Zigory

June 30, 2008

Wall E is not Walt D

 One of the most important qualities Walt Disney’s movies, television programs, and theme parks imparted to me as a child, and to children everywhere, was a feeling of reassurance. I’m referring to the works of Walt Disney himself when he was alive, and of his studio the first few years after his death.

Even if the story is about things going wrong in one character’s life, it is clear that there is a larger world out there of sensible people and a system and world that makes sense, that there is something called normalcy, and the goal of the characters is to get back to normalcy or better, to improve their lives and live happily ever after.

The Banks family in Mary Poppins is at first somewhat unhappy, but there is hope and magical delight in the world outside, and there is a policeman and there are friendly neighbors who bring runaway children home. The home of (1961’s)101 Dalmations’ owners is a happy, sane, home, and once the dalmations fight off the bad guys, they return to a state of eccentric yet happy normalcy. The world is expected to be filled with reasonable people who can get along and solve problems.

Even the satirical post-Walt movie The Barefoot Executive indicates that the larger world may be a little silly, but still okay at its core.

To a child, the sense of a system and society that is dependable and rational is extremely important to his feeling secure and optimistic, to his feeling free and motivated to learn and grow and become ambitious within that society.

The new Disney-Pixar movie Wall E is not at all in the spirit of Walt Disney’s movies. The characters of Wall E, Eve and The Captain are Disney-esque and very charming and funny. But the universe they inhabit is the opposite of Walt’s universe.

We are expected to believe and accept that in the future human beings (A) allowed a corporate monopoly to replace the U.S. Constitution (and all other governments) and become a dictator and (B) that no one noticed a problem with garbage disposal until it got so bad, the entire species had to leave the planet. In this dystopian vision of the future, the technology to build extraordinary robots and a spaceship that  holds and takes care of the needs of the entire human population exists, but not the technology to get rid of garbage and plant trees or grass. Human beings are intelligent yet immensely moronic simultaneously.

Above all, the problem with this film — and the fact that busy parents, or their child care providers, will one day buy the DVD and play it over and over for their children without watching it — is the message that the universe makes no sense and the future is dark and adults are incapable of dealing with their problems until long past catastrophe. This is not a reassuring message to children who love life and can’t wait to grow up and flourish. It is harmful.

As my 5-year-old son said, “That’s a Garbage Planet. That’s not Earth. Why are they calling it Earth?” He understands that Earth makes sense. People are rational beings.

I explained it’s a make-believe silly story about Earth in the future where, as my wife said, “people become stupid” and can’t get rid of garbage. I reassured him and his sister that it’s ridiculous and that this is not going to happen in real life.

Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Politics, Arts and Entertainment, Walt Disney, The Mind, Protecting Children, Autobiographical, Environmentalism — zigory @ 12:35 pm

May 23, 2008

George Will on Environmentalism

I have posted a reply to George Will’s excellent column, “The United
States’ New Pre-Emptive War.” Although there is one sentence about
abortion rights that I would argue with, in the rest of the essay Mr.
Will eloquently and accurately analyzes environmentalism, with
reference to declaring polar bears “endangered” based on “future
global warming,” and quotations from Nigel Lawson.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeWill/2008/05/22/the_united_states_new_pre-emptive_war

Here is my comment:
Ayn Rand Foresaw This Outcome
Almost four decades ago, Ayn Rand predicted that leftist
environmentalists would seek to justify all-encompassing regulations,
as George Will accurately describes above. She wrote in her essay “The
Anti-Industrial Revolution”: “The immediate goal is obvious: the
destruction of the remnants of capitalism in today’s mixed economy,
and the establishment of a global dictatorship. This goal does not
have to be inferred —- many speeches and books on the subject state
explicitly that the ecological crusade is a means to that end.” (From
“Return of the Primitive”)

Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Politics, History, Environmentalism, Foreign Policy — zigory @ 8:28 pm

April 11, 2008

China and North Korean Refugees

All the talk these days is about China’s cracking down on Tibetans, and it is a terrible thing to witness.

Recently, China is claiming that the Tibetan protestors are puppets whose strings are being pulled by foreign religious elements, as a way of downplaying the situation and as an excuse to investigate  and shut down churches or other groups who have any foreign involvement.

Related to this, things are getting worse in regard to China’s deplorable treatment of North Korean refugees and those who try to assist them inside China.

China has been known to send refugees, who have escaped North Korea’s police state into China, back to NK, to be imprisoned or tortured or killed by the authorities there, or to simply starve to death due to the conditions there.

