Reasonable Nuts: Eye contact

Sometimes nuts. Always reasonable. We are REASONABLE NUTS.

The Reasonable Nuts are a small band of conservative and libertarian thinkers who have come together to exposit, expound, and (sometimes) explode on topics of public discourse (or those we think should be in public discourse). "Yeah, like the 'net needs another right-wing blog!", you're thinking. We hear ya. Our primary purposes here are twofold: 1, to post our notions and interpretations of current and recent events, bouncing them off one another - and you - and 2, to add a unique content to the 'net - not readily found elsewhere.
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Reasonable Nuts of Yore:
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in the people's minds." -- Samuel Adams, one of the original Reasonable Nuts
"I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive."
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." -- Thomas Jefferson, quite Reasonable at times, always a Nut.
"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few public officials."
"To disarm the people (is) the best and most effectual way to enslave them..." -- George Mason, unalienable rights nut
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Reasonable Nuts of Today:
"The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics." -- Thomas Sowell
"Most people who read 'The Communist Manifesto' probably have no idea that it was written by a couple of young men who had never worked a day in their lives, and who nevertheless spoke boldly in the name of 'the workers'." -- Thomas Sowell
"The purpose of an open mind is to close it, on particular subjects. If you never do â you've simply abdicated the responsibility to think" -- William F. Buckley, Jr.
"I would rather be governed by the first 2000 names in the Boston phone book than by the faculty of Harvard University". -- William F. Buckley, Jr.
"We might think of dollars as being 'certificates of performance.' The better I serve my fellow man, and the higher the value he places on that service, the more certificates of performance he gives me. The more certificates I earn, the greater my claim on the goods my fellow man produces. That's the morality of the market. In order for one to have a claim on what his fellow man produces, he must first serve him. Contrast that moral standard to Congress' standing offer, 'Vote for me and I'll take what your fellow man produces and give it to you.'" -- Walter E. Williams
"Creating false distinctions between human rights and property rights plays into the hands of Democrat and Republican Party socialists who seek to control our lives. If we buy into the notion that somehow property rights are less important, or are in conflict with, human or civil rights, we give the socialists a freer hand to attack our property." -- Walter E. Williams

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Eye contact

My lovely wife has often made mention of how important eye contact is in communication. I've noticed in myself a hesitance to maintain eye contact when I am unsure of myself or otherwise feeling "off". I generally have (lately) tried to catch myself in these moments and sally forth eye to eye.

So I read with interest the beginning of this article by Jonah Goldberg:

One of my favorite tidbits about Hollywood that I've gleaned from the starstruck press is that a great many of its most accomplished stars don't allow their staffs to look them in the eye. I'm not making this up. It has been reported that Barbra Streisand not only discourages eye contact among staff, but that she required hotel workers to leave her presence only by walking backward. Jennifer Lopez — who had 75 attendants help her prepare for a cameo on Will & Grace — is also reputed to forbid her subalterns to look into the windows of her soul. Sylvester Stallone won't stand for such effrontery, and Tom Cruise likes to ban eye contact, too, at least while he's working.

Goldberg goes on to write a decent piece on hubris and liberalism in Hollywood, largely represented both today by George Clooney.

Author's note (2006.03.15-10:30): my lovely wife mentioned last evening that she thought the Goldberg piece disjointed - that it really was 2 pieces and that he didn't tie them together well. I thought this as well. What say you?

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