Dithyramb

J.K. Rowling answers questions...

on the Deathly Hallows

ARI Press Release

Ayn Rand Institute Press Release

Environmentalists Against "Buying Green"
July 30, 2007

Irvine, CA--With organic food in every grocery store and hybrid cars on every stretch of freeway, "green consumerism" has become commonplace. But a backlash against such allegedly "earth friendly" shopping is arising; critics within the environmentalist movement are condemning the trend as superficial and contradictory. Says one environmental activist: "green consumerism is an oxymoronic phrase."

"This criticism is extremely revealing about the true nature of environmentalism," said Dr. Keith Lockitch, resident fellow of the Ayn Rand Institute. "For decades, many environmentalists have insisted that protecting the environment is not incompatible with industrial civilization. To make their ideology more palatable, they regularly promise that living 'sustainably' doesn't have to come at too great an economic cost or personal hardship. But when people finally begin to come on board and make allegedly 'pro-environment' choices, they are condemned as 'light greens' and 'eco-narcissists.'

"The truth is that environmentalism is not compatible with human flourishing. It does demand economic destruction and unbearable hardship. The claim that its goal is to protect the environment for the sake of mankind is a Big Lie. Its goal is to protect nature, not for man, but from man--to preserve an untouched environment as an end in itself, no matter what cost or hardship that imposes on human beings.

"Anyone who thinks that 'eco-chic' is consistent with the principles of environmentalism had better think harder about the true nature of the ideology they are trying to support. What environmentalism truly demands is sacrifice to nature--the rejection of our modern, industrial civilization in favor of the decidedly un-chic, unglamorous hardship of a primitive, pre-industrial, stone-age existence."

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R.I.P. Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman on of the greatest film directors is dead at age 89.

Ayn Rand Bookstore Clearance Sale

From the Ayn Rand Bookstore:

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Ayn Rand Bookstore
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CLEARANCE SALE

Discounts starting at 50% on Peter Schwartz audiocassette titles!

Sale prices available through September 2, 2007

Christopher Hitchens on...

Why are we so scared of offending muslims?

Noumenal Self returns

Noumenal self has started blogging again.

Read his: "Intellectual stakes" no more, and We flunked the "Iraq test" from word one for some insightful commentary.

Mysticism & the royals

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway claims she is able to communicate with angels!

...She is even starting a school to help people get in touch with angels.

The monarchy seems more and more outdated!!!

Tintin to be censured

Herge's Tintin the classic Belgian cartoon is to be censured due to its racist "slurs".

"Until last week, we were unaware of the existence of Tintin in the Congo, first published in 1931, but are now keen to read it. A trawl of London bookshops failed to turn up a copy, for a simple reason: a statement from the Commission for Racial Equality, calling the book “racist claptrap” which should be removed from bookshops, has made Tintin in the Congo into a bestseller."

Agressive Russian airforce

Russia launches bombers!

"Norway scrambled two of its fighter jets this week after Russian bombers got a little too close to the Norwegian coast for comfort. It wasn't clear whether the Russian flights were related to diplomatic tension between Russia and Great Britain, which also sent out jets of its own."

Russia is again flexing muscles.