Now China is recruiting more informants to report North Korean defectors by offering a reward equivalent to the average annual income in China, for each North Korean defector reported.

Added to that bad news, the punishment has been made more severe for those in China extending help to North Korean defectors. Instead of being fined, they now face the threat of imprisonment.

Of course, if China were to follow justice (and the international refugees convention) they would protect the North Korean refugees, give them asylum or allow them to move on to other countries safely, and allow people to assist them.

Here is a letter I have written to the Chinese Embassy:

———-

Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing in protest, upon learning that China is making punishments more severe for people who extend assistance to North Korean defectors.
I understand they face prison sentences now, rather than fines.
I believe that North Korean defectors are refugees who should be protected as such under the international refugees convention. Anyone helping such refugees should be permitted to do so, as North Korea does not respect the rights of its people.
Please end the threat of prison sentences for those who help North Korean defectors.
Additionally, North Korean refugees must not be repatriated as they face death or harsh penalties by the North Korean government  for attempting to leave. North Korea does not respect human rights, these individuals need to be protected as refugees.
Most of the world is sympathetic to the plight of North Korean defectors, and sees them as refugees. Please show that you respect human rights, and protect them, and do not punish those who give them assistance.
Thank you.
————–
Feel free to write to them yourself.
To send a letter (snail mail) to the Ambassador in Washington, write to:
Ambassador: Zhou Wenzhong    

Address: 2300 CONNECTICUT AVENUE, N.W., WASHINGTON D.C. 20008, U.S.A.

Website: http://www.china-embassy.org; http://us.china-embassy.org; http://us.chineseembassy.org

Or telephone him at 1-202-328-2500, or 328-2551 .

For more information, see

 http://www.northkoreanrefugees.com/2008-04-up1600percent.htm

and
Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Politics, History, Foreign Policy, North Korea — zigory @ 3:05 am

April 2, 2008

Horton Hears A Who: Good for the Whole Family

We read the reviews that indicated that Horton Hears A Who was a good film and had nothing offensive for children, and so we took our five-year-old twins to see it. We all enjoyed it very much.
 The story, as in the original Dr. Seuss book, is about a heroic dedication to justice, no matter the cost. Also, as Scott Holleran wrote at Box Office Mojo at http://www.boxofficemojo.com/reviews/?id=2468&p=.htm, it upholds careful thinking and learning about all the evidence rather than following pre-existing assumptions, tradition, or faith. It also upholds the value of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and of respecting every individual’s right to live regardless of non-essentials  (”A person’s a person, no matter how small”). Obviously, in the story, any creatures that think, talk and act like human beings are considered persons.
This film contrasts dramatically with the offensive movie destruction of How The Grinch Stole Christmas of a few years ago (surprisingly directed by the usually talented Ron Howard). That film was full of vulgarity and it stretched out and undercut the climax so that any impact was dissipated. I heard similar atrocities were committed against The Cat in The Hat in a recent version.
I understand the animators of Horton had previously created the film Ice Age, which I did not like because of too much vulgarity and scenes of torturous pain, inappropriate for children and unpleasant for me. Here with Horton Hears A Who, they clearly made an effort to be classier, and sensitive and respectful to the original material. However, there is a short preview of an Ice Age sequel before the Horton movie starts, and it is slightly disturbing for small children, but to a relatively minimal extent.
Incidentally, the same story is the major plotline in the musical Seussical. We took our children to see the shortened-for-children 90 minute version (or was it 60 minutes?) of Seussical when it played New York for free last summer and they loved it too. And the Seussical Broadway Cast Album became a great favorite.
In fact, our children have seen and loved every version of Horton Hears A Who, including the original book, and the superb Chuck Jones animated TV special.
Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Arts and Entertainment, The Mind, Protecting Children, Autobiographical — zigory @ 11:41 pm

March 21, 2008

Yaron Brook’s OpEd on Forbes.com

I posted a comment after Yaron Brook’s OpEd on Forbes.com, regarding campaign finance restrictions limiting freedom of speech.  I welcome any answers, here or on the Forbes page, to the question I pose at the end of my comment.
Here is the comment I posted:
————–
Yaron Brook explains well why this is not a small issue. Once we begin to lose freedom of speech, in small increments like this, the slippery slope becomes real. What will be left of the Founders’ Land of the Free? If America doesn’t protect its freedoms, where else can one go? One big question is raised by Brook’s comment, “A true crusader against political corruption… would seek to put an end to the government’s power to grant special favors to any group”: How do we put an end to the ever-growing powers that FDR, TR, Woodrow Wilson and others initiated in the early 20th century? Will it take new Constitutional Amendments restricting government power?
———-
I would add now, that a Constitutional Amendment won’t pass, and if it passes, won’t hold, until the American people more fully understand and embrace the idea of individual rights and a philosophy of self-interest and reason rather than altruism and pragmatism and majority-rule. So what is needed first is the full-scale education of the American people about the only philosophy that corresponds to the nature of man and reality: Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. Fortunately the Ayn Rand Institute is making enormous strides in getting these ideas taught in high schools and universities and known to many more people via the internet and other media. Please support them.
Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Politics, The Mind, History — zigory @ 4:35 am

