Update: bigmac ads:
The ad was made by David Zucker, producer of movies like Airplane!, Naked Gun, and Scary Movie 4. When GOP officials saw the ad, they declined it. I haven’t read anything saying whether or not the GOP funded the ad or otherwise participated in making it. If they did, and if it was intended for TV, then it’s surprising it got this far. Perhaps it was really intended for this kind of viral online distribution in the first place?
The Objectivist Club Association (OCA), a new organization dedicated to assisting Objectivist campus and community clubs, has launched a new forum – forums.objectivistclubs.org – for all those involved in a club or interested in founding one.
Discussions about recruitment and advertising stategies, speaking events, club meetings, and other sundry club-related topics are already ongoing, and you’re welcome to start new threads of your own.
By registering for free, you can ask questions of fellow club leaders, share your experiences, discuss possibilities for collaboration, suggest services and materials you’d like the OCA to provide, and participate in a dialogue with other Objectivists who take ideas and cultural change as seriously as you do.
To learn more about the OCA, you can visit the main website at http://www.ObjectivistClubs.org.
Hope to see you on the forum soon!
Regards,
—OCA Staff
Interesting video on atheists found at Dean Cook’s site:
The first page of A Short History of the World by H.G. Wells, published in 1922:
Over a large part of the civilized world it was believed and taught that the world had been created suddenly in 4004 B.C., though authorities differed as to whether this had occurred in the spring or autumn of that year. This fantastically precise misconception was based upon a too literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and upon rather arbitrary theological assumptions connected therewith. Such ideas have long since been abandoned by religious teachers, and it is universally recognized that the universe in which we live has to all appearances existed for an enormous period of time and possibly for endless time. Of course there may be deception in these appearances, as a room may be made to seem endless by putting mirrors facing each other at either end. But that the universe in which we live has existed only for six or seven thousand years may be regarded as an altogether exploded idea.
In 1922, such a preface to the age of the universe was probably necessary. What I wonder is how many American history books, especially history textbooks would make the radical claim that a “literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and … rather arbitrary theological assumptions connected therewith [have] long since been abandoned by religious teachers”? Is world history even part of the required curriculum today? I took a single (very badly-abbreviated) course in high school, and not a single world history course during college in the process of getting a political science degree. (!!!) Is world history too politicized to be even be taught in public primary and secondary school anymore?
For an updated no-nonsense course on world history, I recommend J.M. Robert’s The New History of the World. I’ve also heard good things about A First History for Adults.
I took several 360 degree panoramas during my vacation in Aspen last week, and after having some trouble stitching them, found this tutorial for stitching them. (Here is my preliminary test with Photoshop.) I found a cool program that is supposed to automate the process, so I’ll post more of my experiments later.
High Dynamic Range and panorama, and 360 degree photos are just some of the many new techniques made possible by digital imaging technologies. I think the most important feature is the ability to endlessly experiment with photographic technique without paying each shot. My photo albums have grown exponentially in parallel with the growth in processing power and memory capabilities. During my week-long trip to Colorado, I took 295 photos. That equals 13 rolls of film, from which I plan to get six or so print-worthy shots. That kind of experimentation was only possible to professional photographers a few years ago.
These sample pages from the book “Why Mommy is a Democrat” give the term “Mommy state” a new meaning. If only leftists were that honest about their socialist/totalitarian ideology with other adults, perhaps people might be more wary before voting for them.
Hoping to avoid shortages of their flagship product, Coca Cola has begun asking consumers to limit their purchases of Coke. “We realize that we have an excellent product and it’s been really hot lately, but please, if you could just cut back a little, it would help a lot,” said company spokeswoman Greta Hansel. “We’re going to have to stop shipping to stores in certain areas pretty soon if people don’t reduce their Coke consumption.”
From a TIME article:
Time reports that not all Iranianians are taking state propaganda seriously. With these messages, it’s not hard to see why:
Iranian state channel … urged Iranians to boycott what it called “Zionist products,” including those made by Pepsi, Nestlé and Calvin Klein, and warned that profits from such products “are converted into bullets piercing the chests of Lebanese and Palestinian children.” As evidence, the voice-over intoned, “Pepsi stands for ‘pay each penny to save Israel.'”
Mohammad Reza Afshari, 23, a mechanic who works two jobs yet still cannot afford to move out or attend college. The shop where he works abuts a vast mural depicting a female suicide bomber with a baby in her arms, accompanied by the words I LOVE MOTHERHOOD, BUT I LOVE MARTYRDOM MORE
What do you do when Islamic fundamentalists murder 200 people? Why, you censor anyone who criticizes Islam, of course! At least, that was India’s response, when it forced Indian ISP’s to censor the following 17 websites. None of them advocate terrorism – they just dare to blaspheme against Islam.
The Band of the Banned
Please republish the list on your own blog to show your stand against censorship!
My comments on the ObjectivismOnline forum thread:
Some argue that Israel’s “disengagement” is to be blamed for the recent round of attacks. This is true in a sense, but not in the way most critics claim.
The Palestinian terrorist groups and their backers depend on continued violence for their political power and the foreign and domestic loot (“aid”) that comes with it. They have used the “Zionist entity’s occupation” as the primary excuse for their violence. Since they demand the entire territory of Israel, “disengagement” will not satisfy their demands. (Nothing will, since a continued conflict is the only justification for their existence.) However it does create a line in the sand. This line is a political statement as much as it is a physical barrier, intended to finally delineate Israeli claimed land from Arab land. The audience of this statement is primarily the Israeli public itself, as well as the EU market on which Israel’s economy depends. The Palestinians are a distant second – but faced with a de-facto border and Israeli and European condemnation, their opposition (which is ultimately funded by the West) will collapse.
Of course European support is far from guaranteed, but Israel has no other options. The Palestinians refuse to be integrated and they cannot be expelled – Arab nations don’t want them either. Sooner or later they will have to be recognized as a foreign power, and continued aggresion treated as an act of war. The trick is to marginalize them first in order to limit Islamic and Western support.
