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ExcellentAmerican liked a video
(2 months ago)
"I take the liberty of observing that you are not a true disciple of our master Epicurus, in indulging the indolence to which you say you are ...
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"I take the liberty of observing that you are not a true disciple of our master Epicurus, in indulging the indolence to which you say you are yielding. One of his canons, you know, was that "that indulgence which presents a greater pleasure, or produces a greater pain, is to be avoided." Your love of repose will lead, in its progress, to a suspension of healthy exercise, a relaxation of mind, an indifference to everything around you, and finally to a debility of body, and hebetude of mind, the farthest of all things from the happiness which the well-regulated indulgences of Epicurus ensure; fortitude, you know, is one of his four cardinal virtues. That teaches us to meet and surmount difficulties; not to fly from them, like cowards; and to fly, too, in vain, for they will meet and arrest us at every turn of our road....
[A paragraph follows, inviting Short and his friend Correa to Monticello, with some news of the progress at the University]
I will place under this a syllabus of the doctrines of Epicurus, somewhat in the lapidary style, which I wrote some twenty years ago; a like one of the philosophy of Jesus, of nearly the same age, is too long to be copied. Vale, et tibi persuade carissimum te esse mihi."
- LETTER: Thomas Jefferson to William Short - October 31, 1819
http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/jefflet...
{I don't mean to bore my subscribers with wierd stuff like this, but it is all history, and in this case it is directly connected to the founding of the United States of America, and because of that, it should interest us.
jbranstetter04}
That was only the beginning. When he read the poem initially, Greenblatt recalls, he was amazed at its apparent prescience. "So much that is in Einstein or Freud or Darwin or Marx was there," he says. "I was flabbergasted." And indeed, from Galileo to Darwin to Einstein, who paid tribute to Lucretius in the preface to a 1924 translation of the poet's work, science would begin to describe empirically a universe of atomic particles with behaviors dictated by forces independent of the divine. Meanwhile, Greenblatt finds Lucretius in the very roots of the American tradition: "I am an Epicurean," proclaimed Thomas Jefferson, the owner of at least five editions of De rerum natura, who put his stamp on a Declaration of Independence emphasizing the "pursuit of happiness."
In the end, Greenblatt acknowledges, history is complicated—there is not a straight line between Lucretius and the modern world. "And yet the vital connection is there," he writes. "Hidden behind the worldview I recognize as my own is an ancient poem, a poem once lost, apparently irrevocably, and then found."
http://harvardmagazine.com/2011/07/sw...
Lucretius - Roman Poet and Philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus
Titus Lucretius Carus (c. 98-55 B.C.) was a Roman Epicurean epic poet who wrote De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things). De rerum natura is an epic, written in 6 books, which explains life and the world in terms of Epicurean principles and Atomism. Lucretius may have died before De rerum natura was finished.
About Epicurus
Epicurus (341-270 B.C.) was born in Samos and died at Athens. He studied at Plato's Academy when it was run by Xenocrates. Later, when he joined his family on Colophon, Epicurus studied under Nausiphanes, who introduced him to the philosophy of Democritus. In 306/7 Epicurus bought a house in Athens. It was in its garden that he taught his philosophy. Epicurus and his followers, who included slaves and women, secluded themselves from the life of the city.
The Virtue of Pleasure
Epicurus and his philosophy of pleasure have been controversial for over 2000 years. One reason is our tendency to reject pleasure as a moral good. We usually think of charity, compassion, humility, wisdom, honor, justice, and other virtues as morally good, while pleasure is, at best, morally neutral, but for Epicurus, behavior in pursuit of pleasure assured an upright life.
"It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and honorably and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and honorably and justly without living pleasantly. Whenever any one of these is lacking, when, for instance, the man is not able to live wisely, though he lives honorably and justly, it is impossible for him to live a pleasant life."
Epicurus, from Principal Doctrines
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/ph...
Here is where you can watch the entire Charlie Rose interview of Stephen Greenblatt:
http://www.charlierose.com/view/inter...
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ExcellentAmerican liked a video
(3 months ago)
Are we ready for Cyber War? Will a digital Cyber War result in hundreds of millions of deaths both here in the United States and the rest of the wo...
