Articles written by Stephen Carter

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About me - Stephen Carter

It's 2011 and here I am ... still writing and Forex trading in Chiang Mai, Thailand. On my next visa run in June 1011 (to Penang, Malaysia) I'll get a 1-year visa. I'm tentatively planning a 1-month return to Canada in April/May 2012.

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Politics, News & Issues > Politics in Asia Speculating on the future of China: 1 of 19

It may be easiest to determine China's future by considering the concerns of one of its neighbors, a neighbor to whom the Chinese regime never tires of issuing dire threats - Taiwan. Taiwan faces three security risks over the next several years. The first and least plausible risk is a contagion from China spreading to Taiwan...
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Apocalypto: 1 of 13

Mel Gibson's tagline for his movie, 'Apocalypto' (2006) was a quotation from historian Will Durant: "A great civilization is not destroyed from without until it has destroyed itself from within." 'Apocalypto' rhetorically asks: Is the West, via its suicidal new ideology of political correctness, destroying itself from within...
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End: 3 of 37

Disney's playful pirates have overstayed their welcome. The re-animation of dead pirates managed to scrape by as a credible concept in the franchise's first installment because of its novelty, Johnny Depp's refreshingly eccentric performance, and the elaborately portrayed colonial setting. All this made the implausible seem,...
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem: 1 of 12

'Alien vs. Predator: Requiem' (2007) gives its audience a requiem, a dirge for the repose of the dead. It's unclear if the dirge is for predator, alien, or human dead, or perhaps all three? Then again, maybe it's a dirge for the expiring 'Alien' and 'Predator' movie franchises. At any rate, the movie's setup shows a predator...
Religion & Spirituality > Self-Awareness & Realization Positive thinking and its effects on the law of attraction: 3 of 30

What is positive thinking? It is first having a 'thought', which then produces within myself a positive 'feeling'. A thought followed by a feeling. Moreover, every thought produces some such feeling. After a series of thoughts which evoke within myself a series of positive feelings, the 'vibration' of my mind and body would ...
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: The Last Samurai: 1 of 9

This analysis of 'The Last Samurai' will consider how the screenplay's five plot points create the story's deep structure. These discrete story points are the 'Inciting Incident' in Act 1, 'Turning Points 1 and 2' in Act 2, and the 'Crisis Decision' and 'Climax' in Act 3. Spoiler alert: this structural analysis will reveal c...
Entertainment > Movie Analysis Movie analysis: Political implications of the movie "300": 2 of 17

An Iranian prayer ends with the words: "Protect us from the infidels who pollute us with their vile ways." Akbar Khodaei, who wrote recently to these pages (Nation newspaper, 3.31.07) from the Iranian embassy, no doubt was thinking along these lines when he made his criticisms of the movie '300'. The Persian messenger's beha...
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Economic revolution happens: 3 of 24

Imagine a chart tracking growth in GDP for all 191 nations of the world. It also might have an MACD overlay using 12 and 26 months that show upside and downside crossovers, and volume bars, measuring money flows. Aside from all this, it might have something quite different: a 'freedom index'. This could be a composite of eco...
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: Fantasy writing: 2 of 16

In fantasy writing the range of plausible human behaviors available to the writer are subject to fairly severe limitations. For example, the full gamut of psycho-sexual intrigue that occur in real life are largely absent. 'The Iliad', minus Achilles' bisexuality (and hence much of the motivation which that brings into the st...
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Kingdom of Heaven: 1 of 6

This analysis of 'Kingdom of Heaven' (2005) will consider how the movie's five plot points create the story's deep structure. These discrete story points include the 'Inciting Incident' in Act 1, 'Turning Points 1 and 2' in Act 2, and the 'Crisis Decision' and 'Climax' in Act 3. Spoiler alert: this structural analysis will r...