•Crisis of faith 
Andrew Sullivan, The New Republic "How fundamentalism is splitting the GOP."Conservatives of doubt are not necessarily atheists or amoralists. Many are devout Christians who embrace a strong separation of church and state--for the sake of religion as much as politics. Others may be Oakeshottian skeptics, or Randian individualists, or Burkean pragmatists, or libertarian idealists. But they all agree that the only solution to deep social disagreement is not a forced supremacy of a majority or minority, but an attempt to keep government as neutral as possible, power as close to people as possible, and as much economic power in the hands of the private sector as possible. 01:48 PM    View blog reactions

• •Summer reads recommended 
John Brown, Daily Beacon (University of Tennessee) 'Atlas Shrugged' — First of all, there is this classic Ayn Rand novel. What would happen if the creative minds of the world went on strike? What happens when collectivism completely overrules individualism? And who is John Galt? You will find the answers in this book, written in 1957. Though over 1,000 pages long, it has the ability to hold the reader’s attention from start to finish. This work (particularly Galt’s speech) is considered the basis of Rand’s philosophy of objectivism. 10:08 PM    View blog reactions

•Pellston names top graduates 
Mike Fornes, Cheboygan Daily Tribune (MI) Profile of Nikolas Burkhart , Pellston High School class of 2005 valedictorian.A talented artist and writer, Nikolas won a first-place award in the student art show as part of the 2005 Crooked Tree Art Show. His essay, 'The Fountainhead,' placed him as a semi-finalist in the 2004 Ayn Rand Institute's annual essay contest. Five-thousand essays were submitted in the competition. 10:03 PM    View blog reactions

•I’d rather watch birds than go back into courtroom 
Lisa Pierot, Palm Beach Post (FL) Diary of a cancer patient.While my tumor markers continue to rise, I persevere with the daily grind of life. My favorite moments are still those when I can be by myself working on some new project or another. I have advanced from knitting scarves to making shawls. I am reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. 09:52 PM    View blog reactions

•“Overseas American: Growing Up Gringo in the Tropics” book signing 
iBerkshires.com (Berkshire County, MA) Event announcement.Gene H. Bell-Villada is chair of the department of Romance Languages at Williams College and the author of 'Borges and His Fiction: A Guide to His Mind and Art,' 'The Pianist Who Liked Ayn Rand,' and the National Book Critics Circle Award finalist 'Art for Art's Sake & Literary Life: How Politics & Markets Helped Shape the Ideology and Culture of Aestheticism, 1790-1990.' 09:44 PM    View blog reactions

•The need for economic rights 
Nick Woomer, Minnesota Daily Is the US the freest nation on Earth?If you define freedom in the John Locke, Ayn Rand, negative-rights sense — as many do — a cogent case can be made that civil liberties are guaranteed by lack of economic interference from the government and that makes the United States the freest nation on earth. 09:40 PM    View blog reactions

• •Livin’ extra-large 
Scott Duke Harris, Los Angeles Times Orange County, California sheds its staid image.Secular souls question any venture that seeks a 10% cut. Yaron Brook is one. He is executive director and president of the Irvine-based Ayn Rand Institute, which promotes Rand's objectivist philosophy exalting individualism, private property and an utterly unfettered free market. Rand, he says, would have liked aspects of OC. 'She would have enjoyed the fact it is a wealthy county that seems to enjoy [its] wealth.' 09:32 PM    View blog reactions

•Seeing is believing 
Noy Thrupkaew, AlterNet Review of the documentary Enron.As depicted in Enron, the company's corporate culture was ruthless, a nightmare brew of Ayn Rand and Social Darwinism. 08:34 AM    View blog reactions

• •Preity loves Archies & Tinkle! 
India Daily Bollywood actress Preity Zinta shares her reading habits.Is there any particular book that she did recommend as a must-read'? 'Don't know if it would do the same to others, but it definitely changed my perspective about life' she declares. And the miracle book is… 'Ayn Rand's Fountainhead' she replies. 08:23 AM    View blog reactions

•The Sopranos with superpowers 
Aileen Torres, The Villager (New York) Profile of comic strip writer Fred Van Lente.'Action Philosophers' is very informative, and funny, too, as is to be expected from a couple of smart guys who both have a good sense of humor.... [F]or a bit of controversy, the “All-Sex Special” will be out in June. It will feature the salacious rumored love affair between Thomas Jefferson and one of his slaves; Catholicism’s wild-man-gone-good St. Augustine and Objectivist founder Ayn Rand’s prurient shenanigans. 08:18 AM    View blog reactions

•Objectionable column elicits objection 
Nate Arthur, Daily Beacon (University of Tennessee) Response to charges of left-wing campus bias.Young conservatives tend to be self-absorbed, coming from comfort, and outside of doctrinal Web sites have read very little, especially once they’ve located their den-mother, Ayn Rand. 08:06 AM    View blog reactions

• •Earth Day a good day to bash environmentalists 
Thomas Egan, Daily Press (Victorville, CA) Letter to the Editor.According to those lovable conservative "hucksters" housed at the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, the sky is falling due to the rising specter of "environmentalism". 08:02 AM    View blog reactions