March 6, 2008

Atonement Movie Review

Atonement is about to be released on DVD, and here is my review:

At first, every character we are introduced to seems either immoral, extremely unpleasant, a manipulator of others, or at best, simple-minded. After I saw Juno, which literally contains no villain, and where every character is decent and likeable, the characters at the start of Atonement made me fear I will regret spending the next two hours with them.

However, the film improves somewhat. The worst offender in the characterization department is Keira Knightley, whose performance as Cecilia makes her character far less likeable than actually written. If her character was presented in an admirable light, the story would have become more engaging and emotional.

In the end, the simple-minded, or naive, man, Robbie, played by James McAvoy, becomes the likeable and even heroic character, and as a result, the film becomes watchable and even slightly enjoyable at times. At one point, the story transforms into a war movie and at that time it improves.

Especially worthwhile are two sequences: the scenes of the nurses treating the wounded soldiers, which are based on the memoirs of an actual nurse of World War II named Lucilla Andrews, and the unforgettable, extended single tracking shot of  Dunkirk after the battle has ended and the British prepare to evacuate. Horses are shot so that the Germans cannot benefit from their being left behind.

The story itself is ultimately about a youthful error whose impact spirals out of control; the theme is a dark one, but the resolution is somewhat emotionally rewarding in that it confronts how one might have to deal psychologically with such an error.

The production design, costume design and cinematography are superbly beautiful, and puts the viewer right into the period.

The first hour is only exposition; setting up the situation and relationships. I thought that if I could take the film and cut the first hour down to about 20 minutes–just get the important plot points and relationships shown–and recast the role played by Keira Knightley with someone warmer yet stronger, like Angelina Jolie or Kate Beckinsale, I could turn it into a good, short TV movie (by the BBC).

Overall, I would not recommend Atonement, as it adds up to an average film. (I added this line after reading Elizabeth’s comment below, to clarify my overall impression).

Here’s a link to an article by the author of the novel Atonement, Ian McEwan, and charges that he plagiarized Lucilla Andrews’ autobiography:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/nov/27/bookscomment.topstories3

Trivia: Robbie types an offensive word early in the film and I didn’t think that was at all necessary. Another word would have done just fine.

Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Arts and Entertainment, History — zigory @ 1:57 pm

February 7, 2008

Show No Mercy to Islamic Fundamentalists

Al Qaida in Iraq, and other Islamic terrorist groups, follow the principles of Islamic Fundamentalism. By abandoning reason and embracing on faith, without question, the teachings of their leaders and of the Koran, which pretend to speak for some sort of God or Allah, which must be obeyed, Islamic Fundamentalists become terrorists, who kill the innocent brutally. The West, and any individual westerner, who primarily follows reason and not this mystical nonexistent God, is unacceptable to these Islamic Fascists.  Therefore they believe they must destroy the West and they will do so if they have a chance. They cause unthinkable harm now on an individual or small-group scale, and they will cause unthinkable destruction once they get their hands on larger-impact weapons. It’s not over. These evil destroyers and their supporting dictators in Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia must be stopped. Who will stop them among the US Presidential candidates? Who around the world will stop them? Who will show no mercy to them, as they show no mercy to the innocent? Who will wipe out the Islamic Fundamentalist leaders and their weapons,  and terrify any still alive strongly enough to end the movement?

We must show no mercy, but no one should ever do what they are doing to the innocent.

Here are the facts and evidence that support my commentary:

From Lauren Frayer, Associated Press (http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Feb06/0,4670,IraqBoyTerrorists,00.html) :

“Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said he believed insurgents were kidnapping an increasing number of Iraqi children, though he could not offer details or figures.

” ‘This is not only to recruit them, but also to demand ransom to fund the operations of al-Qaida,’ al-Askari said. He aired another grainy video clip which he said showed Iraqi security forces rescuing an 11-year-old boy who had been kidnapped by al-Qaida.”

