I stepped onto the scales today and was quite pleased to see that a milestone had been reached. I’ve lost 40 pounds since May, when I decided it was high time to do something about my weight. I’m still a good 40 pounds away from my goal, but it’s nice to know that I’m halfway there. Here’s a before and after picture:
Before:
After:
The 120th edition of the Objectivist Roundup has been posted at 3 Ring Binder. My post, To the Precipice, is included as well as many others. Go check it out!
Charlie (pointing at John): JOHN!
John: Is that my name?
Charlie: Yeah! John!
John: But what do you call me?
Charlie: DADDY!
John: What’s Mommy’s name?
Charlie (pointing at me): MOMMY!
I’ve been meaning to mention Diana Hsieh’s EXCELLENT new(ish) podcast, Rationally Selfish Radio for quite some time. I’ve listened to each of her episodes thus far, and could not be more delighted with what she has started. From The Philosophic Arguments for (and against) God, to relationship advice, career choices, and book reviews, Diana covers a broad spectrum of topics and does so with keen insight and knowledge. In addition, the podcast’s technical quality is superb and her delivery of the material is top notch. She has obviously spent a tremendous amount of time and effort in creating this podcast, and the results are magnificent. It is a valuable new addition of Objectivist material online. Thank you, Diana, for creating something that has added tremendous value to my life.
My favorite episode is her interview with Craig Biddle, of The Objectivist Standard discussing the morality of altruism and it’s pernicious influences on our government. The discussion of the topic between two very well spoken and intelligent Objectivist intellectuals was a breath of fresh air. I’m also looking forward to listening to her “Exploring Atlas Shrugged” series – it’s high time I reread the book again, and I plan on using these to deepen my understanding and appreciation of the novel.
Anyone interested in learning more about the ideas of Objectivism should subscribe. It’s well worth your time.
Six months ago, I would have thought that the following headline simply could not be written, yet, in America.
Fed Hits Banks With Sweeping Pay Limits
In a one-two punch at the pay culture of banks and Wall Street firms blamed for the financial crisis, the U.S. government announced plans to aggressively regulate compensation at thousands of lenders and impose steep pay cuts at seven companies that received billions in federal aid.
While the moves had been anticipated for weeks, Thursday’s separate announcements by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department represent unprecedented federal intervention in pay decisions traditionally left to boards and shareholders.
The crackdown is likely to influence how financial firms pay top executives, traders, loan officers and others whose actions could threaten the soundness of the institutions. Compensation experts said it would be hard for companies to escape the new oversight, though individuals could do so by jumping to hedge funds, private-equity funds and other financial firms beyond the reach of the new curbs.
The central bank moved to incorporate reviews of compensation into its routine regulatory process, a step that will affect large and small financial firms across the U.S. as well as American subsidiaries of non-U.S. financial companies. Some state regulators said they plan to issue similar requirements for state-regulated banks not covered by the Fed plan.
Perhaps this should be expected news (the article states that banks have been worried this was coming for some time) but, despite the litany of government intrusions into the remnants of the American private sector in the past year, I had not thought America could reach this level of depravity so rapidly.
Let’s lay out exactly what this means. These restrictions and regulations are not for firms who accepted government bailout money. Had this been limited just those firms, while such actions would still be immoral, you could at least say that those firms were all but asking for it when they took the money in the first place. No, this is not just for TARP recipients, this is for the ENTIRE industry. What’s to stop the government there? If they can do it in banking, there’s no reason they can’t go to the Telecom Industry and do the same thing. Maybe they think the manufacturers of the country are being irresponsible. Why can’t they regulate their pay too? In short, the Federal Government has now proclaimed themselves the final arbiter of compensation for every company in America. If, with one sweeping motion, the government can regulate pay across an entire industry, there’s not a company, industry, or worker across America who is outside their reach.
The protection of Individual Rights in this country is now no more than an illusion, for the government has made it clear that contractual rights mean nothing in this country if you have an ally in the government. In her essay “The Roots of War” in Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal, Ayn Rand describes the inevitable end to this state of affairs:
When individual rights are abrogated, there is no way to determine who is entitled to what; there is no way to determine the justice of anyone’s claims, desires, or interests. The criterion, therefore, reverts to the tribal concept of: one’s wishes are limited only by the power of one’s gang. In order to survive under such a system, men have no choice but to fear, hate, and destroy one another; it is a system of underground plotting, of secret conspiracies, of deals, favors, betrayals, and sudden, bloody coups
I have wondered to myself in the past few months if Obamacare was the edge of the cliff in this country for individual rights. Is that the point where, once we go past, we can’t ever come back? My deepest fear used to be that it was. Now I question if we didn’t just sail right over the edge today. At the very least, this country, the first in history founded upon an explicit defense of the individual rights of man, stands at the precipice. To keep going further in the direction of statism and collectivism is to risk the destruction of everything this country was founded upon and all that has made her great. We must reverse course – or wait to pick up the pieces after the inevitable collapse.
My precious little boy, you are growing up so fast. I see it every day, but today on the playground I couldn’t believe how many little changes I saw. Just weeks ago, you were afraid of the swings…now I can’t push you high enough. You’ve always preferred the smaller slides unless your Daddy or I accompanied you…now you are going down the “round-n-round slide” and running up slides until you lose your footing and happily slide down backwards on your tummy. In less than a month, you have gone from coming over to “check in” with us every few minutes to not even noticing where I am sitting on the edge of the playground. You strike up conversations with other children, and if they are in your way, instead of standing there waiting for them to move or coming to Mommy, you go around them or tell them to “MOVE!” (And now we’ll work on how to ask a little nicer.)
When you see an ant or other bug, you stop dead in your tracks and sit next to it to discover what it is doing and where it is going. Instead of always asking, “What’s that sound? What’s that noise?” to everything you hear, you say “Listen!” and pause until you figure out for yourself what the source of the sound is.
I could go on and on. Every day with you is a gift, and I am so grateful to watch you grow and develop faster than I could have imagined.
At this year’s British Open, Tom Watson almost won, which would have made him the oldest winner of the championship. I don’t know anything about Tom Watson other than that, and I don’t really pay attention to the golfing world. But he said something that I really admired:
“I put myself in a position to win but I did not get it done.”
Wow. He admitted to his errors and accepted responsibility. I don’t know if my initial reaction would have been as good. He could have blamed the wind, his caddy, his age – but he DIDN’T. How many Tom Watsons do you have in your life?
….is the dealer in this video. HOW COOL IS THAT?!
I’ve got LOTS of photos that haven’t been shared…I shouldn’t get so behind! Here’s slide show #1. More to come!
