Reviews Written By: A15JFODPMUGF0Mprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | Beowulf : A New Verse Translation | |
 | "Great combination of eloquent English and Excellent translation." | 2009-09-29 |
| What is remarkable in this Poem, which, in accord with English lore circa 8th Century, intends to narrate true events with stylish language, is what it narrates. Scholars note that Grendel's description causes difficulty unless one concedes dinosaurs or "dragons" were contemporaries with man at the time. According to this translation "the other, warped in the shape of a man, moves beyond the pale bigger than any man, an unnatural birth called Grendel by the country people in former days" and "Every nail, claw-scale and spur, every spike
and welt on the hand of that heathen brute was like barbed steel. Everybody said there was no honed iron hard enough to pierce him through, no time proofed blade that could cut his brutal blood caked claw." The tiny arms are described as covered with scales and as like a serpent. The head is described as large and requiring four men to carry it. It is vaguely human in shape since it is bipedal and Peter Dickenson describes it as a bipedal dragon or dinosaur. Dickinson, Peter. The Flight of Dragons ch.10 "Beowulf" New English Library, 1979. Because of the myth of evolution, readers have been "blinded" and unable to see Grendel for what it is, a T-Rex. More evidence that dragons or "dinosaurs" coexisted with mankind recently and may still exist in remote parts of the world but for the extinction by men who encountered them as a menace to man and mammal and alike. | ||
 | Beowulf: A New Verse Translation | |
| "Great combination of eloquent English and Excellent translation." | 2009-09-29 |
| What is remarkable in this Poem, which, in accord with English lore circa 8th Century, intends to narrate true events with stylish language, is what it narrates. Scholars note that Grendel's description causes difficulty unless one concedes dinosaurs or "dragons" were contemporaries with man at the time. According to this translation "the other, warped in the shape of a man, moves beyond the pale bigger than any man, an unnatural birth called Grendel by the country people in former days" and "Every nail, claw-scale and spur, every spike
and welt on the hand of that heathen brute was like barbed steel. Everybody said there was no honed iron hard enough to pierce him through, no time proofed blade that could cut his brutal blood caked claw." The tiny arms are described as covered with scales and as like a serpent. The head is described as large and requiring four men to carry it. It is vaguely human in shape since it is bipedal and Peter Dickenson describes it as a bipedal dragon or dinosaur. Dickinson, Peter. The Flight of Dragons ch.10 "Beowulf" New English Library, 1979. Because of the myth of evolution, readers have been "blinded" and unable to see Grendel for what it is, a T-Rex. More evidence that dragons or "dinosaurs" coexisted with mankind recently and may still exist in remote parts of the world but for the extinction by men who encountered them as a menace to man and mammal and alike. | ||
 | Beowulf | |
| "Great combination of eloquent English and Excellent translation." | 2009-09-29 |
| What is remarkable in this Poem, which, in accord with English lore circa 8th Century, intends to narrate true events with stylish language, is what it narrates. Scholars note that Grendel's description causes difficulty unless one concedes dinosaurs or "dragons" were contemporaries with man at the time. According to this translation "the other, warped in the shape of a man, moves beyond the pale bigger than any man, an unnatural birth called Grendel by the country people in former days" and "Every nail, claw-scale and spur, every spike
and welt on the hand of that heathen brute was like barbed steel. Everybody said there was no honed iron hard enough to pierce him through, no time proofed blade that could cut his brutal blood caked claw." The tiny arms are described as covered with scales and as like a serpent. The head is described as large and requiring four men to carry it. It is vaguely human in shape since it is bipedal and Peter Dickenson describes it as a bipedal dragon or dinosaur. Dickinson, Peter. The Flight of Dragons ch.10 "Beowulf" New English Library, 1979. Because of the myth of evolution, readers have been "blinded" and unable to see Grendel for what it is, a T-Rex. More evidence that dragons or "dinosaurs" coexisted with mankind recently and may still exist in remote parts of the world but for the extinction by men who encountered them as a menace to man and mammal and alike. | ||
 | Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step | |
| "Very insightful book." | 2009-09-17 |
| I'm puzzled by the negative reviews on this book. The author is very lucid. Some critics, which you can find on wikipedia, note that he hasn't attempted to "prove" his position. That's not the author's point. By definition, he isn't indulging in linear or logical thought. If he were to concede to his critics, he wouldn't write the book. The critics have missed the point. His examples supply, not proof, but circumstantial evidence supporting his theory. In a court of law, sometimes all you have is circumstantial evidence. Since when is such evidence inadmissible in an argument anymore than it is in the courts of old? It's been used for centuries with the courts and with famous mathematical statements known as "conjectures." Pure mathematical thought doesn't say anything about the world because it is constituted of tautologies. If you want to say something about the world, as the author does, you are by definition departing from purely formal thought and therefore purely formal rigor in your demonstrations. I thought the homely examples by the author were good. For example, he discusses the feature in European liquor manufacturers of fruit contained in a bottle of liquor. How did it get there? Was the bottom attached? No. There is no visible weld. Was the fruit pushed inside? No. It's too wide for the bottle neck. Solution? Insert the small bud of the fruit into the bottle and let it grow there. The glass operates as a small green house; therefore, it won't interfere with the growth of the fruit. With regard to the conundrum PO, the author