And from this report by Jennifer Griffin, Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,328832,00.html):

“Kidnapping and extortion are how Al Qaeda in Iraq finances its attacks. It is big business…

“This story had a happy ending, but most kidnappings in Iraq do not. Ammar was from a simple family, and his father never could have paid the $100,000 ransom.

“In an interview after his son was returned to the family, Ammar’s father said, ‘The kidnappers told us that if we fail to pay the ransom, they will behead my son and put his head in the garbage can in front of my house. We told them that we don’t have money.’

“The raid netted five kidnappers and led the coalition forces to another boy being held in a hideout nearby. He was freed on Sunday.”

The following report is from a pro-Christian Church organization, the Barnabas Fund, but I have seen similar reports elsewhere and I believe them to be true.

Iraq: Children being cooked
“In at least one incident, an 11-year-old boy was recently ’slaughtered’ by Muslim militants believed to be linked to the ‘al Qaida in Iraq’ group, who later ‘cooked’ the child, several news reports said. His family was allegedly later invited to a ‘feast meal’ where they were forced to eat the boy, reports said.

“In the most shocking report from Iraq we have received, a toddler was kidnapped in Baghdad in October 2006. The mother could not afford to pay the ransom, and so the kidnappers killed the child. They returned the body to the mother. The little child had been beheaded, roasted and was served on a mound of rice. In another incident a 14-year-old Christian boy was held down by his limbs and beheaded, or, as Iraqi Christians have described it, ‘crucified’. His Muslim attackers called him a ‘dirty Christian sinner’ and chanted ‘Allahu akbar’ (Allah is great).

“Christians in Iraq, including converts from Islam and people involved in mixed-faith marriages, are being crucified by Muslim terrorists, according to a Dutch member of Parliament studying the war-torn country.
“Several Iraqi Christians ‘are nailed to a cross and their arms are tied up with ropes. The ropes are put on fire,’ Joel Voordewind told BosNewsLife, an online news agency focusing on Christians and Jews in difficult circumstances.
“According to the site, Voordewind described how a person, who ’survived’ a crucifixion, ‘even showed holes in his hands,’ apparently from nails.
“Voordewind said victims of the crucifixions are ‘in most cases Christian converts who abandoned Islam or people who, religiously speaking, are involved in mixed marriages.’”

Here is a Youtube video with an audio interview describing similar unthinkable, most-evil actions by Al Qaida in Iraq. The audio is from the chat room/podcasting web site Paltalk (http://chat.paltalk.com/g2/webapp/groups/GroupsPage.wmt), according to the person who posted it on Youtube.com:

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=qj1pWqeKa30">http://youtube.com/watch?v=qj1pWqeKa30</a>

 

Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Politics, History, Foreign Policy — zigory @ 4:02 pm

January 30, 2008

Rudy’s Out of the Race, so…

Regarding my previous blog, as the late Gilda Radner used to say (as Emily Litella):

 ”Never mind!”

 I have no one to root for in the election now.

Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Politics — zigory @ 6:33 pm

January 23, 2008

Calling All Reluctant Republicans

If (unlike most of the Republican candidates) you believe in the separation of Church and State provision of the U.S. Constitution, if you are strongly moral in a pro-individual responsibility, pro-reason, pro-honesty, pro-justice, pro-freedom, secular way–

If you don’t hate corporations and businessmen in a rabid, manic, almost racist fashion, but instead if you love the benefits of capitalism–malls, personal computers, TV’s, theme parks– and of the freedom to start your own business and earn your own way with pride–

If (unlike John McCain) you are for the right to Freedom of Speech (which he violated with the McCain-Feingold Act) and if (unlike John McCain) you think a physically painless and safe technique of interrogation like water-boarding is perfectly acceptable for America to use in order to gain information that will protect Americans from death and destruction inflicted by our enemies–

If you admire the great capitalists that created Microsoft, Apple, Pixar, Disney, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Kodak, Amazon, and if you want their taxes and yours to be as low as possible, so that their property rights and yours are protected, so that they and you are as free as possible to be as productive as desired–

If you think abortions are often sad events but that they are a personal matter that must remain legal, if you are not a religious evangelist, not a theocrat, not a Christian Fundamentalist, but you also don’t want to be forced to vote for the anti-capitalism party of Karl Marx’s ideas (The Democratic Party), just to prevent the election of theocratic politicians who impose their faith on you–

If you’re sick of Democrats (and Ron Paul) pretending that talking to our sworn enemies (such as the Islamic Theocrats that run Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the other Muslim Dictatorships) and diplomacy with them (aka bribing them) will somehow keep them from trying without mercy to terrorize and destroy us–

If you’re sick of Democrats (and Ron Paul) pretending that World War III isn’t at hand, that Western Civilization isn’t at risk, but you also don’t want to vote for Republicans who pay lip service to self-defense but are going to crumble at the first sign of confrontation (e.g., the milquetoasty Mitt Romney, the second-generation politician)–

If you see that all but one Republican candidate includes imposition of religious ideas (like being “pro-life”) in his platform– 

Now is the time to act!

