Fenriz

It was written by Robert Harris. Thomas Harris writes novels about cannibalistic psychiatrists rather than alternate history novels.

Personally, I don't believe that Alex Jones is a conspiracy nut. I think that he is little more than an opportunistic publicity hound intent only on selling DVDs and books to very naive and impressionable political "activists." In the past, he has capitalized on the conspiracies about a 9/11 "inside job" and the coming Bush police state. Years ago, during the California recall election, he peddled conspiracy smut about Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Nazi past" and secret plans to become President. And now recently he's tried to attach himself to the movement that is trying to debunk the man-made global-warming hysteria. Alex Jones is a snake oil salesman and nothing more.

Just a little something to ponder: Children who were raised by their Communist parents to believe in Marxist principles are commonly referred to as "red diaper babies." What term should we have for children who were raised by Objectivist parents to believe in individualist and pro-capitalist principles?

I've seen seasons 1-4 and I would say that the third season is the best one. The fourth season had some really good episodes, particularly one episode called "Transference" which is my favorite episode of all, but it didn't have a solid story arc.

The Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens put it best: Conspiracy theories are the "exhaust fumes of democracy", the unavoidable result of a large amount of information circulating among a large number of people.

I would like to see a bio pic about the Communist tyrant Nicolae Ceaucescu, from his humble origins in a Romanian village, to his activist days, to his eventual rise to power, to the devastation that his regime brought upon his people, and finally to his violent overthrow in December of 1989.

I also disagree with the notion that King Kong is a "primitivist" film. Probably the main reason why it is not a primitivist film is its depiction of the savage tribe on Skull Island that worshipped Kong. If King Kong were a truly primitivist film, it would've depicted the savage tribe as some kind of noble people not unlike the Native American Sioux Indians. But that is not the case. In the film, the savage tribe is depicted as a truly horrifying pack of almost feral creatures.

Old threads still post. I disagree that the movie Fight Club is an "anti-life" movie. In fact, I think that that movie is a warning against anti-life philosophies. Consider that Tyler Durden is essentially preaching a very convoluted message of "male liberation" that seems to be a grunge mix of Nietzsche, Marx, and Rousseau, and the end result of his "philosophy" is an army of moronic cultists that engage in mindless acts of "terrorism."

The Salton Sea is a really good movie. Vincent D'Nofrio plays perhaps the most bizaare movie villain since Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth in Blue Velvet . And the movie also presents a great depiction of the madness of the crystal meth subculture in Southern California.

Two of my favorite American moments happened during Reagan's presidency: 1. Reagan's "evil empire" speech. 2. Reagan's speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

One movie that I would venture to say is irrational is Dazed and Confused, a 70s nostalgia film about the last day of high school. While on the one hand this movie is really funny, has a great classic rock soundtrack, and features a lot of famous faces who were then unknown, this film has a very questionable sense of life. The movie has a lot of scenes of teenagers doing things like drunk or stoned, vandalizing property, and even features some pretty brutal scenes of high school seniors hazing the incoming freshman by beating them with a paddle. All of these scenes are depicted as if it is just harmless fun.

I found this entry on David Horowitz's website blog, and it is just one more reason why I despise Bill Clinton:

Last year there was a Superman graphic novel called Red Son which was a re-imagining of Superman's story if he had been the man of steel for the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The blurb on the back of the book says, "Strange visitor from another world who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands... and who, as the champion of the common worker, fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, Socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact." I was really excited about reading but when I read the introduction, I knew that I was going to be disappointed. In the introduction, the author states, "In the hands of a lesser writer the story would have fallen into cookie cutter, black and white, America good, Soviets bad, feel-good propaganda. Thank God Mark Millar is not a lesser writer. And thank God his favorite color seems to be gray." The story depicts an epic conflict between Superman in the USSR and Lex Luthor in the United States and, in doing so, implies some kind of moral equivalence between the two superpowers. A very disappointing take on the Cold War. There is, however, an intriguing episode in the graphic novel where we see an alternate Batman character rise up as an enemy of the Soviet state and very nearly succeeds in killing Superman.

