It’s always nice to see family.
My cousin had a lay-over in Ft. Lauderdale yesterday so she gave me a call and we went out for a bite to eat.
She’s a pilot for probably the only profitable airline in the country. We got on the subject of the merger between her employer and another carrier. (Actually her airline is buying the other one.)
She mentioned the McCaskill/Bond legislation. (more…)
Atlas Shrugged – Day 056 – pp. 549-558
Taggart says he can deliver Hank. That’s some valuable information according to Wesley Mouch.
I should think so.
And immediately on the tail of that nugget, Taggart has another idea. . .
I figure as long as I’m logged in, may as well keep posting the trip.
Had to cut the nat-gas-mobile conversation short as the Marching Horned Frogs showed for a rousing round of the fight song and other entertainment. (How is it, you can’t help tapping your feet to a good fight song?)
Atlas Shrugged – Day 055 – pp. 539-548
If I may paraphrase Directive 10-289. . .
Point One – you are officially chained to your job — quitting is a criminal offense
Point Two – if you own a business, you have to keep it in operation no matter what
Point Three – all patents, copyrights, intellectual property and the like must be turned over to the state as a “patriotic emergency gift”
Point Four – nothing new shall be invented, produced or sold
Point Five – industry shall be required to produce the exact same amount of goods as they did during the “basic year”
Point Six – everyone shall spend the same amount of money they did on the goods they bought in the “basic year”
Point Seven – all wages, prices, salaries, dividends (and about any other payout you can think of) shall be frozen
Point Eight – anything not covered (or if you break the rules) ends up in front of the Unification Board . . .
While I’m at it, I should post the rest of my trip before it becomes ancient history.
Tailgate party ran out of beer, and so it was time to head to the stadium. This is part 1 of the whole video. I’ll call it “A Stroll Down Frog Alley…”
Man, what a party these games are!
Atlas Shrugged – Day 054 – pp. 529-538
“You know, of course, I won’t allow this to continue. . . I won’t permit you to have her. Not her. Anyone but her. . . . I won’t permit it! You’ll give it up!. . . You’ll give it up, you’ll leave her, you’ll never see her again!”
Hank has a calm reply.
Atlas Shrugged – Day 053 – pp. 519-528
My God! How long have I been gone! Well the move is about done. Pictures to hang and a few more things to organize, but for the most part, I’m all in. I think I set a world record for how much crap one guy can have. Seriously. The whole damn thing took 4 weeks. I know a guy down here who claims he can throw all his stuff in a duffel bag. I’m jealous.
So where were we? Oh yeah! “another death was all but assured…”
It didn’t cause a chain reaction of business failures, but it sure did piss me off…
Atlas Shrugged – Day 052 – pp. 509-518
High drama. In the movies I think there’s a name for this. Of course I don’t know what it is. The board wants Dagny to recommend dismantling the only profitable line in the Taggart Trans system. The line she built…
Atlas Shrugged – Day 051 – pp. 499-508
All hell has broken loose. The apocalypse is at hand. And the G is still screwing things up.
Atlas Shrugged – Day 050 – pp. 489-498
Just as an aside, I happened across an article in an open tab I was reading about the death of Tony Curtis. A beautiful man if there ever was one. It read:
“As a performer, Mr. Curtis drew on his startlingly good looks. With his dark, curly hair worn in sculptured style later imitated by Elvis Presley and his plucked eyebrows framing pale blue eyes and full lips, Mr. Curtis embodied a new kind of feminized male beauty that came into vogue in the early 50’s”
“A vigorous heterosexual in his widely publicized (not least by himself) private life, he was often case in roles that drew on a perceived ambiguity. . .”
Hank and Francisco are about to engage in a little “boy talk.” I think I’m going to try to keep that image of Tony Curtis in my mind.
Anyway, back to the book.
Getting a little behind on my posts. Maybe blogging a 1200 page book, moving and starting business in the same month isn’t such a good idea. (Glad Hank Rearden wasn’t around to hear that.) Back to business…
Atlas Shrugged – Day 049 – pp. 479-488
Hank has just double dog dared the court to take away all his stuff. But not under the politically protective guise of punishing him for breaking the law. Come out and take it and show the world what you’re real intentions are.
Politically unappealing.
Atlas Shrugged – Day 048 – pp. 469-478
That bit was sooooo good, I think we need a little follow up and clarification from Hank. . .
Atlas Shrugged – Day 047 – pp. 459-468
Hank and Francisco finish sealing the breach in the furnace.
They said nothing to each other when they walked together through the darkness, on their way back to the office.
Kind of like that awkward silence after . . .never mind. . .
Game day was never like this when I was in college.
These days, apparently, it starts early. The night before even. Me, I need my beauty sleep, but did the best I could.
Atlas Shrugged – Day 046 – pp. 449-458
We cut back to Hank’s office. It’s late. He got Ken Danagger’s message from Dagny when she told him the story.
He’s bummed and thinking. . .
Denton, Texas is famous for a few things…
It’s home to the University of North Texas, one of the premier music schools in the nation. . .
. . .Whose nickname is the “Mean Green” after their most distinguished alum — Charles Edward “Mean Joe” Greene — the menacing defensive tackle from the Pittsburg Steelers “Steel Curtain” defense of the early 70’s. . .
. . . And whose mascot, the “Eagle” also served as the inspiration for the name of a certain California-based band founded in the 1970’s (thanks to another alum – Don Henley.)
(Seems the 70’s was a busy decade for UNT.)
And finally. . .
Atlas Shrugged – Day 045 – pp. 439-448
Now we cut back to the Taggart Trans commissary where Eddie is chatting with his anonymous friend once again.
I like Eddie Willers. He’s a good guy. I wonder if there’s going to be a bigger role in this whole story for him.
Anyway, Eddie’s troubled. Hank and Danagger are busted and going on trial next month. Eddie had spoken to Dagny about the coming trial. She’s afraid for Danagger. That he won’t be able to stand the pressure. She believes that as these economic and personal stresses shift from man to man, they each disappear in turn. As if they’re marked men. . .
That’s an answer you can’t get just anywhere.
Only one place I know of where you can get the answer to that. . .