Radicals for Happiness is my blog, devoted

"Chesterton carried a small loaded revolver which he purchased before his wedding to protect his bride. The only use he found for it was to offer to those who complained life was meaningless. He found no takers. He carried a dagger, which he admired because like logic, it cut both ways, and like a good argument, it came to a point." - Dale Ahlquist, from memory.

I have been sick in bed all day, but awoke to see on ABC News that Muqtada Al-Sadr, several high-ranking members of his militia, and several other bad guys not necessarily related to the Al Mahdi Army have been captured - or "arrested" if you look on a leftist slanting website.

On Sunday the 14th I found two small jpg's by searching google images with the terms "saddam hanging."

Robert Anselm Heinlein, 1907-1988, is consistently voted one of the most popular writers of the last century. In my list he ranks third as a popular novelist, just below Rand and Tolkien and just above Robert Graves, George Orwell (best as an essayist), and Frank Herbert from whom he differs greatly in style.

It's finally me you see as my Avatar as of this post. The picture is unfairly flattering, being actually 15 years, two major surgeries, a few fistfights, 40 pounds of stress, and a few lost or grey hairs too old. (It's by far the best ever taken of me.) But its not William Scherk, or Fred Weiss for that matter! I'll probably eventually go back to my uncle or the Twin Towers, as those have more meaning for me. I may post a new one with my nephew if I can get one.

In the first ever open act of nuclear terrorism, with the Russian embassy to the UK and several British Airways flights now known to be contaminated with radioactive Polonium, one British citizen dead by KGB methods on British soil, and many others either targeted or unintended casualties, Scotland Yard has declared this open act of war, this open violation of British sovereignty by the Kremiln, to be a ... "murder case." In other investigations, World War Two is officially being re-investigated as a hate crime, and World War One is to be reclassified as a pub brawl.

I've begun this thread for people to post their suggestions for casting the movie version of Atlas Shrugged. People, including me, have also been submitting such suggestions under Lindsay's Russell Crowe thread. I have started this one simply to make the title match the posts.

May God & she forgive me for the lateness of this post, but I would like to thank SFC Cheryl Dupris, proud American Sioux Indian and Paratrooper for the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, and all her comrades in arms, and all our allies who are fighting and risking everything for us now in Afghanistan and in Iraq and around the world. I have had the pleasure of knowing Ms. Dupris who has voluntarily served tours of duty in Afghanistan, Iraq, in the Federal clean-up effort after Hurricane Katrina, and again in Afghanistan all while my acquaintance.

Kori,

God, I do detest KoRn. But does, or even should that, make you like them any less?

Life is your mission, Kori, search and enjoy.

Ralph Peters in today's 15 November NY Post:

Our heroes at Science Patrol Tokyo have notified mainland North America to be on the lookout for the raging Banduwitsukansuma monster, which translates roughly in English as "person who writes overly long and informative posts while sometimes using images pirated from other pirates to illustrate his points." The Banduwitsukansuma, pictured above, not only has a habit of conducting discussions on aesthetics, it also tends to complain vigorously when it is accused of "not only illegal but also immoral" on its own personal threads.

It's a shame we won't get a chance to see him removed from office by some sex scandal instead...

I had the pleasure of visiting Michael Newberry in his studio recently. I have been working on a write-up of my visit, but find I am being extra careful in my writing. So, rather than delay sharing this image of his most recent work in progress, I will simply post it without comment. Those who are not familiar with his work can view much, much more at www.michaelnewberry.com.

"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men." Matthew 12:30-31

Apparently DailyKos is arguing that Libertarians should vote Democratic this coming election in the US. Andrew Sullivan is speaking on his new The Conservative Soul on Book TV at 1130PM EDT.

On another string I was questioned as to what I meant by my use of the concepts of the eternal and the divine. I'll answer the easy one first.

Both South Korea and Japan have been able to indulge in their pacifist fantasies for so long because of America's willingness to shoulder almost the entire burden of protecting them militarily.

ULTRAMAN Region 1 DVD Release Ultraman: Series One, Vol. 1 (2004)
Available at Amazon Under $30.00

This is the official DVD release of the first 20 of 39 episodes. Color, 450 Minutes, English dubbed and Japanese language originals, English Subtitles, Special Features. Tsurubaya Productions (c) 1966

GILDA 1946 Glenn Ford, Rita Hayworth
Showing on TCM 8PM EDT Oct 28

A romantic Drama in the best sense of the word, this film forever secured for Rita Hayworth the title of "sex goddess," a title which, in real life, she found a tragic personal frustration.

Directed by Charles Vidor, Gilda stars Glenn Ford, (recently deceased,) as Johnny Farrell, a handsome, streetwise adventurer and romantic lead who "makes his own luck."

Barbara Stanwyck 1907-1990 the "Ball of Fire"

Barbara Stanwyck, for a period during the 1940’s the highest paid actress in Hollywood, (and woman in the U.S.,) was a self-made woman, if ever there was one. Queen of the film noir, Stanwyck was known for playing tough broads, often the girlfriend of a mobster - Night Nurse, Ball of Fire - or a killer herself - Double Indemnity. Having lost her family at a young age, Stanwyck, born Ruby Stevens, grew up in Brooklyn and got her start on stage at age 13. Often described as ashamed of her lack of education, Stanwyck wasn’t all that ignorant. It was she who fought to have Jack Warner produce The Fountainhead, only to lose the part to Patricia Neal at director King Vidor's insistance.

Terry Gilliam’s live action fantasy, Time Bandits, is currently playing on Showtime and is widely available for rent and sale. This wonderful romp tells the story of Kevin, a young English boy whose parents don’t believe where that noise in his bedroom at night is coming from. Kidnapped by a band of renegade dwarves with a map of time and space, Kevin and his abductors visit Napoleonic Europe, Robin Hood’s merry old England, Agammemnon’s Mycenae and the sinking Titanic, as well as the Time of Legend and the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness, where Evil himself resides.

If Objectivism is a philosophy for living life on earth, then it should have little time for quibbles, and much for joy. In that spirit, I have decided to post regularly on those things, art works, news items, and simple observations that have brought Joy to my life, in the hope to share that same Joy with others who seek it.