is explicit on page 225. "Logic could be said to be the management of NO. . .The concept of lateral thinking is insight restructuring and this is brought about through the rearrangement of information. Rearrangement is the basis of lateral thinking and rearrangement means escape from the rigid patterns established by experience. The rearrangement process is incorporated in the concept of the (re) laxative. The laxative is a rearranging device. It is the means whereby one can escape from established patterns and create new ones. The concept of the laxative is crystallized into a definite language tool. The language tool is PO. . .The whole concept of lateral thinking is concentrated in the use of this language tool. Lateral thinking could be said to be the management of PO just as logical thinking is the management of NO. . .PO is to lateral thinking what NO is to logical thinking." My only misgiving with the author is his seeming overemphasis of the use of tilde in its use in logic. Maybe he's right. However, proof by the use of contradiction or excluded middle isn't the only proof used in formal thought. There is other forms of proof. Yet, he insists all of logic can be summed up as a manifold use of the operator "tilde." If I recall, Russell and Whitehead failed in trying to reduce all of formal thought to a few logical operators, let alone one operator, such as the tilde, in their book Principia Mathematica. Godel "proved" you cannot do that. Nevertheless, the author is adamant that all logic is, one way or another, the management of the single operator "tilde." He does so in order to create his dichotomy between logical thinking and lateral thinking which is given expression in juxtaposing NO and PO. He wishes to assign to PO a distinct language, which is sort of self defeating since language, as linguists note, has a tendency to resolve itself into linear thinking, not necessarily of the subject and predicate variety. I wouldn't worry too much about PO or understanding it. There is probably nothing there to understand. Perhaps PO visited the author after one of those binges involving too many of those liquor bottles with the fruit inside. Perhaps PO is a genie the author mistook for a fruit. Or maybe PO is the clerk at the local 7-11 of whom the author recognizes as possessing the wisdom of a sage. The known reports indicate that PO and Squiggly had a nasty divorce and PO lost everything. This explains his fate in being reduced to a 7-11 clerk. It also explains why PO and Squiggly are irreconciliable. De Bono wants to continue to being friends with both PO and Squiggly; however, his allegiance obviously favors PO as the better friend. The author certainly has a Freudian sense of PO. Why should he use the metaphor of "laxative" in describing PO? What does loosening up one's thinking have to do with loose bowels? Is he suggesting that a trip to the drug store is our solution to writer's block? Did PO recommend a laxative to the author on the second isle, next to the bathroom tissue, whereupon the author, upon consumption of it, exclaimed "Eureka?" Is 7-11 destined to rival the baths of Syracuse in its place in academic folklore? Will laxatives prove to be the solution to American foreign policy difficulties. Will ex-lax replace diplomas? The author raises some very provocative questions. | ||
 | Transporter 2 | |
| "New way of movie making." | 2009-04-21 |
| Transporter belongs to a set of movies that have borrowed the visual drama of japanese anime and applied it to movie filmography. The choreography clearly mirrors what you see in anime. It even indulges in over the top images and action. Anime was also very stylistic. Here, we also have that imported into the movie. Along with Sin City, Kill Bill, Resident Evil, Domino, the 300, the Matrix and several other movies, we have with Transporter the over the top sequences, visual drama and stylistic detail of japanese anime. If you see Cowboy Beebop, for example, you can see the connection. The martial arts choreography doesn't reflect real martial arts; rather, it reflects the visual drama of anime. Frank Miller, who gained popularity for his unique drawing style on Daredevil, imitated japanese manga (i.e., graphic novels). And he was the one who sought to pioneer movie making that exploited the themes of anime. Miller is responsible for Sin City and the 300. I think it is a welcomed change in movie making, which, as of late has been stuttering on poorly made remakes of old movies. It seems, anime has kickstarted the otherwise dead Hollywood establishment. | ||
 | Everything Is Under Control: Conspiracies, Cults, and Cover-ups | |
 | "Poor thinking." | 2009-04-19 |
| Is Robert Anton Wilson mealy mouthed? He sure likes to beat around the bush and not speak directly and not committing himself to anything. However, he did take a stance that he wanted to induce a generalized agnosticism. And he articulated the goal of all of his writings as an: "attempt to break down conditioned associations--to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps and no one model elevated to the Truth." This book shows a dim view of conspiracy theories. Therefore, rather than tolerate them as models or maps, he seems displeased with conspiracy theorists when they blame masons or juwes for anything. He also is a member of the church of subgenius which makes Christianity an object of blasphemy. Wilson is otherwise quite tolerant of gnostic philosophies, such as zen or taoism. In fact, he notes in several lectures that persons born in the East don't have difficulty with quantum physics. Despite his purported agnosticism, Wilson is clearly firm in his beliefs; namely, his belief in gnosticism. This book shows that. It shows his aggravation with conspiracy theories that indict gnostic organizations such as the freemasons or illuminati. Yet, the same man, while claiming agnosticism, is quick to indulge in blasphemy and indictments of Christian institutions. I agree with Wilson's statement that human explanation amounts to models, and no one model is perfect (i.e. the true one). However, those models do, in relation to each other, approximate more or less to the facts, some more so than others. After all, the Copernican model certainly is superior to the ptolemaic one. Along with thinkers like Wittgenstein and Aquinas, Wilson is correct in saying that human knowledge is impoverished. However, parodying conspiracy theories doesn't prove his point. Nor is he justified in ignoring the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as an historical fact which makes Christ's claims to circumvent the limitations of human understanding on firm ground. Jesus, of course, is in a better position to explain what how He did it. Someone has literally come from outside the world and given us an understanding we can be confident in. Wilson claims to be an honest intellectual, yet he only addresses Christianity in parody and blasphemy, which shows he never really took up serious discussion of its claims. For his soul's sake, I hope he changed his views before he met Jesus face to face. | ||
