Heard on NPR this afternoon on my drive home

[IDemo]

Paul Ryan requires his staffers to read "Asshole Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, all ~1200 pages.

So at least the shutdown won't harm the toilet paper supply in the Capitol.

[Turbineguy]

1. For a government policy

based on fiction.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Oh god, I have read it...I could be one of his staffers.

That is unless he wants to discuss what I thought of it. :puke:

[LisaM]

3. Well, since it's written for 12-year olds

or at least at the reading level of a 12-year old.

[regnaD kciN]

12. That's a seriously unfair insult...

...to 12-year-olds. :rofl:

(Seriously, back in college, a libertarian girlfriend of mine tried to turn me on to Rand. My immediate reaction, after only a page or less of We The Living, was "my God -- this is the absolute worst writing I've ever read." And that was without even getting into her economic or political ideas!)

[immoderate]

13. Rand should be so lucky.

Most of Hemingway is on a fourth grade level. That means it is easy to read. That is a good thing.

What's on a 12th grade level? Insurance policies, mortgage contracts, and organic chemistry texts, (oh my!) Rand is probably on a higher grade level than Hemingway, or Jules Verne, but that does not make her a better writer.

I tell students to keep their writing 6th or better (lower) if it's intended for reading. (MS Word can give you a level.)

--imm

[YellowRubberDuckie]

4. I heard the same Bullshit.

My reaction? Is NPR sucking up to the republicans for funding now?

[IDemo]

6. This piece sure seemed to, at least

The finish - a long segment from a Led Zeppelin song. What a rockin' guy. :puke:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

10. That's when I turned the station.

[3waygeek]

5. "Atlas Shrugged" would make terrible toilet paper...

since its pages are already full of shit.

[LLStarks]

7. Well done. nt

[IDemo]

8. Good point...

Compost, maybe?

[Poll_Blind]

9. LOL, I love the mental image of ink reading "?tlaG nhoJ si ohW" over someone's asshole.

Like "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!" over the gates of Hell!

:rofl:

PB

[Scuba]

11. HTML Showoff. n/t