Monday, May 31, 2010

Re: [NewJersey_for_Kerry] Atlas Shrugged continues to materialize

There is no evidence of that.

Name the specific regulations that were changed or abolished that would support your statement.

In fact Ken you are too blame:

You have outlawed drilling for oil close to shore or on land.  So now you have created an oil well 5,000 feet under water where no one knows how to cap it.

Democrats are to blame again.

On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 12:52 PM, Kenneth Sloan <wilddudenj@yahoo.com> wrote:
 

The oil leak in the Gulf is happening because the previous administration didn't care about implementing safety standards that would have prevented this disaster, and the current "drill, baby, drill" GOPers don't care about the environment. This has not happened in places like the North Sea, where strict safety standards are enforced. According to people who worked for BP, the company cut corners and knew they were taking risks, risks that they took anyway and lost. But that's the free market for you. Make a fast buck today and fuck the consequences.
 
As for the human mind not being able to opererate by force, using the Soviet Union as an example, it was the Soviets who got into space before us and will remain in space. We're the one cutting NASA. Sometimes the human mind can work in great stress and come up with some great ideas.
 
Oh, one more not, What do Jesus Christ and John Galt have in common? One isn't coming back; the other isn't coming at all.
 
Happy Memorial Day, all!
 
 
 


 
 


--- On Mon, 5/31/10, Bruce Majors <majors.bruce@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Bruce Majors <majors.bruce@gmail.com>
Subject: [NewJersey_for_Kerry] Atlas Shrugged continues to materialize
To: "whateverreturns" <whateverreturns@yahoogroups.com>, PoliticalForum@googlegroups.com, Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com
Cc: NewJersey_for_Kerry@yahoogroups.com, "787 APFN-1" <apfn-1@yahoogroups.com>, "ohio" <ohio_for_kerry@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, May 31, 2010, 4:47 AM


 

"Plug the damn hole!"

May 27, 2010 by Tom Bowden

Once again, an episode from Ayn Rand'sAtlas Shrugged leaps to life from behind closed doors in Washington, D.C. According to a recent report from The Washington Post,President Obama is angry about the British Petroleum oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico:

Since the oil rig exploded, the White House has tried to project a posture that is unflappable and in command.

But to those tasked with keeping the president apprised of the disaster, Obama's clenched jaw is becoming an increasingly familiar sight. During one of those sessions in the Oval Office the first week after the spill, a president who rarely vents his frustration cut his aides short, according to one who was there.

"Plug the damn hole," Obama told them.

That's the politician's answer to every intractable problem: give orders, issue threats, and wait for obedience. But the creative human mind cannot take orders like that. Notice I didn't say, "refuses to take orders." I said, "cannot take orders."

By that I mean, the task of plugging a leak 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico is an engineering feat. BP's acknowledged role in causing the leak does not alter the fact that careful study, creative thought, and the exacting deployment of technical and mechanical skills over long distances are all necessary in order to fix the leak. No amount of jaw clenching or bug-eyed threats from politicians can bring the solution one inch closer to reality. The human mind does not operate by force from outside. If engineering achievements could be conjured up by barking orders, the Soviet Union would be a thriving nation overflowing with engineering marvels, instead of a dead husk.

Obama's petulant outburst brings to mind a scene from Atlas Shrugged featuring Kip Chalmers, a politician who is traveling by train from Washington, D.C., to California, where he's running for office. When the train's diesel engine is destroyed by accidentally running over a split rail, Chalmers issues furious demands, expecting they will result in instant technical solutions:

"God damn these railroad people!" said Kip Chalmers. "They're doing it on purpose. They want to ruin my campaign. I can't miss that rally! For Christ's sake, Lester, do something!"

"I've tried," said Lester Tuck. At the train's last stop, he had tried, by long-distance telephone, to find air transportation to complete their journey; but there were no commercial flights scheduled for the next two days.

"If they don't get me there on time, I'll have their scalps and their railroad! Can't we tell that damn conductor to hurry?"

"You've told him three times."

"I'll get him fired. He's given me nothing but a lot of alibis about all their messy technical troubles. I expect transportation, not alibis."

To find out how Chalmers' threats finally got that train moving, and what catastrophic results followed, you will have to read the novel. When you do, you'll have a better appreciation for what politicians and engineers are capable of.

WikiMedia Commons


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