George W. Bush proclaimed “National Homeownership Month.”

National Homeownership Month, 2008

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

For many Americans, owning a home represents freedom, independence, and the American dream. During National Homeownership Month, we highlight the benefits of owning a home and encourage our fellow citizens to be responsible homeowners.

My Administration is committed to helping Americans achieve their dreams of homeownership. We have worked to ensure that the mortgage industry is more transparent, reliable, and fair, and in order to sustain homeownership, we have launched initiatives to help responsible homeowners keep their homes. The FHASecure program has given the Federal Housing Administration more flexibility in refinancing mortgages for homeowners who have good credit histories but cannot afford their current payments. In addition, the HOPE NOW Alliance connects struggling homeowners with lenders, loan servicers, and mortgage counselors to help families stay in their homes. Homeowners deserve our help, and these initiatives assist those in need.

During National Homeownership Month and throughout the year, I encourage all Americans to take advantage of financial education opportunities to explore homeownership. My Advisory Council on Financial Literacy is finding ways to help educate people from all walks of life about matters pertaining to their finances and their futures. By practicing fiscal responsibility, Americans can contribute to the strength of our neighborhoods and our country.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2008 as National Homeownership Month. I call upon the people of the United States to join me in recognizing the importance of homeownership and building a more prosperous future for themselves and their communities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Keep in mind, when Bush made this proclamation, home foreclosures were already up 112 percent. But that didn’t stop Bush’s grand plan of creating an “Ownership Society.” It was June 2008. People were getting kicked out of their homes. Everyone recognized that an economic tsunami was about to wash across the land. But Bush was telling people to go out and buy homes.

It’s hard to know if the Bush Administration was just trying to get the last few bucks out of an economic bubble, or if they were so disinterested in the housing collapse that they forgot to cancel the promotion. But it is a distinct example of how Republicans govern. Because a couple months later, Bush was telling the world that the U.S. economy was about to collapse completely. And two years later, thousands and thousands of American citizens have lost their homes or are still in jeopardy of losing them. But the bankers surely got paid.

–WKW

Originally posted at Alan Colmes’ Liberaland

Readables …

Ok, go read these and report back, stat …

• Village Voice: Sex and the City II – Conservatives love it (though most haven’t seen it).
• Osborne Ink: SpongeBob and his friends found dead in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Media Matters: Why would James O’Keefe and Andrew Breitbart need to selectively edit a tape showing only that O’Keefe was overpaid by 3.5 hours for his Census work?
• The River Wanders: Helping BP CEO Tony Hayward get his life back.
• The Political Carnival: If you’re a Black person in Missouri, we strongly advise that you not drive a car.
• CFO Magazine: Fraudsters and crooks still running amok on Wall Street.
• Oliver Willis: The myth of the Liberal Media.

–WKW

Pope Benedict XVI takes over at Goldman Sachs

NEW YORK/ROME — Catholic Pope Benedict XVI has taken over all responsibilities at troubled Goldman Sachs, today. His new title will be Chief Holy Authority (CFA) or just “Pope.”

The Pope will keep his duties with the Catholic Church while working simultaneously at Goldman Sachs. The Pope stated he saw no problems for the giant financial firm that is currently in trouble with the SEC.

“We’ll move some people around, it will be fine,” said Pope.

An unnamed official at Goldman Sachs said the hiring of the Pope was the aggressive move need to put the whole company at ease.

“Let me tell you, with Benny, we’ll be just fine,” said the Goldman Sachs employee. “Some people got to go to Kansas, some to small Latin American countries. We’re good.”

Goldman Sachs was down 12 percent on the news, as nervous investors want to see how this will all play out.

–WKW

Shia LaBeouf: Sage investor or InterOil dupe?

So who do you get your stock tips from, these days? How about 23-year-old actor Shia Labeouf? Yes, in studying for his role in the upcoming film “Wall Street 2,” Labeouf spent time at John Thomas Financial. At John Thomas, InterOil (IOC) is their “favorite energy stock.”

So guess which stock LaBeouf is praising?

“IOC’s momentum is major, and it will surprise to the upside,” texted LeBeouf to a GQ writer.

That InterOil is beset with controversy, lawsuits, and a distinct inability to find proven reserves of oil or natural gas doesn’t seem to dissuade the young actor.

Of course, maybe he could have researched a little better. From Sam Antar’s White Collar Fraud:

When a company like InterOil starts on a corrupt foundation, everything that follows continues to be corrupt. In many ways, Phil Mulacek’s transgressions against investors remind me of me, back in my criminal days at Crazy Eddie. We both exploited the hopes of our investors with “spin and lies.” During its entire existence, InterOil has issued an endless string of press releases hyping its future prospects and selling hope to gullible investors. Yet, after almost a decade, InterOil has no proven commercially exploitable reserves to show for it.

Read Antar’s lengthy look at InterOil here for more, and see for yourself if John Thomas has found a willing patsy to pump InterOil stock.

As for LaBeouf, he may do best to study the words of Joshua Brown at Benzinga.com:

Kid, can you just talk about your movie and stop digging your credibility hole any deeper? You seem like a nice guy and no one is rooting against you. When you read this stuff you’re saying five years from now, you’re going to cringe in embarrassment like the rest of us are doing as we speak.

–WKW

Readables …

Here, there, everywhere:

• Balloon Juice: Jake Tapper readies himself for Fox News.
• Ezkool: Will Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin learn there are consequences for their words?
• True/Slant: Eric Cantor embellishing a story about extremists attacking his office? The hell you say!
• TMZ: RIP, Fess Parker.
• Diane Tucker: Can’t get a job? Better get used to it.
• Alternet: A right-wing nervous breakdown over health care reform.
• NPR: Sarah Palin & John McCain – Together again.

–WKW

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