 | Guide to Philosophy | |
| "Lucid English" | 2009-03-01 |
| Perhaps one of the best introductions to philosophy in English next to James Collins and Copleston. Joad has a terrific writing style and is very very clear in articulating difficult philosophical ideas. An absolutely terrific book you will read and reread. | ||
 | The Great Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy | |
| "Great transcripts from a great show." | 2008-12-12 |
| Contained herein is perhaps the clearest exposition of Heidegger available. The transcript is taken from a show that broadcasted in the 1970s and is available on youtube. I highly recommend both watching the show and reading the transcript. McGee managed to draw out all the essentials of Heidegger and his relationship to the phenomenological tradition in a way that is perfectly clear to anyone who has struggled to understand this tradition in philosophy. Dreyfuss, of course, had communicated with Heidegger quite a bit and so has first hand knowledge of Heidegger's aim. After reading this transcript and watching the show on youtube, Heidegger's writings will be crystal clear and his terminology will be familiar rather than strange. I've read perhaps every expositor out there, and none holds a candle to this one single transcript. All of the other expositions are a waste of money and time. Read one good book rather than hundreds of bad books. | ||
 | The Mafia Cookbook : Revised and Expanded | |
| "Every recipe comes out just right." | 2008-11-27 |
| The sauces are key for any recipe to come out right. Here, joe shows how spectacularly easy it is to create the perfect sauce. Of course, you need good cheese. Hopefully, there is a good import shop near you. Obtaining the key ingredients in places like New England or New York is easy. The prices and the food is fresh and just right. I highly recommend this book. I cannot overemphasize how well the recipes are written. The food comes out bene bene. With regard to a simple good sauce. Simply take any marinara and cook Italian sausage in it and let the sauce sit in the freezer for a few months. It will come out pretty good. I also recommend adding cilantro to the sauce. I know this isn't traditional Italian, but you'll love the result. This book will turn any amateur into a chef. | ||
 | The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate | |
| "Great introduction to the next satanic couple to apply for the highest office in the land." | 2008-10-31 |
| The demonic personality of Obama is displayed very clearly. Other reviewers did an excellent job in itemizing out the topics covered in this book. However, I recommend Obamafile.com on the internet to update this information. Obama is a dangerous man. Even more dangerous is a fully democratic government which would unleash leftist policies on the American Republic overnight. Hard working middle class white Americans would be oppressed by the juwish puppet Barack Obama. Obama wants to teach sex ed to children, endorses abortion and is for every despictable thing you can imagine. At a juwish group, he demonstrated his hatred of white Americans of whom he said clung to their guns and Bibles. You bet we do Obama with the likes of you trying to enter public office to take away the right to cling to those guns and Bibles. Obama is a threat to our freedoms in a way worse than Clinton. This is an excellent book. However, many other important facts aren't really addressed: such as, is he even an American citizen? How did this poor kid get into Harvard law school and then run for state senator? Is he a queer as two mysteriously murdered people at his church said? | ||
 | Space and Time in Special Relativity | |
| "Lucid for anybody" | 2008-10-15 |
| I remember reading this book right after high school. I had read Lincoln Barnett's book, which was good in laying out the concepts; however, Barnett's book left you feeling partially informed like most popular texts do. Mermin's book was different. He takes you through the mathematics and leaves you fully informed. When I first read Mermin's book, I recall worrying that the later chapters might be difficult. But, when I got to the last chapter, I found the pace of reading just as serene as the first chapter. I was delighted to have made it all the way through. David Bohm's book is a waste of time. Bohm indulged in publishing for profit and his authority in science is commercial, not professional. Bohm may have made some interesting speculations about gnosticism; however, gnosticism and modern physics are irreconcilable concepts. There are plenty of used copies of the older edition that cost less than a buck. The later edition doesn't add anything new. My only negative criticism is Mermin's association of special relativity with Einstein, who had nothing to do with it. In fact, if you look at Einstein's papers, his mathematics is entirely wrong and anti-thetical to special relativity theory. For example, he has a habit of dividing by zero when he doesn't know how to obtain a result. He neglects to put a subscript "zero" under "e" for e=mcsquared. This latter mistake gives rise to an entirely different theory that he claims to be making. It also shows plagarism from Olinto De Pretto who later corrected this mistake. De Pretto formulated this equation years before Einstein's paper came to print. The only reason I can gather for maintaining Einstein's authorship of this famous equation is the myth of juwish genius. The German superman has been replaced by the weak backed, wild haired, shifty eyed juwish superman. Mermin is a great expositor but a lousey historian. | ||