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Are we ready for Cyber War? Will a digital Cyber War result in hundreds of millions of deaths both here in the United States and the rest of the world? Are you ready for it? Can you survive without a grocery store and electricity? If not, then you had better get yourself to where you can. If not, then you will be one of the casualties of this next war.
Jbranstetter04
U.S. fears science fiction-style sabotage in new wave of cyber attacks
When a computer attack hobbled Iran's unfinished nuclear power plant last year, it was assumed to be a military-grade strike, the handiwork of elite hacking professionals with nation-state backing.
Yet for all its science-fiction sophistication, key elements have now been replicated in laboratory settings by security experts with little time, money or specialized skill.
It is an alarming development that shows how technical advances are eroding the barrier that has long prevented computer assaults from leaping from the digital to the physical world.
The techniques demonstrated in recent months highlight the danger to operators of power plants, water systems and other critical infrastructure around the world.
Scott Borg is director of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a non-profit group that helps the U.S. government prepare for future attacks
'Things that sounded extremely unlikely a few years ago are now coming along,' he said.
While the experiments have been performed in laboratory settings, and the findings presented at security conferences or in technical papers, the danger of another real-world attack such as the one on Iran is profound.
The team behind the so-called Stuxnet worm that was used to attack the Iranian nuclear facility may still be active. New malicious software with some of Stuxnet's original code and behaviour has surfaced, suggesting ongoing reconnaissance against industrial control systems.
And attacks on critical infrastructure are increasing. The Idaho National Laboratory, home to secretive defence labs intended to protect the nation's power grids, water systems and other critical infrastructure, has responded to triple the number of computer attacks from clients this year over last, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has revealed.
For years, ill-intentioned hackers have dreamed of plaguing the world's infrastructure with a brand of sabotage reserved for Hollywood. They've mused about wreaking havoc in industrial settings by burning out power plants, bursting oil and gas pipelines, or stalling manufacturing plants.
But a key roadblock has prevented them from causing widespread destruction: they've lacked a way to take remote control of the electronic 'controller' boxes that serve as the nerve centres for heavy machinery.
The attack on Iran changed all that. Now, security experts - and presumably, malicious hackers - are racing to find weaknesses. They've found a slew of vulnerabilities.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...
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ExcellentAmerican liked a video
(3 months ago)
The Greek Bank Debt crisis is precarious for the world's financial health. Are the Greek people 100% responsible for what has happened? No they are...
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The Greek Bank Debt crisis is precarious for the world's financial health. Are the Greek people 100% responsible for what has happened? No they are not. They are only about 95% responsible, which is no different than the Americans being responsible for what is happening in their own country.
We need to stop blaming the boogieman greedy banks for everything. No one held a gun to your head to take out another credit card, or to buy a nicer house than you could afford. And in the same respect no one forced the Greek people to vote in politicians that give out entitlements without collecting the taxes to pay for them. Now it is time to pay the piper, in Greece as well as in America.
The fairytale life is over; it's time to get back to work. There is no free lunch; we are the ones who in the end pay for everything. Get ready to live like your Grandparents used to live, which when you think about it, was not that bad. Work hard, save your money, and only buy what you really need. And to that I would add, first be grateful for what you have, and then you might get what you want.
jbranstetter04
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ExcellentAmerican liked a video
(4 months ago)
Obama's Jobs Speech Thursday September 8th
From the maniacs at iOwnTheWorld.com
http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=80534
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
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Obama's Jobs Speech Thursday September 8th
From the maniacs at iOwnTheWorld.com
http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=80534
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4-AKc...
Sarah Louise Palin born February 11, 1964 is an American politician and commentator. She was the youngest person and the first woman elected Governor of Alaska, an office she held from December 2006 until resigning in July 2009. In the 2008 presidential election, she was the Republican Party nominee for Vice President, becoming the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and the first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency. She has subsequently associated herself with the Tea Party movement, endorsing and campaigning for several candidates in the 2010 midterm elections, and is a possible candidate in the 2012 presidential election.
