On 24 Mar 2007 13:24:03 -0700, "Tim" wrote:

On Mar 24, 2:15 pm, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:
"Vic Smith" my brain wrote in messagenews:3qta03hvvu4h42k6s9tndks71gfi69aio8@4ax .com...
big snip to remove thinly-disguised and transparant advert for
MacGregor junk

But please don't make my ears turn red. OTOH, since I'm an old
navy guy, that might be impossible.

--Vic

An old navy guy? Sure you are, Vic. I bet Nathan Branden is your best
friend.

Wilbur Hubbard

Was Nathaniel Branden in the Navy?

No. He was a Canadian psychologist who along with Ayn Rand defined
Objectivism - basically the precursor of Libertarianism. Was a
member of a group called "The Collective" which had some interesting
members including Alan Greenspan.

Which explains the gooble de gook Greenspan used during his
Congressional testimony.

Want to give yourself a headache?

Parse the following:

"The issue of concepts (known as "the problem of universals") is
philosophy's central issue. Since man's knowledge is gained and held
in conceptual form, the validity of man's knowledge depends upon the
validity of concepts. But concepts are abstractions or universals, and
everything that man perceives is particular, concrete. What is the
relationship between abstractions and concretes? To what precisely do
concepts refer in reality? Do they refer to something real, something
that exist - or are they merely inventions of man's mind, arbitrary
constructs or loose approximations that can not claim to represent
knowledge?"

I'll wait. :)