Thanks! Vanity Fair is a exceptional book. What did you think of Reese Witherspoon in the movie version? Of course the movie version is never as good as the book, but some are better than others.
Some states are so biased against third party candidates that they don't even put them on the ballot. In Oklahoma, you only have 2 options for President: democrat or republican.
No. Ron Paul understands the bias in the U.S. election system against 3rd party candidates. The only way to have a real chance at winning is either as a Democrat or Republican. He will not run as a libertarian or as an independent. Don't be fooled by the mainstream media and their "scientific" polls. Ron Paul has a very legitimate shot at winning the Republican nomination, ESPECIALLY if he wins the New Hampshire primary.
Best way to understand the U.S. government is to read the U.S. Constitution. It is an amazing document and only takes 20-30 minutes to read. Basically, if its not expressly written in the Constitution, then the federal government does not have the power to do it, and that power remains at the state level. A federal government is crucial for several things, especially for providing a national defense (military).
Good point. Whoever has the best stance on the issues should be the person to support. Unfortunately, too often candidates are very vague and general about their positions to try and appeal to everyone and having no sound argument to back up their positions. I'll move those first five bullets to "Who is Ron Paul?"
I'm stoked to hear another listology member will be voting for him.
Thanks so much for the recommendations. I'll check them out. I have read "Neuromancer", however. Although it had some very cool stuff in it, I was never really captivated by it. I guess it was too wordy and I never felt attached to the characters.
Thanks for your comments. I respect your point of view. I've been a supporter of pro-choice for a long time. I recently lean towards pro-life for the reasons stated in my list. However, I feel both sides have extremely valid points that they make. In truth, I'll support people on either side as long as they promote their point of view with an understanding of the complexity of the issue and an open mindedness to opposing viewpoints. Even if someone agrees with something I believe, it would infuriate me if that person was close-minded and contentious because then that reflects badly on the point of view itself.
In counterpoint to some of your specific comments...
1. I like the libertarian stance that you should be able to do whatever you want as long as it isn't hurting anyone else. The governments role should be limited to protecting our freedoms and stopping those who harm other people. I don't believe in forcing my moral views of gambling, alcohol, or drugs on others. But the reason I could not ignore abortion is because it entails terminating/killing a human fetus/baby. From my point of view, that is hurting another person. However, if you believe a fetus/baby does not have the right to life until it is born, then I can see leaving it upto the mother.
2. Although I believe strongly in a woman's right to have complete control over her own body, I feel that when a woman has sex she needs to accept the responsibility of motherhood as a potential outcome. The fetus/baby was made alive because the mother made a conscious decision to have sex. I feel that decision warrants an added responsbility of seeing the child through to birth as a consequence of her choice.
Again, I totally respect both pro-choice and pro-life. I generally prefer to err on the side of individual freedom, so pro-choice seems to be the place to leave things at for now. Maybe once we've got our economy and foreign policy straightened out, maybe it would an appropriate time to revisit the issue. I may change my mind back and forth several times over the years, but what I really liked was what you said about this issue being manipulated for political gain. In my opinion, this issue gets WAY too much time spent on it when there are MANY other important issues to discuss.
Black Dog is too generic, too run-of-the-mill repetitive. It just doesn't have that special quality that distinguishes it and makes it stand out in a crowd.
This list is rank ordered by the movies that make me laugh the hardest, thus the best comedies I have ever seen. Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, Animal House, and other older movies are on my list but rank ordered lower because they didn't make me laugh as much. I was born in the '80s so that probably has something to do with it. Nevertheless, I stand by my choices. I've found that comedies are the most divisive genre of film when it comes to reviews/ratings because people's tastes vary so greatly. In general, comedy movies never get consistently good reviews by movie critics or even the general public. In my opinion, the best comedies are those that some people love and other people hate. The worst are those in the middle ground that try to please everyone.
I don't expect many people to agree with my rank ordering of comedies here, but I still say these are the best comedy movies around. If I were simply trying to garner praise for my tastes, then I'd probably put all the popular classics at the top like you suggest.
Finally got around to buying Strangeitude by Ozric Tentacles. Awesome recommendation. I love it. It sounds so much ahead of its time. Definitely steered me right on that one.
Maynard James Keenan from Tool and A Perfect Circle.
Thanks! Vanity Fair is a exceptional book. What did you think of Reese Witherspoon in the movie version? Of course the movie version is never as good as the book, but some are better than others.