How about the inclusion of a documentary to this thread? Recently I saw the movie In The Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed, a fantastic documentary that presents a perspective on totalitarian ideologies in general, and communism specifically, that many Objectivists here would agree with. Here's a link to the website of the film: In The Face of Evil

The Black Book of Communism is an important "sequel" to that book. The Road To Serfdom by Friedrich von Hayek is a book that David Horowitz has called "the Karl Marx of the libertarian/conservative worldview."

Two books come to mind: Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman. A very clear and lucid presentation of just why a free market is necessary to a free democratic society. The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. This book is a great study on the importance of heroic mythology in cultures around the world since the Dawn of Man. Campbell's ideas have had an indirect effect on American pop culture in the 20th century. Filmmakers, screenwriters, novelists, and comic book artists have been inspired by his ideas to create great contemporary hero myths.

Yeah, no kidding. I strongly disagree with the inclusion of that book. Two books that I would've included in the honorable mention: Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard. Gave birth to one of the most destructive religious cults of the past twenty years. The Turner Diaries by William Pierce. Racist and anti-semitic "sci-fi" novel that has inspired a lot of lone nuts like Timothy McVeigh. There is also a book by Peter Sanger, I don't know the name of it, but it is supposedly the book that gave birth to nutty animal rights movements like P.E.T.A.

I came across this interesting article on the Human Events website in which a panel judged the ten most harmful books of the 19th and 20th Century. I mostly agree with the choices: 1. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels 2. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler 3. Quotations of Chairman Mao a.k.a. "The Little Red Book" by Mao Tse-Tung 4. The Kinsey Report: Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred Kinsey 5. Democracy and Education by John Dewey 6. Das Kapital by Karl Marx 7. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan 8. The Course of Positive Philosophy by Auguste Comte 9. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche 10.General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes The article also includes an honorable mention of runners-up. Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries

I'm also an Angeleno. I think that the Port of Los Angeles is Al-Qaeda's most likely target. It's probably the busiest seaport in the United States, and it would be catastrophic if a dirty bomb were set off there. Anyway, I'm not too worried if a terrorist attack does happen in Los Angeles. Recently there was a power outage that affected most of the downtown area, and within minutes the police and fire departments were in tactical positions ready to respond.

A few admirable people that come to mind: Rudy Guiliani: His response during the attacks of September 11 is the gold standard of how a leader should respond during a crisis (take note of that Ray Nagin). Gary Sinise: One of the few Hollywood actors who supported the war to liberate Iraq from Saddam Hussein, he has quietly set up a charity for dispensing school supplies to Iraqi children. Hollywood needs more people like him. David Horowitz: The radical left's most infamous defector. Horowitz is a former Marxist who gradually "saw the light" and has since been a very insightful political writer and critic of the radical left. His autobiography Radical Son is an important book that sheds light on the real legacy of the political activism of the 1960s.

One independent film of the early 1990s that I feel has some Objectivist themes is Ruby in Paradise. The movie was the film debut of Ashley Judd. What the movie is about is a girl who escapes from a dead end existence in some small Southern town to resort town in Florida. There she finds a job and gradually starts to sets up a life for herself. The movie is a deceptively simple story about self-reliance and has some really good acting in it. Tomato-meter for "Ruby in Paradise"

I strongly disagree about the movie American Beauty. I thought that movie was about the lived experience of nihilism, not individualism. Think about it, how does the Kevin Spacey character of Lester measure up to other "Objectivist" characters like the Charles Morse character in The Edge or the Howard Hughes character in The Aviator.

One of my favorite episodes of the original Star Trek series has a great Objectivist theme. The episode is called Mirror, Mirror, the plot synopsis of this episode is at this link here ----> Spock with a goatee. This episode ends on a very hopeful note. Captain Kirk, right before he crosses over back into his own universe, appeals to the alternate Mr. Spock's logic that the evil empire that he serves is illogical. The alternate Mr. Spock seems to understand Kirk's reasoning.

Wow. That's certainly a movie that I wasnt' expecting someone to mention. I'll have to see that movie again. I haven't seen it since the mid-80s.

What is the Objectivist perspective on Thich Quang Duc's act of self-immolation back in June of 1963? Burning Monk, Buddhist Monk Protest of Vietnam War, Pictures & Essay