Vote for Rudy!

Now is the time to fix the Grand Old Party so it isn’t the voice of Religious Domination any more, so that it can be a valid alternative to the Democrats for the secular but moral voter, who is on the side of American self-defense, and who is for the American way.

Vote for Rudy!

If you are registered to vote in the United States primary elections as a Republican, or if you are registered in a state where Independents and Democrats are permitted to vote for Republicans, the solution to the theocracy crisis within the GOP is at hand.

Vote in your primary for Rudy Giuliani.

There is no front-runner right now in the GOP race. Rudy’s voters have been quiet until now. But starting with the Florida Primary on January 29, Rudy can come back to the front-runner status he held all of last year.

Many Republicans aren’t sure, so far, who they want. If they can see Rudy Giuliani is still viable, they will realize that he is the leader they want. And if Rudy Giuliani becomes the nominee, he will do more than anyone else to transform the Republican Party back to the more secular pro-capitalism, pro-self-defense party it once was, or nearly was, in the early 20th Century.

The two main reasons to vote for Rudy Giuliani are that he will restore the secular identity of the GOP, and that he will actually and proactively defend America against our enemy attackers. A secondary reason is that, with the help of advisors like Steve Forbes, he will lower taxes and otherwise make good choices regarding the economy.

Another factor for my belief in him is the effectiveness with which he made major improvements in New York City, which anyone who visited the city for just one day in 1989 and then again for one day in 1999, could easily notice. I lived and worked in NYC during those years. He confronted powerful groups no one had confronted before, and made major improvements in quality of life, lowering taxes, fighting crime. He was effective.

What about his failed marriages, his family situation, his so-called scandals? They are minor details. Bill and Hillary Clinton have many more scandals in their histories, and their electability is not questioned. Frank Lloyd Wright had major scandals in his personal family life, but his greatness as an architect is not in question.

Vote in the primaries for Rudy Giuiliani.

Volunteer to help campaign for Rudy at http://www.joinrudy2008.com/ .

Send the Rudy 2008 campaign your money at

http://www.joinrudy2008.com/drive2five .

Write letters to the editor and blog about Rudy being the best candidate.

Tell your friends you are voting for Rudy.

Dr. Harry Binswanger (Objectivist philosopher and former student of Ayn Rand herself) has announced this month on his mailing list, HBL (http://www.hblist.com/), that he is supporting Rudy Giuliani for President, primarily in order to remove the influence of the religious right from the Republican Party and from the U.S. government.

But way back in March, I blogged an explanation of why I support Rudy. See this link:

http://zigory.thinkertothinker.com/?p=53

And see this recent article at Front Page Mag that focuses on one reason why Rudy is unique among the candidates:

http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=6D347ACA-8929-4DC6-8F80-CB95575B44ED

Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Politics, History, Foreign Policy — zigory @ 9:12 pm

December 20, 2007

Unheralded Popular Music Artists Who Deserve to be Heard

Aren’t you tired of all the radio hits that come out, that have the same chords and the same sentiment, the same faux-gospel female or brooding, gritty male singing voices, the same instrumentation and production, again and again, yet pretend to be new songs? Have you ever heard of the current (within the last 15 years) popular music artists Bess Rogers, Eisley, October Project, Happy Rhodes or Kim Fox? They are separate, unrelated artists, all very talented, and they create beautiful, or fun and interesting songs, but they don’t yet have the fame and fortune they deserve. Give them a listen. There are many other talented but unsung singers/composers of pop music to be found. It just requires searching.

More famous, but not famous enough, are Marshall Crenshaw, Richard Thompson, and Linda Thompson, all very talented and interesting songwriters and musicians. And you’ve heard of Al Stewart, but did you know some of his best work came out long after “Year of The Cat”? Try his “Between The Wars” CD. And Justin Hayward, of The Moody Blues, released an outstanding CD called “The View From The Hill” that you probably never heard. (I also recommend his 1975 “Blue Jays” album with John Lodge if you never tried it).

Filed under: Zigory's Weblog, Arts and Entertainment — zigory @ 4:23 am
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