Her book Going Rogue has sold more than two million copies. Since January 2010, she has also provided political commentary for Fox News, and hosted a television show, Sarah Palin's Alaska.
BREAKING NEWS - Barack Obama joins the Terrorist Tea Party!
Maxine waters freaks out.
Frederica Wilson denounces the President - iOwnTheWorld.com - Mr. Pinko - BigFurHat
Freedomworks Taxpayer March on Washington D.C. 9 12 09 - September 12 2009.
The Taxpayer March on Washington (also known as the 9/12 Tea Party) was a Tea Party protest march from Freedom Plaza to the United States Capitol that was held on September 12, 2009, in Washington, D.C.[1][2] The event coincided with other similar protests organized in various cities across the nation.[3] The protesters rallied against what they consider big government, the dismantling of free market capitalism, abortion, and President Barack Obama's proposals on health care reform, taxation, and federal spending, among other issues.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Organizers of the event included the 9-12 Project, FreedomWorks, the National Taxpayers Union, The Heartland Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, Tea Party Patriots, and ResistNet. The event was also promoted by Fox News commentator Glenn Beck as a symbol of what he called "national unity" following the eight-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The march is the largest gathering of fiscal conservatives ever held in Washington, D.C., as well as the largest demonstration against President Obama's administration to date.
Though many of the signs were close to the original Tea Party message of "Taxed Enough Already," such as "Stop Obama's Spending Spree," some of the handwritten signs carried by protesters included statements such as "Liar Liar Pants on Fire!" and "Hey Obamacare! Hands off my body". Other signs promoted Obama citizenship conspiracy theories, depicted the Obama "Joker" image, and compared Obama to Adolf Hitler. One protester commented that many signs were "expressing concerns about the tax burdens to be carried by "our grandchildren" and other signs he didn't feel were appropriate to repeat". Gene Healy, author and vice president at the libertarian Cato Institute, expressed the opinion that the signs generally focused on opposition to government bailouts, Obama's proposal on health care reform, and the appointment of presidential "czars".
Among the speakers at the rally were former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, chairman of FreedomWorks, and a small number of congressional Republicans including Representative Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference, Representative Tom Price of Georgia, Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, and Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. Pence said that "Americans want health care reform, but they don't want government takeover".
On February 17, 2009, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 billion economic stimulus package aimed at helping the economy recover from the deepening worldwide recession. The act includes increased federal spending for health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks and incentives, and direct assistance to individuals, which is being distributed over the course of several years.
President Barack Obama signs the ARRA into law on February 17, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. Vice President Joe Biden stands behind him.
In March, Obama's Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, took further steps to manage the financial crisis, including introducing the Public-Private Investment Program for Legacy Assets, which contains provisions for buying up to $2 trillion in depreciated real estate assets.
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ExcellentAmerican liked a video
(7 months ago)
Sarah Palin is an IDIOT
From the maniacs at iOwnTheWorld.com http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=80534
Thank you YouTuber Kathryn Tyler "ensignbay"...
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Sarah Palin is an IDIOT
From the maniacs at iOwnTheWorld.com http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=80534
Thank you YouTuber Kathryn Tyler "ensignbay" for the use of your clips. MUCH APPRECIATED! Check out her awesome channel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4-AKc...
Sarah Louise Palin born February 11, 1964 is an American politician and commentator. She was the youngest person and the first woman elected Governor of Alaska, an office she held from December 2006 until resigning in July 2009. In the 2008 presidential election, she was the Republican Party nominee for Vice President, becoming the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and the first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency. She has subsequently associated herself with the Tea Party movement, endorsing and campaigning for several candidates in the 2010 midterm elections, and is a possible candidate in the 2012 presidential election.
Her book Going Rogue has sold more than two million copies. Since January 2010, she has also provided political commentary for Fox News, and hosted a television show, Sarah Palin's Alaska.
VIDEO is protected under THE FAIR USE ACT - clips used for comedic purpose only and no profit is being made with the broadcast of this video.
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Sorta says everything necessary about you. Are you one of those who hopes to see their President and country fail, like every foreign terrorist and America-hater wants for us too?