ENikolai
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Posts posted by ENikolai
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In case anyone is interested, Adam Curry of the No Agenda Show did an interview with Gary Johnson three days ago. It's available here:
http://garyjohnson.nashownotes.com/
It's negative that Gary Johnson doesn't sound passionate about anything. He's very monotone and dull-sounding - even moreso than Tim Pawlenty. He often looks half asleep. A presidential candidate needs to be able to inspire people and fire them up.
I'm fairly certain the nominee will be Rick Perry or Herman Cain, assuming Chris Christie or Paul Ryan doesn't run.
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I cannot quite imagine the state of mind of a person who would wish to condemn a fellow human being to such a horror. I cannot project the degree of hatred required to make those women run around in crusades against abortion.
To social conservatives, it's partly a matter of personal responsibility. If you engage in the act of reproduction, and reproduction takes place, you bear the responsibility for it as you were fully aware of the risk and possible consequences. It all comes down to whether you believe in God or not, though. According to religion, all life is holy, and killing an innocent life would be a vicious way of avoiding responsibility for your own actions and promiscuity. I personally don't share this view as I'm not a religious man, but I do respect that people of faith are morally opposed to abortion, and don't think that hatred is involved.
Incidentally, Ron Paul does not want the federal government to ban or restrict abortion; he merely wants it to be decided democratically on the state level. This is not an ideal view, but it could certainly be much worse.
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Fawstin himself writes on his website that "overall, I was fine with the segment, and it was definitely funny."
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Does anyone know how to find out which theaters will show the film?
John Link
It's not settled yet.
"You want Atlas Shrugged playing in a theater near you? This is how to do it."
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Here's a few movie reviews.
Review of premiere event and review of movie by John Sexton from Big Hollywood
Review of movie by David Kelly
Review of movie by Matt Welch from Reason Magazine
Review of movie by Barbara Branden
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I'm impressed; that scene was exectuted perfectly. I especially liked the meeting between Rearden and Phillip. My expectations of the full movie have increased.
Incidentally, I think there's something oddly sympathetic about the actor that plays Paul Larkin. Can't put my finger on what.
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I do like Bolton's foreign policy, but that's all I know about him. What are his views on reducing the size of government (is he hawkish or moderate) and the role of religion in government (is he part of the religious right, or more of a secular)?
Here's an excerpt from a National Review article on Bolton. It sounds very promising.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of ‘Bolton for President’ rumbles. We know he’s rock-solid on foreign policy. But what about his domestic views? For all we know, he’s a socialist — as some of the best hawks have been.” Bolton, with a glint in his eye, leaned into his microphone and said, “I don’t think you have to worry about that.”One doesn’t. On Election Day 1964, John Bolton, 15, got permission to be absent from school: in order to pass out leaflets for Goldwater. “That was my formative political experience,” he says, the Goldwater campaign. Unlike his fellow Goldwaterite, Miss Hillary Rodham, he remained a Goldwaterite, unalloyed. His favorite line from The Conscience of a Conservative, the senator’s 1960 book, is, “My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them.” Bolton says, “Individual liberty is the whole purpose of political life, and I thought it was threatened back then” — in 1964 — “and I think it’s threatened now.”
Also, I submit that this video, where John Bolton states his views on the United Nations, would make any Objectivist deeply aroused.
Unfortunately Bolton's uncompromising and confrontational attitude, and his strong "hawkishness," is unlikely to resonate much with independents and moderate Democrats. I doubt he'd win in the general election.
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Donald Trump has been the most successful and applauded speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) so far, and seems very sincere about running for President. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on him as a presidential candidate.
Here's his speech:
It will be interesting to see whether most Objectivists will back him, or rather someone like John Bolton.
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I love the look of those. Very fine work. I don't suppose you have any of them in higher resolution?
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I agree with the criticism you've made, though the thing that annoys me the most is probably the inconsistency of the wonders that may be created. As an example, if I'm running the U.S. government and am in the process of building the Hoover Dam, I might suddenly get a message that the Russians have completed it, thus nullifying my efforts. Similarly, seeing Germany build the Great Wall of China is very annoying. Due to issues like this, I vastly prefer strategy games to be set in fictional settings (like Alpha Centaury was).
Civilization V has implemented a new major feature which seems interesting. Now, you make your civilization more distinguished/diversified by specializing in a number of social policies. As an example, you can unlock scientific revolution, freethought, secularism, civil society, constitution, mercantilism, sovereignty, republic, meritocracy, etc. You can also unlock more reprehensible things like communism, protectionism, police state, theocracy, etc. However, there are some irrational bonuses associated with each of them. As an example, communism increases the production of each city, a planned economy reduced the unhappiness in each city, and socialism reduces the cost of buildings.
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I've just purchased the new strategy game Civilization V, and was pleasantly surprised by the main background image. It features the Atlas monument, and part of an Art Deco skyscraper. In fact I might like to use it as my Windows wallpaper, if I can find a version without the menu table.