 | Method in Theology by Bernard Lonergan, ISBN 080206809X | |
| "Fascinating stuff" | 2008-10-06 |
| You must give this guy credit where credit is due. While his jesuit colleagues are buying up every box of crackerjacks in order to find "the good" in the free prize packet, Lonergan managed to stay on track and pursue more scientific methods in finding "the good." Although, I shouldn't lump all the jesuits together this way. There are some jesuits who continue to fill out the publisher's clearing house junk mail in the hope of being greeted at the door by a smiling Ed McMahon, embellished with a glow from the bright sun rays bouncing off his shiney white teeth as your eyes are taken aback by "the good" which he displays to your delight in his hands. So, as we see, some jesuits do try alternative methods in finding "the good." However, I think Lonergan's method in finding "the good" is far superior. | ||
 | Myths of American Slavery | |
| "Blame it all on whitey" | 2008-08-08 |
| People are either so brainwashed or so selfish that they dump the responsibility for their failures on white southerners. I thought it was fascinating when I discovered that the slave traders were juwish and that the men who sold the slaves were black. White liberation is a good thing. | ||
 | One Million Years B.C. | |
| "Five stars for the movie, not for the DVD" | 2008-06-22 |
| Raquel Welch looks great. Basically, the tribe of the beer gut from Oregon goes to war with the tribe of b.o. from Washington, fighting over poor Raquel Welch who settles for some guy in California. Raquel is stunning. And she still looks great. The movie is very accurate since it shows dinosaurs and humans coexisting. However, I'm sure that people didn't live in caves. Apparently the directors must have modeled the primative culture on the Northwest. Furthermore, dinosaurs did not die out millions of years ago. They were with us very recently and may still be with us today. Cambodian temples, Babylonian temples, Roman mosaics, Nasca Indian art, art in Mexico, testimony by Celtic literature, all demonstrates dinosaurs were contemporaries with humans. Great movie, poor DVD since it was edited. | ||
 | One Million Years B.C. | |
| "Five stars for the movie, not for the DVD" | 2008-06-22 |
| Raquel Welch looks great. Basically, the tribe of the beer gut from Oregon goes to war with the tribe of b.o. from Washington, fighting over poor Raquel Welch who settles for some guy in California. Raquel is stunning. And she still looks great. The movie is very accurate since it shows dinosaurs and humans coexisting. However, I'm sure that people didn't live in caves. Apparently the directors must have modeled the primative culture on the Northwest. Furthermore, dinosaurs did not die out millions of years ago. They were with us very recently and may still be with us today. Cambodian temples, Babylonian temples, Roman mosaics, Nasca Indian art, art in Mexico, testimony by Celtic literature, all demonstrates dinosaurs were contemporaries with humans. Great movie, poor DVD since it was edited. | ||
 | The Laws of Thought | |
| "Lucid reading" | 2008-04-27 |
| Descartes made a revolutionary move when he symbolized geometry with algebra and used the methods of algebra to solve geometrical problems. For example, he defined a line with y=mx+b. Similarly, Boole made a revolutionary move here when he symbolized logic with algebra and used the methods of algebra to solve logical problems. That is the whole gist of this book. In addition, Boole has an eloquent writing style. | ||
 | The Last House on the Left | |
| "Garbage on the left side of the last shelf" | 2008-03-25 |
| Why make movies like this? It serves no purpose whatsoever. While other horror flicks have some wisdom to impart, if only the partial wisdom that there is real evil in this world, this one has absolutely no merit whatsoever. If one was to infer anything from it, it is that the producers are vile. It seems that audiences enjoy horrible themes because they don't have horror in their own lives: obviously, the distance from the horrible fate of others is a sense of consolation that is mistaken by the viewer as entertainment. Others seem to concede it and embrace it with some dark pleasure. It is only wise counsel that notes all life is destined to death and the second side of the coin: what are people going to do about it? I thank God for Jesus Christ who will resurrect the faithful to new life with incorruptible bodies and the termination of any power of death over such lives. I know of no hospital that can make those guarantees. | ||
 | The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge | |
| "Incomplete and therefore misleading" | 2008-01-26 |
| Ankerberg's book is very misleading because it is incomplete. First of all, there is not one word about the cabala. Every time I read Masonic literature, the tree of life a la cabala is the center topic. Manley P Hall, Pike, Mackey and so on make the cabala the center thesis amidst the otherwise eclectic mayhem of freemasonry. How can you claim this is an authoritative book while leaving out the jewish origin of freemasonry? From the myth of Hiram Abiff to the names of its degrees to its socalled "light" of the cabala, freemasonry is jewish. The first Masonic lodge was built in Palestine according to Albert Mackey. Of course, being an evangelical with dispensationalist theology, Ankerberg cannot indict jews, only freemasons. I think Ankerberg is dishonest and is misleading the Christian public. | ||
 | SPIRIT OF THE LAWS (Hafner Library of Classics) | |
| "The craft of creating legislation: a lost art" | 2008-01-19 |
| Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu exhibits an incredible breadth of knowledge here. Today, at least in modern America, creating law has been the province of special interest groups who high-jack all the commissions responsible for assisting the legislature. Instead of creating law with an eye to serving the nuclear family by mitigating economic burdens and encouraging religious practice, laws today impose taxes on those who can barely make it, endorse sexual perversion as a legitimate candidate for marriage, give minorities privileges over caucasians (e.g., white people, except jews, cannot file discrimination lawsuits), censor the voice of religious people in the name of separation of church and state (removing the ten commandments in Alabama, barring nativity scenes, barring school prayer), and hypocritically mandate the celebration of menorahs in public places. It is clear that the law has been transformed into an instrument to assault Christians and benefit jews. Having read Montesquieu, the concept of social engineering through legislation is an abomination that needs to be purged from our modern culture. The comparison of Montesquieu with modern law making is like night and day. The object of the law has been thwarted to undermine Christian civilization as we know it. You don't see Montesquieu proposing laws that benefit money changers. For example, it was not till the advent of Roosevelt when the Federal Housing Administration was created to insure money lenders that they would get their market value in the event of defaulting debtors or fluctuating markets. It was in the advent of Woodrow Wilson when the private bank, the Federal Reserve, was permitted to make loans to the U.S. government to finance wars and give to Israel, charge us usurious interest rates, and shift the debt burden of this national debt on the American people. Montesquieu was not a democrat but proposed democracy as one form amongst many to practically govern a nation. It is for this reason he did not advocate a "system." First and foremost was a spirit to learn from the mistakes of the past, which is why he makes constant reference to foreign examples, such as Greece and Japan. Montesquieu would view our current system as an abomination. By catering to minorities, giving them something they want, the jewish party has consolidated their vote onto one platform thus giving the voting block of that platform greater force in politics. Modern American law has transformed America into a colony of Israel. | ||
 | Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws | |
| "The craft of creating legislation: a lost art" | 2008-01-18 |
| Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu exhibits an incredible breadth of knowledge here. Today, at least in modern America, creating law has been the province of special interest groups who high-jack all the commissions responsible for assisting the legislature. Instead of creating law with an eye to serving the nuclear family by mitigating economic burdens and encouraging religious practice, laws today impose taxes on those who can barely make it, endorse sexual perversion as a legitimate candidate for marriage, give minorities privileges over caucasians (e.g., white people, except jews, cannot file discrimination lawsuits), censor the voice of religious people in the name of separation of church and state (removing the ten commandments in Alabama, barring nativity scenes, barring school prayer), and hypocritically mandate the celebration of menorahs in public places. It is clear that the law has been transformed into an instrument to assault Christians and benefit jews. Having read Montesquieu, the concept of social engineering through legislation is an abomination that needs to be purged from our modern culture. The comparison of Montesquieu with modern law making is like night and day. The object of the law has been thwarted to undermine Christian civilization as we know it. You don't see Montesquieu proposing laws that benefit money changers. For example, it was not till the advent of Roosevelt when the Federal Housing Administration was created to insure money lenders that they would get their market value in the event of defaulting debtors or fluctuating markets. It was in the advent of Woodrow Wilson when the private bank, the Federal Reserve, was permitted to make loans to the U.S. government to finance wars and give to Israel, charge us usurious interest rates, and shift the debt burden of this national debt on the American people. Montesquieu was not a democrat but proposed democracy as one form amongst many to practically govern a nation. It is for this reason he did not advocate a "system." First and foremost was a spirit to learn from the mistakes of the past, which is why he makes constant reference to foreign examples, such as Greece and Japan. Montesquieu would view our current system as an abomination. By catering to minorities, giving them something they want, the jewish party has consolidated their vote onto one platform thus giving the voting block of that platform greater force in politics. Modern American law has transformed America into a colony of Israel. | ||
 | The Brotherhood: The Explosive Expose of the Secret World of the Freemasons | |
| "Great scholarship" | 2008-01-17 |
| Knight does a fantastic job exposing the sinister activity of freemasons. Freemasonry by design is a guild and secret. By its very nature it practices favoritism and deceit. It reminds me of a title from Al Hirt "The brotherhood of man (or how to get rich without really trying)." Freemasons constantly get caught in mischief and they rant and rave when you call them on it. Freemasons have no credibility. My only criticism is that Knight doesn't point out the masonic preoccupation of freemasonry with cabala. I suppose this is because Knight was a member of Rajneesh's group, which was gnostic to the core and borrowed heavily from cabala. Ironically, Rajneesh was a freemason. Knight was a little naive in this respect. | ||
 | C.S. Lewis Hoax | |
| "A must for those who thought they understood C.S. Lewis" | 2008-01-06 |