Some states are so biased against third party candidates that they don't even put them on the ballot. In Oklahoma, you only have 2 options for President: democrat or republican.
No. Ron Paul understands the bias in the U.S. election system against 3rd party candidates. The only way to have a real chance at winning is either as a Democrat or Republican. He will not run as a libertarian or as an independent. Don't be fooled by the mainstream media and their "scientific" polls. Ron Paul has a very legitimate shot at winning the Republican nomination, ESPECIALLY if he wins the New Hampshire primary.
Best way to understand the U.S. government is to read the U.S. Constitution. It is an amazing document and only takes 20-30 minutes to read. Basically, if its not expressly written in the Constitution, then the federal government does not have the power to do it, and that power remains at the state level. A federal government is crucial for several things, especially for providing a national defense (military).
I would like to see an RSS feed so I could see listology "recent updates" on my iGoogle page.
Good point. Whoever has the best stance on the issues should be the person to support. Unfortunately, too often candidates are very vague and general about their positions to try and appeal to everyone and having no sound argument to back up their positions. I'll move those first five bullets to "Who is Ron Paul?"
I'm stoked to hear another listology member will be voting for him.
Thanks for the suggestions! I enjoyed Nausicaa recently. I still need to see My Neighbor Totoro. I'll also give Lupin III a try.
Thanks so much for the recommendations. I'll check them out. I have read "Neuromancer", however. Although it had some very cool stuff in it, I was never really captivated by it. I guess it was too wordy and I never felt attached to the characters.
Thanks for your comments. I respect your point of view. I've been a supporter of pro-choice for a long time. I recently lean towards pro-life for the reasons stated in my list. However, I feel both sides have extremely valid points that they make. In truth, I'll support people on either side as long as they promote their point of view with an understanding of the complexity of the issue and an open mindedness to opposing viewpoints. Even if someone agrees with something I believe, it would infuriate me if that person was close-minded and contentious because then that reflects badly on the point of view itself.
In counterpoint to some of your specific comments...
1. I like the libertarian stance that you should be able to do whatever you want as long as it isn't hurting anyone else. The governments role should be limited to protecting our freedoms and stopping those who harm other people. I don't believe in forcing my moral views of gambling, alcohol, or drugs on others. But the reason I could not ignore abortion is because it entails terminating/killing a human fetus/baby. From my point of view, that is hurting another person. However, if you believe a fetus/baby does not have the right to life until it is born, then I can see leaving it upto the mother.
2. Although I believe strongly in a woman's right to have complete control over her own body, I feel that when a woman has sex she needs to accept the responsibility of motherhood as a potential outcome. The fetus/baby was made alive because the mother made a conscious decision to have sex. I feel that decision warrants an added responsbility of seeing the child through to birth as a consequence of her choice.
Again, I totally respect both pro-choice and pro-life. I generally prefer to err on the side of individual freedom, so pro-choice seems to be the place to leave things at for now. Maybe once we've got our economy and foreign policy straightened out, maybe it would an appropriate time to revisit the issue. I may change my mind back and forth several times over the years, but what I really liked was what you said about this issue being manipulated for political gain. In my opinion, this issue gets WAY too much time spent on it when there are MANY other important issues to discuss.
Thanks for the kudos. I think I will have to bump the Holy Grail up a bit. I need to watch Airplane! again.
Black Dog is too generic, too run-of-the-mill repetitive. It just doesn't have that special quality that distinguishes it and makes it stand out in a crowd.
This list is rank ordered by the movies that make me laugh the hardest, thus the best comedies I have ever seen. Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, Animal House, and other older movies are on my list but rank ordered lower because they didn't make me laugh as much. I was born in the '80s so that probably has something to do with it. Nevertheless, I stand by my choices. I've found that comedies are the most divisive genre of film when it comes to reviews/ratings because people's tastes vary so greatly. In general, comedy movies never get consistently good reviews by movie critics or even the general public. In my opinion, the best comedies are those that some people love and other people hate. The worst are those in the middle ground that try to please everyone.
I don't expect many people to agree with my rank ordering of comedies here, but I still say these are the best comedy movies around. If I were simply trying to garner praise for my tastes, then I'd probably put all the popular classics at the top like you suggest.
Finally got around to buying Strangeitude by Ozric Tentacles. Awesome recommendation. I love it. It sounds so much ahead of its time. Definitely steered me right on that one.
I've enjoyed "Daria." Thanks for mentioning it, as I'll add it to the list. I've never seen "Recess" though.