MisterSwig

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Everything posted by MisterSwig

  1. MisterSwig
    I sensed the BS from the opening line: "In the end, it wasn’t CNN, the New York Times or The Washington Post that exposed Ye’s explicit antisemitism." Huh? Back in October WaPo published a piece calling Kanye antisemitic for his "death con" tweet. And this new article even links to that old article. Clearly the MSM had much involvement in the exposure of Kanye's alleged antisemitism. It appears that now they don't want the credit. Which is the real story. Why doesn't WaPo want credit for helping to expose Kanye? At the end of the article the author states a so-called "irony" in amplifying a problem by acknowledging it. Another confused, BS line. You amplify *awareness* of the problem, which is a good thing. Not ironic, unless your goal was to conceal the problem by exposing it.
  2. MisterSwig
    Sure, but I don't try to swat digital flies. That's what the block button is for, when necessary. And I've only had to block a few people. I do, however, engage serious opposition if there's any to be found. BTW - That article was garbage, as I'm sure you detected. I tend to avoid MSM reports on such things. I watch alt-media or alt-commentary, and if there's anything interesting, I dig up the original sources. In this case, I watched Kanye's interviews themselves, instead of relying on reports. I frankly don't trust any news source these days, if I can help it
  3. MisterSwig
    I don't know why you censor yourself, and I wasn't insinuating. I accept that you don't want to spend your time swatting flies. But did you expect to have to swat flies for spelling out that word on this thread? Here you are swatting because you *didn't* spell it out. It works both ways. For the same reason I say "pseudowoman" instead of "transwoman," I say "nigger" instead of "n-word." I don't want to spend time swatting that voice in my head asking why I'm censoring myself among friends.
  4. MisterSwig
    The only way to change this is for good people to stop censoring themselves. Just say "nigger" if you want to refer to the word. Instead you say "n-word" which makes us all think the word anyway. As for Kanye, I never liked him. I still don't like him. He's some kind of Christian nationalist, playing at being Christ-like by declaring his "love" for everyone, including Nazis. Except he seems to have more distasteful things to say about Jews than Hitler. I think he feels like a gimp, that's why he wears the mask. I don't think he's a genius. If he were, he wouldn't have signed the contracts about which he's currently bitching. He's a simple hedonist, and hedonism is what sells in today's culture, whether you're lusting after whores or Jesus.
  5. MisterSwig
    Apparently the running boards on old cars were important because back then cars were built with high clearance to negotiate dirt roads, and the running boards made it safer to enter and exit the vehicle. The boards also kept road dirt and debris from hitting the doors. As more roads were paved, high clearance became less important, and so running boards could be left off regular cars. They are still used however on trucks and some SUVs
  6. MisterSwig
    It was a real pleasure to interview our very own Michael Stuart Kelly on the latest episode of Ayn Rand Fan Club. We discussed his history in the Objectivist movement, running this forum, his friendship with Barbara Branden, the anti-Trumpers with TDS, his theory on cognition, identification and evaluation, plus much more. Check it out! PS - I beat you to linking the interview!
  7. MisterSwig
    Can't say I've noticed this. But if true it might be related to how traditions are passed down through parent to child. If you don't have children (or care about children in your family like nephews or nieces) then you probably don't care much about passing along traditional ideas and practices. So you don't pass along your ideology in any meaningful, consistent manner. Unfortunately there are leftists who make children and who become teachers, and so they do spread their ideology in a semi-consistent manner, infecting the culture with collectivist ideas and practices.
  8. MisterSwig
    I watched some of the trial but simply lost interest. Depp needs to stop doing drugs. His brain is fried enough as it is; he can barely talk. Or was that supposed to be a symptom of his crippling shyness? Heard is difficult to believe, reminds me of deceptive, lying women I've known. And for such a pretty girl, what's with the weird makeup that looks like two big bruises on her cheeks? Was that supposed to remind the jury of a battered woman? I watch The Behavioral Arts YT channel and he does a decent job indicating the subtler signs of deception in Heard's testimony. I'm glad the jury wasn't fooled, and hopefully her career as an abuse survivor is over. I'm sure she gave worse than she got.
  9. MisterSwig
    We got to talk with Robert Tracinski about his journey from being a young Kantian to developing into an independent Objectivist intellectual. We also ask him about his involvement in the movement and his latest article about schisms. Check it out!
  10. MisterSwig
    I can certainly agree with you here. The term "free trade" is being abused to include trade with dictatorships that don't respect free trade, and so it's inherently a corrupt practice. But some Objectivists try to spin it as good for us because we get cheap products from countries like China.
  11. MisterSwig
    Don't you think the free books to teachers, the essay contests, and campus clubs are important programs that help spread Objectivism? Part of developing a community is getting people interested in discussing the principles defining the community. As an intellectual movement, it's the ideas that form the backbone of any Objectivist community. This doesn't require that we all move to Austin and raise babies together. But we do need forums like this one to exchange ideas and support each other in our missionary activities wherever we might live.
