• Drive efficiently 
Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Egoism  Consider these simple suggestions: Ease up, plan ahead, leave earlier if time is of the essence, drive courteously. This is an instance in which individuals will benefit by putting the common interest before the perceived (or misperceived, to be precise) interests of their own. In other words, ignore Ayn Rand. Voluntary action can make a difference. It also can forestall the government impositions sure to come if Americans cannot behave responsibly.     Share on Facebook

• Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel 
N. Chandra Mohan, Hindustan Times (New Delhi) Review of the book Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future, by Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran.The authors highlight the role of a powerful American grassroots movement - the Great Awakening - that is pushing this race to fuel the car of the future. This includes Ayn Rand-like innovators like Stan Ovshinsky who are developing hydrogen technologies for cars.     Share on Facebook

• Little tyrants everywhere 
Shawn Macomber, The American Spectator Review of the book Mean Martin Manning, by Scott Stein.Epic conceit is the bread and butter of the dystopian author: The machines are rising or falling, with apocalyptic consequences; the government has collapsed or else been usurped by theocrats or fascists or fascist theocrats (but seldom, strangely, Objectivists).     Share on Facebook

• • Rare Ron Paul footage in new Barr video 
George Dance, Nolan Chart Atlas Shrugged  On a campaign video for Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr.[A] good touch is the 1959 footage of novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand (which begins at 2:08). Barr experienced his first political conversion (from New Left Democrat to young Republican) after reading Rand's magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, in the 1970's. He was not alone: Rand's books still sell in the hundreds of thousands each year, and it is safe to say that millions of Americans have been influenced by her philosophy; yet another demographic the Barr campaign needs to target.     Share on Facebook

• Head of a pin 
D.S. Harford, Nolan Chart I first became aware of the libertarian party in 1972, while living in Washington D.C. [....] For the next few years I subscribed to Reason Magazine, Ayn Rand letters and any other publication on the subject I could find.     Share on Facebook

• Italian Transhumanist Manifesto 
Riccardo Campa, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies Capitalism  A recent [World Transhumanist Association] member poll shows that transhumanists exist of many traditional political persuasions, from the far-left wing to the far-right wing, with everything in between. In terms of numbers, however, a prevalence of self-defined left-wingers can be observed (47% in total), with a preponderance of members identifying themselves as “socialist” or “progressive” as well as small fringes of anarchists (2%) and communists (1%). The libertarians are also numerous (20% the total percentage) with a smaller more radical (Randian-Objectivist, anarcho-capitalist, minarchist) component. Members also exist that support conservative, religious or nationalist ideas.     Share on Facebook

• When Nevada drivers’ cars fail on freeway, service patrolman comes riding to rescue 
Jennifer Robison, Review-Journal (Las Vegas) The Fountainhead  Interview with Jason Caudill.Favorite book: "The Fountainhead," by Ayn Rand.     Share on Facebook

• Fulton teen heads off to college 
Ginny Miller, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo) Atlas Shrugged  On 14-year-old student Juliana Norton.[Juliana] paints and plays the guitar. She's also writing an essay on Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and is teaching herself Japanese.     Share on Facebook

• Artist-director seeks the spirit of ‘The Spirit’ 
Andy Webster, New York Times Where “Sin City” was bleak, “The Spirit” seems playful, quirky. For someone who exalts Ayn Rand and has vigorously defended America’s military response to 9/11, [writer-director Frank] Miller seems to have tempered his cynical machismo.     Share on Facebook

• • New age capitalist 
Doug Ward, Vancouver Sun Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism  Lululemon founder [Chip Wilson] is an advocate of unbridled self-interest and a foe of what he calls "socialism," not unlike Dagney Taggart, the railway mogul in Atlas Shrugged, the novel of individualism written by Wilson's literary idol, Ayn Rand.     Share on Facebook