| Ms. Lindskood's book is quite insightful. It causes one to revaluate statements attributed to C.S. Lewis by those, like Walter Hooper, who have capitalized handsomely off Lewisania. For example, "The Dark Tower" allegedly written by Lewis is most likely not Lewis' work and is, at worse, another fraud perpetrated by Walter Hooper (pp. 34-37). Lindskood points out that Walter Hooper was a devout Christian (p. 117). However, I disagree. Even Ms. Lindskood notes the liberty Hooper took by defaming C. S. Lewis and his brother Warren Lewis in the book "They Stand Together" (Chapter 8). Hooper depicts Warren Lewis as a hopeless alcoholic and implies a homosexual relationship between C. S. Lewis and Arthur Greeves. What one easily infers from the evidence is that Walter Hooper was an opportunist. He claims to have been Secretary to C. S. Lewis even though no one knew about it. Warren Lewis, Lewis' brother, was quite irritated by Walter Hooper coming over from the United States and making all sorts of claims such as this. Hooper claims to quote letters and such from Lewis but has never produced the originals. It seems he makes stuff up in any biographical reference he makes about Lewis. Most noteworthy is the self serving nature of all of Hooper's quotes, such as the one relating to Lewis' alleged reference to Hooper as the son he never had. Hooper is definitely a C. S. Lewis enthusiast; however, it is tainted with jealousy and mischief. For example, profiting from Lewis, making stuff up about him and defaming Lewis and his brother all causes one to hearken to this. Hooper was very persistent in pushing himself into Lewis affairs which Warren Lewis himself points out. It reminds me of Howard K Stern imposing himself, to the point of being a nuisance, into Anna Nicole Smith's life. It also reminds me of Hank Hanegraaff suddenly appearing as director of the late Walter R Martin's Christian Research Institute and attributing statements to Walter Martin after Walter Martin's death. It reminds me of the false accusations of Pietro Aretino against Michelangelo, accusing him of being a homosexual when Michelangelo would not let Aretino take his artwork. Beware of your admirers. If you have any talent, your worse enemies will be those most flattered by you. Any defamation of your sexual morality or sobriety will most likely reflect the character of the jealous weirdo who wants to be part of your world. It is noteworthy that none of the attention talented people have given to their most zealous admirers has benefited them, but has in fact hurt them and has even damaged or tarnished any legacy they have left. I suppose the talented party pays less critical attention to their admirers, not realizing that they have a devil in their midst because they are less moved to view critically the appreciator of their talent. Chances are, some fans are nothing more than stalkers: I fail to see the difference between a Robert Bardo and a Walter Hooper. A stalker wants what you have and they hate you for having it. This seems to be the case with Walter Hooper. | ||
 | The Biggest Secret: The Book That Will Change the World | |
 | "More anti-Christian than anything else" | 2007-12-26 |
| The whacky world of David Icke. Icke is anti-Christian, and yet anti-all-those-who-are anti-Christian such as Jews and Masons. So, where is this guy coming from? What is his point? I think a clue is his book "Truth Vibrations." In that book, Icke claims spiritual contact via the spiritist methods of spiritism, such as mediums. I think Icke is after the tradition of Madame Blavatsky who was a known occultist that was also critical of Jews and perhaps Masons. Icke was involved in environmental movements and only wears turquoise (his identification with nature). His far out speculations about reptiles implies either he had too much of something while hanging out in Peru or that he's trying to discredit conspiracy theorists by exemplifying lunacy in association with those theorists. He is highly inconsistent. If reptiles are part of nature and he's so pro-nature, why is he anti-reptilian? He denies in this book Jesus existed, but he announced in an interview with Terry Wogan that he is "the Son of God." He also claims to be a channel for the Christ spirit. How can he be Christ or the channel for the Christ spirit if Jesus did not exist? He is a very confused man. Theologically, there is no question Icke is a gnostic. He may not be a gnostic after the tradition of Jews or Masons, but he shares with them the common presupposition of gnosticism. So, what is he complaining about? He should be delighted he has such company in high places. I know he sells a lot of books. So, somebody up there (Wallstreet, not God) likes him. It is noteworthy that he claims to have arrived at his insights during saences with a medium. Cross reference this with Dr. Marcus Bach in Bach's book "They Have Found a Faith." Bach experienced a spiritual encounter with a spirit that convincingly persuaded him that it was his dead sister Paula. While denying the core doctrines of Christian theology "Paula" kept interrupting herself with "Do you understand? Is that clear?" If there is any integrity to mister Icke, then we must conclude that he has made contact with lying spirits who masquerade as an angel of light. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Jn 8:12. With regard to Icke's claims to be the "Son of God," Jesus said, "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many willl come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ,' and decieve many." Mt 24:4. Icke denies Jesus existed. Yet, in his apologetic against the gnostics of his day, John said, "Who is the liar? It is the man that denies that Jesus is the Christ," and "Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. . ." 1Jn 2:22 & 4:2. Icke has an inflated ego. I would not be surprised if he follows the example of Jim Jones if he acquires enough fools around him. What is most noteworthy about Icke is not his alleged anti-semitism or anti-secret-socieities attitude, but his hostility to the spirit of the true Jesus Christ. He is an anti-christ. As Tallyrand once said of the gnostic freemasons in revolutinoary France, Jesus rose from the dead, you (or Icke) can atleast do as much if you are going to make any claim to spiritual authority. | ||
 | Appearance and Reality: A Metaphysical Essay | |
| "Great intellectual gymnastics" | 2007-09-26 |
| I completely disagree with his conception of reality, but I enjoyed this book. Bradley was a precursor to the language philosophers. Everyone seems intrigued with Wittgenstein; however, Bradley is far more comprehensive and profound. Plus, he writes very good English. Bradley distinguishes subtle naunces in meaning between words and in this way is a precursor to language philosophy. I also recommend C. S. Lewis's book, A Study in Words. I'm amazed that all the books I have on language philosophy exclude F H Bradley. He did everything language philosophers did before they did it. | ||
 | Wishmaster | |
| "Could have been better" | 2007-06-25 |