  12. MisterSwig
    We have a new episode where we interview Michael Niren, a longtime Objectivist from Canada. One of his college professors was John Ridpath. We talk a bit about Ridpath, but the focus is on Objectivist rhetoric, how Rand used words like "selfish" and "sacrifice" in unconventional ways. We also talk about strategies for outreach to non-Objectivists. Check it out!
  13. MisterSwig
    Thank you for your robust response. I was unplugged in the mountains for three days, so I have some catching up to do. I'll begin with a quick note. There are different ways to consider something important. The article might or might not change anyone's behavior. But it's still important to study the arguments of your opposition when they are addressing an issue of primary concern to you. As I said in the podcast, I think there is value in attempting to form some general view of these schisms, but I don't agree with how they went about doing that. It's not only money but also power that can destroy a movement. If all the ARI intellectuals including Peikoff pulled out and started condemning ARI, the institute wouldn't last very long after that. As an intellectual movement, the intellectuals have great power over the institutions, seemingly more power than the millionaires, considering how Peikoff had McCaskey removed, and Yaron had Barney removed. I think we've demonstrated that we have a wide range of interests. I'm fairly confident that human nature rules both minor and major schisms. But at the top level of any intellectual movement, human nature will involve major donors and popular intellectuals. I'll respond to more points in the next few days.
  14. MisterSwig
    We took our time analyzing ARI's new article on schisms. Check it out!
  15. MisterSwig
    We talked with Alexandra York who has written many fiction and nonfiction books. Our focus was on her latest book Soul Celebrations and Spiritual Snacks, which presents her idea of secular spirituality and ways to practice it and reach heightened states of being. We then discussed her articles at Newsmax, working with conservatives and engaging in the battle of ideas, especially against the woke left. Check it out!
  16. MisterSwig
    For our latest episode we interviewed the co-creator of the "Healthy Debates" group on the Clubhouse app, Robert Mayhem. He is a Rand fan and "unapologetic capitalist." His debating community has over 17k members. We discuss all that and more with him. Check it out!
  17. MisterSwig
    We spent nearly two hours discussing Peikoff's politics with Dave Goodman, and I didn't even get to all my prepared points. Still we covered the last couple decades of Peikoff's political evolution since he formed the DIM theory. We talk about his endorsement of John Kerry, his debate on immigration versus Brook, his voting for Trump, and his most recent support for the Freedom Convoy. Check it out!
  18. MisterSwig
    Scott and I welcomed a new guest and friend of the podcast, Allie Welch, to help us analyze Rand's article "What Can One Do?" Check it out!
  19. MisterSwig
    I believe you develop free will, you're not born with it, like you're born with consciousness. You learn to control yourself voluntarily by first observing your involuntary, reflexive actions as a newborn.
  20. MisterSwig
    It's interesting how many people fail to re-examine their knowledge, retain their erroneous value hierarchy and make the same mistakes over and over. They don't actually see how previous choices influence the way their mind works.
  21. MisterSwig
    Scott and I had a great conversation with Roger Bissell about many philosophical subjects such as free will versus determinism, the nature of music, and the fallacy of frozen abstractions. He also explained how he was introduced to Objectivism and described some of his experiences in the movement. Check out our latest episode!
  22. MisterSwig
    We interviewed Jason Hill about cancel culture and people attacking him over his views on Israel and "trans" issues. We get into his new book which deals with the history of slavery and calls for reparations. We discussed his history in the Objectivist movement, as well as his current views on Democrats vs Republicans. Check it out!
  23. MisterSwig
    I'm often late to these conspiracy-type theories because I'm naturally skeptical of such large-scale conspiracies. But I've modified my view in that I think these things might start with a few clever people realizing the strategic political ramifications of an idea like city and statewide lockdowns, and then they advocate the idea and shape it into a form that suits their political purpose rather than, in this case, a proper public health one. (What is "public health" anyway? It's a messy concept that should also factor in the effects of lockdowns on people's health including their living and working conditions.) And since these clever people have power and influence, they inspire and direct the actions of many people who might not even consider the longterm ramifications of lockdowns. They fall under the spell of authority and accept whatever bullshit propaganda is associated with the action.
  24. MisterSwig
    This time we interviewed Phil Magness of AIER. He's the economic historian who got the Collins-Fauci emails through a FOIA request and exposed their unscientific attempt to smear and "take down" the Great Barrington Declaration. We also ask him about his work exposing the factual and philosophical problems with the 1619 Project. Check it out!
  25. MisterSwig
    Is "It's a Wonderful Life" a good or bad movie? Yaron hates it. We disagree and challenge his view in this episode. We argue for a more comprehensive and favorable appreciation of this Christmas classic. Check it out!