• • First read: New books, from political dirt to the capitol dome 
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Alan Greenspan  |Atlas Shrugged  |The Fountainhead  |Capitalism  | THE AYN RAND NATION: THE HIDDEN STRUGGLE FOR AMERICA’S SOUL by Gary Weiss (St. Martin’s, $24.99). We have never been fond of Ayn Rand. In fact, we consider her to be the modern literary and philosophical version of the anti-Christ. The author of this book holds, perhaps, a more balanced view of the author of “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.”  

• First read 
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Without reaching into the madness of an Ayn Rand, [Sloan] Wilson gave us [in The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit] the archetypal, emblematic figure of the business face of the 1950s.  

• Patrick Henry popular at Tea Party rally in Trenton 
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Although all under the Tea Party Banner, the rally attracted a variety of philosophies. At an informational section, a table for the Constitution Party stood next to a table for the Libertarian Party and the John Birch Society. On another table lay the writings of 20th Century philosopher Ayn Rand.  

• • Parties abandoned people power 
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Egoism  | In the early 1960s, as a know-it-all college kid, I thought Ayn Rand's philosophy of constructive selfishness could turn us all into individualistic Marlboro Men. I believed big government handouts undermined personal responsibility. It was about people power.  

• Gift of the write stuff can lead to problems 
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Reading can expose you to all kinds of crazy ideas — those of Karl Marx and Ayn Rand just to name two. And don't get me started Nietzsche. . . . What it is about all that "Will to power, God is dead" stuff that attracts males in late adolescence? Personally, I blame violence-laden video games.  

• • Manalapan High’s science center attracts district’s top scholars 
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[Dylan] Langford, who has accepted a full scholarship to Rutgers University and will begin classes in the fall, finds deeper meaning in video games. He plays a Microsoft Xbox game called "BioShock" which, he says, derives its storyline and game play from the philosophical principles of objectivism. "(BioShock) broaches the philosophy of Ayn Rand," Langford said. "It shows what the world would be like, good and bad, if we took the views of objectivism." He will be writing an essay on the topic, he said.  

•Shelf life: What’s new at the bookstores 
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"Ayn Rand Answers: THe Best of Her Q&A" edited by Robert Mayhew. New American Library, $15 (paperback).