| The concept of the Persian/Arab myth of the Djinn provides any creative director and writer with enormous plot opportunities. Unfortunately, neither the director nor the writer exploited them. Instead, all we got was lot's of employment opportunities for the special effects crew that specializes in rubber art mixed with syrup. The idea of a Djinn or, "genie" in modern parlance, is exciting because you have a spiritual being who has seeming unlimited power yet is unable to exercise that power until someone wishes for something. So, what result? The Djinn gets an attitude and twists the meaning of peoples' wishes to result in the demise of the person wishing, as well as others who happen to be in the vicinity. So, if you wish, you better be sure that you possess impeccable logic that compels fulfillment of precisely what you wished for. Otherwise, be careful what you wish for. This theme seems to be an archetype for decisions people make in everyday life and the unforeseen and unpleasant results that occur due to the contingencies of life. The Djinn is the opposite of O'Reilly's no-spin zone; since, the Djinn is bent on giving a spin to the meaning of your wish that you did not intend, often to your demise. The monotone voice was good. The wishes that the Djinn interpreted so maliciously, was rather unoriginal and lacking in imagination. The beautiful woman turned into the mannequin because she wanted to be eternally beautiful, the security gaurd who wanted to "escape" from his job ending up in a Houdini like escape water tank (straight jacket and all), the guy who did not want to see the aweful process of the Djinn obtaining a face in the mortuary, and so on were not at all that creative. Above all, the hideous features of the Djinn wasn't that creative unless you mistake goth for horror. And, ironically, the goth culture is grossly lacking in talent when it comes to depicting horror themes even though it claims an expertise of the same. Black eye shadow and lip stick is hardly horrific, let alone creative. The gooey dog of the Djinn with the bird beak is almost deliberately unimaginative. All in all, the movie was rather poor, both in sloppy (I mean this literally) special effects and sloppy plot. The protagonist could have been a better looking girl. But, when you look like Wes Craven, you probably cannot get anything better than that. Finally, the idea that the Djinn could be entrapped in a ruby through an incantation or that he could be defeated by his own wish process, seems a bit far fetched since only Jesus Christ can cast out demons. If an incantation could subdue an evil power, one must ask, what power lays behind the incantation? Ultimately, an infinite regress of heirachies of spiritual power results since there must be incantations to undue the previous incantation, and so forth. Diabolical forces are not subject to defeat by mortal man, and they are a reality (not the Djinn of course). Matching wits with an ancient being truly is a formidable challenge. | ||
 | Wishmaster | |
| "Could have been better" | 2007-06-25 |
| The concept of the Persian/Arab myth of the Djinn provides any creative director and writer with enormous plot opportunities. Unfortunately, neither the director nor the writer exploited them. Instead, all we got was lot's of employment opportunities for the special effects crew that specializes in rubber art mixed with syrup. The idea of a Djinn or, "genie" in modern parlance, is exciting because you have a spiritual being who has seeming unlimited power yet is unable to exercise that power until someone wishes for something. So, what result? The Djinn gets an attitude and twists the meaning of peoples' wishes to result in the demise of the person wishing, as well as others who happen to be in the vicinity. So, if you wish, you better be sure that you possess impeccable logic that compels fulfillment of precisely what you wished for. Otherwise, be careful what you wish for. This theme seems to be an archetype for decisions people make in everyday life and the unforeseen and unpleasant results that occur due to the contingencies of life. The Djinn is the opposite of O'Reilly's no-spin zone; since, the Djinn is bent on giving a spin to the meaning of your wish that you did not intend, often to your demise. The monotone voice was good. The wishes that the Djinn interpreted so maliciously, was rather unoriginal and lacking in imagination. The beautiful woman turned into the mannequin because she wanted to be eternally beautiful, the security gaurd who wanted to "escape" from his job ending up in a Houdini like escape water tank (straight jacket and all), the guy who did not want to see the aweful process of the Djinn obtaining a face in the mortuary, and so on were not at all that creative. Above all, the hideous features of the Djinn wasn't that creative unless you mistake goth for horror. And, ironically, the goth culture is grossly lacking in talent when it comes to depicting horror themes even though it claims an expertise of the same. Black eye shadow and lip stick is hardly horrific, let alone creative. The gooey dog of the Djinn with the bird beak is almost deliberately unimaginative. All in all, the movie was rather poor, both in sloppy (I mean this literally) special effects and sloppy plot. The protagonist could have been a better looking girl. But, when you look like Wes Craven, you probably cannot get anything better than that. Finally, the idea that the Djinn could be entrapped in a ruby through an incantation or that he could be defeated by his own wish process, seems a bit far fetched since only Jesus Christ can cast out demons. If an incantation could subdue an evil power, one must ask, what power lays behind the incantation? Ultimately, an infinite regress of heirachies of spiritual power results since there must be incantations to undue the previous incantation, and so forth. Diabolical forces are not subject to defeat by mortal man, and they are a reality (not the Djinn of course). Matching wits with an ancient being truly is a formidable challenge. | ||
 | Wes Craven Presents Wishmaster | |
| "Could have been better" | 2007-06-25 |
| The concept of the Persian/Arab myth of the Djinn provides any creative director and writer with enormous plot opportunities. Unfortunately, neither the director nor the writer exploited them. Instead, all we got was lot's of employment opportunities for the special effects crew that specializes in rubber art mixed with syrup.
The idea of a Djinn or, "genie" in modern parlance, is exciting because you have a spiritual being who has seeming unlimited power yet is unable to exercise that power until someone wishes for something. So, what result? The Djinn gets an attitude and twists the meaning of peoples' wishes to result in the demise of the person wishing, as well as others who happen to be in the vicinity. So, if you wish, you better be sure that you possess impeccable logic that compels fulfillment of precisely what you wished for. Otherwise, be careful what you wish for. This theme seems to be an archetype for decisions people make in everyday life and the unforeseen and unpleasant results that occur due to the contingencies of life. The Djinn is the opposite of O'Reilly's no-spin zone; since, the Djinn is bent on giving a spin to the meaning of your wish that you did not intend, often to your demise. The monotone voice was good. The wishes that the Djinn interpreted so maliciously, was rather unoriginal and lacking in imagination. The beautiful woman turned into the mannequin because she wanted to be eternally beautiful, the security gaurd who wanted to "escape" from his job ending up in a Houdini like escape water tank (straight jacket and all), the guy who did not want to see the aweful process of the Djinn obtaining a face in the mortuary, and so on were not at all that creative. Above all, the hideous features of the Djinn wasn't that creative unless you mistake goth for horror. And, ironically, the goth culture is grossly lacking in talent when it comes to depicting horror themes even though it claims an expertise of the same. Black eye shadow and lip stick is hardly horrific, let alone creative. The gooey dog of the Djinn with the bird beak is almost deliberately unimaginative. All in all, the movie was rather poor, both in sloppy (I mean this literally) special effects and sloppy plot. The protagonist could have been a better looking girl. But, when you look like Wes Craven, you probably cannot get anything better than that. Finally, the idea that the Djinn could be entrapped in a ruby through an incantation or that he could be defeated by his own wish process, seems a bit far fetched since only Jesus Christ can cast out demons. If an incantation could subdue an evil power, one must ask, what power lays behind the incantation? Ultimately, an infinite regress of heirachies of spiritual power results since there must be incantations to undue the previous incantation, and so forth. Diabolical forces are not subject to defeat by mortal man, and they are a reality (not the Djinn of course). Matching wits with an ancient being truly is a formidable challenge. | ||
 | Pumpkinhead | |
 | "Ok I guess" | 2007-05-05 |
| My biggest gripe with this movie is that it credits Richard Weinman with the story when in actual fact it originally appeared in an old warren magazine EERIE #11. In fact, the cover depicts the same creature, same color in the same type of swamp. It seems movie makers today (1980s to the present) can only steal ideas, not create them. Unless you happened to have grew up in the 1970s, loving comic books, you won't be privy to how much today is swiped in both books and movies and entertainment in general. | ||
 | Pumpkinhead | |
| "Ok I guess" | 2007-05-05 |
| My biggest gripe with this movie is that it credits Richard Weinman with the story when in actual fact it originally appeared in an old warren magazine EERIE #11. In fact, the cover depicts the same creature, same color in the same type of swamp. It seems movie makers today (1980s to the present) can only steal ideas, not create them. Unless you happened to have grew up in the 1970s, loving comic books, you won't be privy to how much today is swiped in both books and movies and entertainment in general. | ||
 | The Usual Suspects: Answering Anti-Catholic Fundamentalists | |
| "Good information" | 2007-04-26 |
| What makes this book particularly valuable is the chapter on page 275 entitled "Three against one." The book shows how devious evangelicals are. In addressing the debate between Walter Martin and Father Pacwa on the John Ankerberg show, the book notes that the debate was severely edited beyond recognition. This wasn't Walter Martin's fault, it was John Ankerberg's fault. Ankerberg never let the true debate leave the editing room. Without this chapter, the book merits only three stars. The weakness of the book is that it doesn't properly criticize evangelicals. It fails to address the Fabian origin of evangelicalism and fails to note that the Southern Baptist convention, along with Free Methodist and Anglicanism and so on are controlled by Freemasons. (The fabians published the Scofield reference bible at Oxford). It fails to pinpoint the Christian zionism of the evangelicals and modern protestant churches. These issues are at the heart of why protestantism is in theological error and, for that matter, political error. | ||
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