• • Howard Roark or Molly Bloom? Both 
Sidharth Bhatia, DNA (India) Atlas Shrugged  The Fountainhead  Most people read Ayn Rand at an age when they are just entering the adult world as college students or workers. The simplistic philosophy — and the simplistic language, one dare say — touch a chord. The notion of a proud man, Howard Roark, who refuses to bow to the demands of the world is compelling. Many become fanatic followers of this credo, others simply grow out of it and not a few scoff at what this represents. But the first category takes the lessons to heart; Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve was an unabashed follower and incorporated her ideas into his work. Her books still sell in the millions.     Share on Facebook

• • Minority recognition 
Michael Neibel, Detroit Free Press Letter to the editor.Noted philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand pointed out that "the smallest minority on this Earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities." Keep the Electoral College and its minority recognitions.     Share on Facebook

• The great Garet Garrett 
Bill Steigerwald, Tribune-Review (Pittsburgh) Anthem  [Caxton Press] has been printing Ayn Rand's "Anthem" in hardback for nearly 50 years.     Share on Facebook

• • Columnist uses faulty reasoning 
Elizabeth Peryam Reshower, Times-News (Hendersonville, NC) Capitalism  Letter to the editor.Recently, a community columnist condemned the entire government on the basis of the behavior of a few garbage collectors who had thrown all of his well-sorted recycling into the same part of the truck. [....] He conjures up the ghost of Ayn Rand to back him up. That woman was the beginning of our financial troubles in this country. Her philosophy, called free-market capitalism, can also be defined as heartless and self-serving greed. Alan Greenspan was one of her disciples. Deregulation is one of her commandments — which is what got us into this recession.     Share on Facebook

• Literacy debate: Online, R U really reading? 
Motoko Rich, New York Times The Fountainhead  Though he also likes to read books (earlier this year he finished, and loved, “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand), Zachary [Sims] craves interaction with fellow readers on the Internet. “The Web is more about a conversation,” he said. “Books are more one-way.”     Share on Facebook

• How the Knight went Dark 
Harley Sims, Ottawa Citizen On the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight.A sympathizer with Ayn Rand's objectivist philosophy, [Frank Miller] locates the redeeming force of humanity within individuals, not organizations, and like Rand, prefers to illuminate his protagonists from both above and below. He isolates them, strips them to the core — [...] he dissects the hero down to the brainstem and sees all else as artifice.     Share on Facebook

• Wall Street Journal op-ed compares Bush to Batman 
David Edwards and Muriel Kane, Raw Story One film blogger suggested The Dark Knight promotes fascism. [....] That blogger, however, concluded that "the only way he’s NOT fascist is that he’s not setting himself up as the leader of a Brave New World – he values the individual above the state in all things. Which makes him more like Ayn Rand’s philosophical brother than Mussolini’s long-lost cousin."     Share on Facebook

• Onward, anti-Christian soldiers! 
Mary Eberstadt, National Review Online The problem for atheism [...] goes like this: Why did I feel the way I felt in Portland about letting down Mom before she died? Why did I feel so totally hideous about what I did to H.D.? What’s the meaning — or even just any plausible Natural purpose — of the Human enigma called personal guilt? I know what Your first thought is, of course! You want to explain that feeling of guilt away. You want to say it’s just some vestigial Adaptation that we Humans needed once and don’t need anymore, like an appendix or a tailbone or a novel by Ayn Rand. But that kind of response just begs the question.     Share on Facebook

• Enjoying everyday blues 
Frankie Latina, Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI) Atlas Shrugged  Interview with rock band The Heavyheads.[Q:] What book are you reading? [A:] ‘Shakey,’ the biography of Neil Young, and ‘Atlas Shrugged.’     Share on Facebook

• ‘The Dark Knight’ not an ordinary action film 
Forest Rhodes, Fallbrook Village News (CA) Movie review.Like an Ayn Rand novel, characters transcend their personal motivations, transforming into symbols of ideals such as law, chaos, justice, and revenge.     Share on Facebook