It's going too damn far to insult Nero like that.

really?
Does this mean the masters of war AREN'T bad guys?

Does this mean Joey Gallo wasn't the philosopher king of mobsters?

Okay, she's full of shit about Dylan, but she's got a point about the Americans.

Yea, and that stuff about the times a'changing? All lies, too.

Twisted minds
Hard to imagine anyone would have thought CC could have broken through to Eagles/Ronstadt level success. I was a big fan of their first album, but it was pretty obvious they were a great bar band but too hip for the Big Room. Songs like "(Down to) Seeds and Stems Again" don't strike me as a formula for…

sunrise
What a pleasant surprise to see Sunrise mentioned. Thanks. It's my favorite movie of all time. So beautiful. And by the way, these movies are correct: The city IS evil.

Geez Turl, I don't think we're gonna get too far, here. You seem to think the point is to find some sort of definitive answer, but only fundamentalists (on both sides of the question) fall for that one.

thank you, Nicolas Cage
for turning yourself so completely into a joke. I got more outright laughs from the posts on this item than I've had in awhile. (Although I did get some good yucks out of listening to his ridiculous accent in the five minutes of Con Air I caught on cable the other night.)

Enkidum: I agree with you on the nature vs. nurture question, but you might be surprised how many geneticists think all the answers are there, period.

I agree with both Postman and McLuhan recommendations. McLuhan had his wacky moments, but I've reread him recently and he was absolutely brilliant on so many things. Also recommended if you're into that sort of thing (which I am, in a major way), check out Jacques Ellul's The Technological Society.

I'm no scientist but my impression is that physics and biology aren't necessarily routes to concrete answers, either. The intricacies of gene expression are far from being understood, for example, so that the nature vs. nurture question is still very much with us. Godel's incompleteness theorems come to mind, too. Nor…

Interesting, Heche. I always saw AC/DC as Rand's spiritual stepchildren.

GhaleonQ: I share your love of Dostoevsky and Kierkegaard. Their radical refusal to compromise (at least in their art) is extraordinarily bracing in an age when compromise is a way of life. And your comment that Dostoevsky taught you how to relate religion and politics to the world reminded me of another life-changing…

a great writer
Heard him on the radio the other day and was impressed at how openly angry he was at the way the billionaires on Wall Street have gotten away with murder — socialism for the capitalists and capitalism for everyone else was how he described the bailout. He was clearly in favor of significant reform.

@sequence. I didn't say Connecticut Yankee confused me; I said, or implied, I didn't like it, which I don't. The "you're an idiot" comment helps explain why you would like Twain's crudest book and dislike his masterpieces.

@Well. That's a cool quote from Dylan on McCartney, never heard it and it rings true. It also suggests why I've never been a big McCartney fan — his music is a *too* effortless for me — it doesn't have enough bite, enough edge, for my taste. (Please note that I said "for my taste." That's stated as opinion, not as…

Agreed. Connecticut Yankee is almost fascist. What Is Man? is also unpleasantly bitter. Things were not going well for him, and his irony went from bemused to outright angry.

@Fidel: I agree that Neil is a superb model for exactly what I'm arguing for, to keep being creative and alive as you age. (I'd included Dylan in that category earlier.) So I respect him immensely and have loved his music forever — until recently, when I feel like he's been repeating himself and becoming less…

@Well, I basically agree with what you're saying. I should have said "move on" rather than "retire." There has to be a way to age gracefully, with dignity, and still be creative. The old blues guys like Muddy Waters and Mississippi John Hurt could go on forever, but they weren't doing the rock and roll rebel act that…