•Quit embarrassing us 
Austin Heap, The Vanguard (Bentley College, MA) Bentley College student laments the school's spending priorities.After my morning shower, I sit down to find some public lecture to listen to while I write my sociology paper when I end up at one of my favorite sites: WGBH's Forum Network. Here at wgbh.org/forum, you can watch -- in various formats -- many good lectures from prevalent thinkers like Dr. Noam Chomsky from MIT, Amy Goodman from Democracy Now!, and Dr. Leonard Peikoff, 'intellectual heir to Ayn Rand.' 07:37 AM    View blog reactions

•Commercials ‘R’ Us 
Mick Farren, Los Angeles City Beat The alpha characters in the latest sci-fi-style ads for Transitions, the photo-responsive sunglasses, now gaze through their sun-darkened lenses at an endless Manhattan where the fallen World Trade Center towers have been replaced with a brave new mega-structure, and utopian order rules. A researcher should have reminded the account execs of Jake Blues’ Laws of Sunglasses. We do not wear them for Ayn Rand visions of the promised land; we wear them to preserve our individual mystery and avoid eye contact with threatening strangers – some of whom want to sell us things. 07:30 AM    View blog reactions

• •Ayn Rand Institute director discusses morality of war 
Daniela Perdomo, Tufts Daily Brook attacked just-war theory's principles that force used in war must be proportionate to the threat. 'In my view this is horrific,' he said. 'That's saying we must balance the deaths of U.S. soldiers and civilians with the deaths of enemy soldiers and civilians ... and sacrifice the greatest nation in the history of the world to the worst countries today.' 07:27 AM    View blog reactions

•We must save our resources 
Charley Reese, Sanford Herald (NC) On the necessity of conservation and population reduction.Just remember what Ayn Rand said. We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the grim consequences of evading reality 06:59 AM    View blog reactions

•Do conservatives “openly threaten sitting judges”? 
Don Feder, FrontPageMagazine.com When they can’t win a debate (can they ever?), leftists deploy what the late novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand called 'the argument from intimidation.' Instead of trying to refute the other side, they label their opponents' position evil, attribute sinister motives to its adherents, and charge that its proponents are encouraging violence. 06:55 AM    View blog reactions

•Thy kingdom come 
Douglas Kern, Tech Central Station In praise of Disney World.Everyone, at every end of the ideological spectrum, hates Disney World. Just think of Russell Kirk, Ayn Rand, and Ralph Nader riding together in a boat on 'It's a Small World.' They might still kill each other, but only out of mercy. 06:53 AM    View blog reactions

•A medical mystery—of sorts 
Paul South, The Mississippi Press The story of a photo left behind at an Ocean Springs, Alabama medical office.The photograph, black and white, features the smiling countenances of four children, circa 1950-1965. Three little boys, clad in cardigans, blazers and bow ties and an infant girl in a frilly dress, these could be playmates for Wally and Beaver Cleaver, or audience members at the Ed Sullivan Show. It's a picture, perfect for a spot above the 'rabbit ears' on grandma's first Philco TV, or on a bookshelf near the family Bible, or a well-worn, dog-eared copy of 'The Fountainhead.' 07:49 AM    View blog reactions

•Don’t be a ‘girlie man’ 
Lee Green, Los Angeles Times Magazine Why California's property tax initiative, Proposition 13, should be reconsidered.A self-described conservative with close ties to high-level republicans, [leading Proposition 13 proponent Howard] Jarvis distrusted government and was philosophically opposed to tax increases. Politically, he was Sen. Tom McClintock with a touch of Ayn Rand. 07:40 AM    View blog reactions

• •Consultant helps to implement benefit plans 
York Daily Record (PA) Profile of group benefits consultant Jennifer J. Geesey.Q: What management books would you recommend? And why those? A: While not exactly a management book, one of my favorite books is called 'Atlas Shrugged,' written by Ayn Rand and published many years ago. This novel provides a lot of insight into the human spirit. The author’s main point is that people are free to pursue their own goals — achieve happiness — without 'bowing down to society.' We must protect our freedoms and live productively. 07:37 AM    View blog reactions

•A taxing predicament 
Riggs Fulmer, The Vanguard (Portland State U) Opinion piece advocating corporate tax increases.We need to wake up from this Ayn Rand fantasy world where companies interact on an intrinsically fair, unencumbered playing field, engaging in vigorous competition to the benefit of consumer and employer alike. 07:31 AM    View blog reactions

• •Sacrifice is voluntary 
Evan Williams, The Hook (VA) Letter to the editor.In his April 7 letter to the editor/tirade against individual freedom, J. Blair Reeves commits his most grievous error of logic (of many) in the second paragraph, wherein he refers to Randian philosophy as "madness." 07:29 AM    View blog reactions

• •Lighten up, butthead 
Jim Shliferstein, Cornell Daily Sun (Ithaca, NY) On the dangers of "chronic indignation."Ayn Rand had a few good ideas about the value of the individual. But she became so addicted to her contempt that she could not even discuss collectivism without snarling in righteous rage. 07:24 AM    View blog reactions

•Coppola’s “Megalopolis” in ruins? 
Garth Franklin, Dark Horizons The acclaimed 'Godfather' and 'Apocalypse Now' director described the project once thus 'The setting is modern New York. It deals... with the idea that the future world we're going to live in is being negotiated today... It's kind of a shape-of-things-to-come film in which the characters are concerned with artists, businessmen, proletariat all having a stake in the future but very few of them having a hand in what it's going to be like. It's a little bit like an Ayn Rand novel.' 07:21 AM    View blog reactions