I hope I'll be able to enjoy this game, without being too annoyed by any negative political or economic aspects. If you've played it, please share your experience of it.
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While I have some concerns with Ron Paul, religion isn't one of them. The last time I remember him commenting on religion at all, was back when he said something like "If fascism comes to America, it will come carrying a cross." There's a good reason why so many of his supporters are atheists.
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The climate realist James Delingpole has written a few interesting articles on this incident.
'Go green or we'll kill your kids' says Richard Curtis eco-propaganda shocker.
Eco-fascism jumps the shark: massive, epic fail.
Richard Curtis's snuff movie: A satire? A canny marketing strategy? I don't think so.
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An environmental organisation called 10:10 Global has published a video to promote one of their initiatives. It demonstrates their anti-human mentality and their totalitarian stance on individuals who refuse to conform. As an example, the first scene shows an environmentalist blowing up school children who aren't willing to cut their carbon footprints.
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I don't like the sound of this. This new director seems to be relatively unexperienced, and they're making it in two parts instead of 3. Also, the Dagny and Rearden actors are actually pretty decent un terms of what I thought they looked like, but the guy playing Galt looks like a tool. This doesn't look good (in more ways than one.)
This should lay some concerns to rest. It's from the interview with the Libertas Film Magazine:
GM: Really? I thought you’re playing John Galt. That’s what Variety reported.PJ: No, I don’t know why the producers put that in. John Galt is never seen … No , I only took on John Galt as a part because you see the back of my head and a hat – you never see John Galt’s face, ever. I don’t think you should see his face. John Galt is a sort of enigmatic guy in Part One. We should get the sense of him as an accumulation of all great men in Rand’s mind – that’s what John Galt is to her … he’s the Reardons, the Roarks, the Ellis Wyatts – he’s all of them rolled into one guy.
GM: Yes, he’s a symbol.
PJ: So I don’t really want to give him a face, you know what I mean? In the next movie they can hire any actor to do it because it’s not going to be me – you know what I mean? It should really be somebody who exemplifies those things.
Rand might take issue with the comment on how Galt is all her other characters rolled into one guy, though. I got a mental image of Galt saying "We are the Borg; We have added your distinctiveness to our own."
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New research from Harvard Business School suggests that federal spending in states appears to cause local businesses to cut back rather than grow. Shocking!
Stimulus Surprise: Companies Retrench When Government Spends
Some of the dollars directly supplant private-sector activity—they literally undertake projects the private sector was planning to do on its own.It appears Harvard business intellectuals are starting to grasp some of the economic common sense from Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson". Is this what it feels like to watch a child take its first steps?
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Here's an interview with John Aglialoro, from 2008. A few things have no doubt changed since back then, such as Angelina Jolie's and Vadim Perelman's involvement. In the interview he says that it will be one movie, lasting roughly 2½ hours, but the recent Wikipedia entry says the movie is "part 1".
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Here's his contact information if you want to tell him not to screw it up.
Or alternatively, use his contact form at the movie/production site.
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A new site called "The Strike Productions, Inc" has been launched. It says that Atlas Shrugged is now in pre-production, and that principal photography will begin June 2010 in Los Angeles. The site is owned by a man named Harmon Kaslow.
Harmon Kaslow is a consultant for A-Mark Entertainment. A California native, he graduated from the University of California, Davis and received a law degree from the University of Southern California (USC). Originally an entertainment attorney at the international law firm of Shea & Gould, Kaslow has been actively involved in the entertainment industry for 20+ years and has been credited as an executive producer on more than 15 motion pictures. Prior to AME, he was the President/COO of Kismet Entertainment Group where he was instrumental in a series of successful smaller budget pictures including the cult classic and award winning "Dog Soldiers", considered one of Britain's most successful horror pictures.Furthermore, Wikipedia says the following:
In May 2010, Brian Patrick O'Toole and John Aglialoro wrote a screenplay adapted from Atlas Shrugged (Part 1) that has been "greenlighted" for production in Los Angeles, California in early June 2010 as an independent motion picture. Harmon Kaslow is producing, Stephen B. Polk is directing, and Ronnie Yeskel is casting the picture.John Aglialoro is the investor who bought the option to produce the film back in 1992, paying Peikoff over $1 million for full creative control. I think if Aglialoro hadn't started pre-production this summer, all creative control would have reverted to the estate of Ayn Rand.
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Incidentally, I know that the Economist actively supported Obamacare, while Forbes actively opposed it. Do you know if any of the other business magazines took a stand on this issue?
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I think it would be interesting to hear which of the major business news sites and/or magazines Objectivists find the most valuable, and why. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this.
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In your heart, you know he's right.
Christians Must Choose: Ayn Rand or Jesus
in Domestic United States Politics
Posted · Edited by ENikolai
The American Values Network has set up a web page attacking conservatives who have been praising Ayn Rand (primarily Paul Ryan and Rand Paul):
Christians Must Choose: Ayn Rand or Jesus.
It includes this video: