• Social Darwinism letter lacks humane approach 
Keith Morgan, Seacoast Online (Portsmouth, NH) Letter to the editor.Ayn Rand, Ron Paul, deregulation and "trickle down" theories are the wrong path. Globalization needs cooperation, not competition, to secure a humane future. 09:44 PM    View blog reactions

• • The price of Gandhigiri 
V. Kumar , Hindustan Times “Marxism is no cure and Communism creates a totalitarian State. Only the gospel of Rand will lead us to salvation,” [“R”] said. The Marxist replied in stronger words and much to my chagrin the debate took an ugly turn. I tried my best to convince them that both Marx and Rand had talked about liberating man, but in their own ways. 09:42 PM    View blog reactions

• The best of The Best American Series 2007 
Melanie Jones, Columbia Spectator (Columbia U, NY) The first section [in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007, “Shorter Things That Belong Nowhere Else,” [....] begins with “Names of Horses Expected to Have Undistinguished Careers (For The Love Of God Run Faster, Ayn Rand’s Condescending Sigh)”. 09:36 PM    View blog reactions

• Renaissance man of Mabalacat 
Robby Tantingco, Sun.Star (Philippines) It was Jad [Dayrit] who introduced me to Ayn Rand's books. I remember spending one whole night discussing them with him. One whole night, as in 12 hours of nonstop talking. 10:34 PM    View blog reactions

• More than 20 years in the making 
Doug Noland, Asia Times It is [...] as ironic as it was predictable that Alan Greenspan - Ayn Rand "disciple" and free-market ideologue - championed monetary policies and a financial apparatus that will ensure the greatest government intrusion into our nation’s financial and economic affairs since the New Deal. 10:33 PM    View blog reactions

• • Self-reliance is key to success 
Steve Butler, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA) Atlas Shrugged  The Fountainhead  The Rand books, "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead," convey the message that lone individualists (today's entrepreneurs) bucking the system have to struggle against near-impossible odds. To the extent they succeed, there can be no greater hero. 10:26 PM    View blog reactions

• Even when the economy is tanking, readers still have compassion for children 
John Bogert, Daily Breeze (Los Angeles) Harry Komsky of Redondo Beach had this to say [...], "Over the years I have carried on an e-mail exchange with an ultra-liberal old college roommate. He encouraged me to see each new Michael Moore movie and sent me the editorial rantings of far left Ron Reagan. When I suggested that he read Ayn Rand or John Stossel, he refused." 10:22 PM    View blog reactions

• Book review: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut 
Jessica Schneider, The Moderate Voice Altruism  Ayn Rand used to state how altruism is one of the greatest evils. She simply did not believe others should be put before the Self. Yet in today’s narcissistic culture, one has to wonder if altruism is such a bad thing. 10:20 PM    View blog reactions

• Blips #64 
Gilles d'Aymery , Swans Last year, [John] Paulson of Paulson & Company made between three and four billion dollars according to The Wall Street Journal as the firm made [...] aggressive bets against subprime loans. [....] And have you noticed that former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, who, willingly or not, masterminded the housing bubble and the subprime fiasco, an Ayn Rand admirer and follower, is a well-paid advisor to Paulson & Company? Can't you good people put two and two together? 10:15 PM    View blog reactions

• VanDamme Academy shows value of choice 
Jillian Melchior, School Reform News (The Heartland Institute) [School founder Lisa VanDamme] drew on the experience of highly educated friends and the educational philosophy of Ayn Rand to put together her curriculum. 09:40 AM    View blog reactions

• BB&T donates $1 million to Marshall 
George Hohmann, Daily Mail (Charleston, WV) Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism  The BB&T Charitable Foundation was expected to announce a $1 million gift to Marshall University's Lewis College of Business during a press conference today in Huntington. The contribution, to be made over 10 years, will establish "The BB&T Center for the Advancement of American Capitalism," Phyllis Arnold, president of BB&T Corp. in West Virginia, said in remarks prepared for delivery at the event. [....] Components of the center's curriculum will include: An upper-level course focusing on the principles outlined in author Ayn Rand's book, "Atlas Shrugged," and author Adam Smith's book, "The Wealth of Nations." 11:50 AM    View blog reactions

• • Getting serious over a farce 
Teri Sforza, Orange County Register (CA) Ayn Rand Institute  Atlas Shrugged  Yaron Brook  On Niv Brook and his play, Mr. Wade is Dead."This play is a crazy farce, very physical, fun, cartoony," [director Liz] Shipman says. [....] But that ending. She just doesn't feel it's in keeping with what comes before it. She wants Brook to change it. Does she know she's dealing with a rugged individualist? The Ayn Rand Foundation director's son? A kid who has "Atlas Shrugged" on his dorm room bookshelf? Architect Howard Roark, for those of you who remember "The Fountainhead," opts to struggle in obscurity rather than compromise his vision. 11:37 AM    View blog reactions

• Fascinating tales, floor plans in L.A. ‘Houses’ 
Scott Eyman, Palm Beach Post (FL) The Fountainhead  On the two-volume Houses of Los Angeles.The house of the director Josef von Sternberg was designed by Richard Neutra, was surrounded by a moat and looks like it was made out of aluminum! The house was later purchased by Ayn Rand, and it figures that the author of The Fountainhead would be happy there.  10:34 AM    View blog reactions

• • The biggest jailbreak in history 
John Maxwell, Jamaica Observer Capitalism  What American capitalism has accomplished would have confounded Adam Smith and astonished even Karl Marx: it destroyed its own working class. For the new-rich, capitalism was a no-risk game where governments had a duty to come to the rescue of those involved in unfortunate accidents, like Enron or the sub-prime mortgage debacle. Mr Alan Greenspan who keeps Ayn Rand at his bedside, had always delivered when necessary [...]. The problem, of course, was that there were too many balls in the air and little or no certitude about how many capitalists could dance on the head of a peon. Ayn Rand, from beyond the grave, advised self-love and selfishness as the only virtues. 10:27 AM    View blog reactions

• Paul’s candidacy wakes up believers 
Graeme Zielinski, Express-News (San Antonio, TX) [Ron] Paul has said he was drawn to politics by the writings of such libertarians as Friedrich Hayek and Ayn Rand. 11:41 AM    View blog reactions

• Famous pen names 
Nancy R. Callahan, BellaOnline Many writers publish under nom de plumes instead of their birth names, for a variety of reasons. For instance, Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski and Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum anglicized their names to Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) and Ayn Rand (1905–1982). 11:34 AM    View blog reactions

• Economic stimulus no overnight job 
Paul Heise, Daily News (Lebanon, PA) Capitalism  The story of how the failures of the Fed got us into this fix is short and well-understood. The fault belongs to the 18-year tenure of Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Greenspan, the premier disciple of Ayn Rand and her libertarian economics, watched approvingly as financial markets were freed of regulation and inevitably spun out of control. 11:32 AM    View blog reactions

• Clearly, some are different 
Hank Stuever, Washington Post On the Clear registered traveler ID card.It's the "Lexus lane" syndrome over and over, where special people buy special access to get ahead of the losers. And yet, hasn't this been the essential human narrative all along? Me before you. People becoming Clear is simply another chapter in the self-deterministic struggle. Ayn Rand would totally have one.  11:29 AM    View blog reactions

• No meds for this depression 
waldopaper, OpEdNews Sorry, I read Ayn Rand in high school and found it wanting. 11:27 AM    View blog reactions

• BB&T gives $1 million to MU College of Business 
Huntingtonnews.net (Huntington, WV) Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism  The BB&T Charitable Foundation announced on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008, a contribution of $1 million to establish The BB&T Center for the Advancement of American Capitalism at the Lewis College of Business at Marshall University. B&T West Virginia Group/State President Phyllis Arnold said a key component of the BB&T Center will be to provide students with a solid grounding in the workings of capitalism and free market forces. Components of the Center’s curriculum include but are not limited to: An upper level course focusing on the principles set forth in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. 11:25 AM    View blog reactions

• Game for gold 
Brian D. Crecente, Rocky Mountain News (Denver) Set in an underwater dystopian society built on the principles of Ayn Rand's Objectivism philosophy, BioShock makes you think and puts your ethics, as much as your trigger finger, to the test. 11:22 AM    View blog reactions

• BB&T gives $1M to MU 
Ben Fields, Herald-Dispatch (Huntington, WV) Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism  BB&T announced Thursday it will donate $1 million to Marshall to form the BB&T Center for the Advancement of American Capitalism at the university's Lewis College of Business. The center will emphasize upper level courses focusing on the principles of capitalism, including the "rugged individual" themes of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations." 11:18 AM    View blog reactions

• Where are the politicians? 
C. N. Coenraads , SUR in English Capitalism  In our free market economy - almost libertarian - business plays a most important role. One of the aspects of libertarianism - as defined by Ayn Rand - is the total freedom of businesses to defend their interests. To pursue profit without moral constraints. 11:14 AM    View blog reactions

• Ask a Davis resident (who doesn’t know that much) 
Ken Widmann, News & Review (Sacramento, CA) [Q:] Are Davis politics really left of the Kremlin? [A:] Depends on who you ask. There’s certainly a lot of red tape involved in opening a business or modifying a structure. But you see a few Ayn Rand disciples walking around, looking for paintball.  11:13 AM    View blog reactions

• Greenspan’s grand design to serve the money trust - Financial tsunami Part III 
F. William Engdahl, The Market Oracle Capitalism  While free market purists and dogmatic followers of [Alan] Greenspan's late friend, Ayn Rand, accuse the Fed Chairman of hands-on interventionism, in reality there is a common thread running through each major financial crisis of his 18 plus years as Fed chairman. He managed to use each successive financial crisis [...] to advance and consolidate the influence of US-centered finance over the global economy. 11:07 AM    View blog reactions