• •Ayn Rand Institute: Obamanomics vs. GM & Chrysler and the proper role of government 
Allen Barton, Pajamas TV Ayn Rand Institute  Capitalism  Yaron Brook  Video      Share on Facebook

• • • Ayn Rand as prophet? 
Amit Ghate, Pajamas Media Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism  Egoism  Objectivist author  As businesses are “bailed out” and quasi-nationalized; as one regulation leads inexorably to the next; and as the productive and innocent are increasingly burdened with the sins and failures of the guilty — many people recognize the haunting resemblance to the world depicted in Atlas. Some now characterize Rand as a “prophet.” Others, as seen on placards at “tea parties” nationwide, simply observe: “Rand was Right.” But that she was right is, in some respects, less important than why she was right.     Share on Facebook

• • The week in letters 
Paul Russell, National Post (Toronto) Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism  "People misunderstand the role of John Galt," wrote Kristina Tomory. "He represents integrity, work ethic and talent. Rand poses the question: 'What happens to society when the intelligent, creative, competent people who carry society withdraw their services?' Incompetent bureaucrats, on the other hand, rely on and take credit for the work of talented people, then punish them for being good at what they do. Canadians should read the novel, then take a good look at [certain] bureaucracies in this country today, starting with the human rights commissions down to local school boards. There is a frightening resemblance."     Share on Facebook

• •Economist Yaron Brook blasts President Obama’s handling of auto crisis 
Glenn Beck, FOXNews.com - Glenn Beck Ayn Rand Institute  Capitalism  Yaron Brook  Video  This is country is about individualism. This country is about individuals owning their own life, pursuing their own happiness, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's what's essential. Not your life is owned by the state and we're going to tell you how to behave depending on whether your behavior is good for the public or not good for the public.     Share on Facebook

• What I like…. with Paralympic Games medalist Amanda McGrory 
SportsBusiness Daily Authors: Ayn Rand, Salman Rushdie, Vladimir Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut ... I could go on for days.     Share on Facebook

• • The fantastic Mrs. Fox 
Rebekah Blu, Martha's Vineyard Magazine The Fountainhead  Image  Interview with Patricia Neal.[Q:] When you look back at your career, which roles do you feel are some of your finest performances? [A:] Patricia: Well, I’ve done about four or five that I liked myself in. I liked myself in The Fountainhead, but nobody else did.     Share on Facebook

• Banquo’s Ghosts: Haunting tale of anti-Americanism 
Otto Penzler, Newsmax Review of a novel by Rich Lowry and Keith Korman.[Characters Stewart] Banquo and [Robert] Wallets are competent, handsome, courageous, moral Americans — heroic figures who could have been fashioned by Ayn Rand     Share on Facebook

• • Today in history - April 30 
Washington Post Thought for Today: "Upper classes are a nation's past; the middle class is its future." - Ayn Rand, Russian-born author (1905-1982).     Share on Facebook

• • Alan Greenspan, former Fed Chairman and devout atheist, is now central figure in financial collapse 
ministryValues.com Atheism  Capitalism  Ayn Rand, well known atheist, and famous author is also renowned for her central role in the creation of the philosophy known as “Objectivism. This philosophy espouses a deep commitment to atheistic values, celebrates the virtue of the individual and, despises government regulation of any kind other than for crime control. She has said "Money is the barometer of a society's virtue." She also said about religion that “it was untrue in all its manifestations and that its consequences were disastrous.” Alan Greenspan was a devoted follower of Objectivism and he was well aware of the philosophies’ contempt for religion. This set of beliefs led to the extreme unregulated “free market” banking system that Alan Greenspan managed for 18 years.     Share on Facebook

• • More pragmatism, less polarization 
Tim Snider, Record-Bee (Lakeport, CA) Regarding the guest commentary April 29 "Who was Ayn Rand?," the author made the point very well that idealistic Ayn Rand and utopian (communism) philosophies fail in the real world. We need more pragmatism and less polarization, lest we all sink into endless partisan bickering and egotistical posturing at the expense of solving the problems we face.     Share on Facebook

• • • Objectivist philosophy for fun and profit 
Mark Hemingway, National Review Online Altruism  Atlas Shrugged  Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal  Capitalism  Egoism  Profile of retired BB&T CEO John Allison.Allison navigated through the overheated mortgage market and the ensuing banking crisis by relying, in large part, on a philosophy that many others are now turning to: “I got interested in [Ayn] Rand in the late 1960s. I read Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. I had already been interested in economics, and as I finished college, I got interested in finance. I saw the banking system as central to a capitalist economy.”     Share on Facebook

• • The creator of Wikipedia comes to Bulgaria 
News.bg Iskra Angelova explains her success to bring the famous [Jimmy] Wales to Bulgaria with the fact that just like him, she is also an Ayn Rand follower and co-founder of the “Ayn Rand Society” in Bulgaria.     Share on Facebook

• • The cost of capitalism: We’re having a Minsky moment 
Lawrence J. Haas, North Star Writers Group (Grand Rapids, MI) Capitalism  The Reagan revolution for free markets and against government intervention has dominated policymaking for nearly 30 years. In too many circles, support for free markets morphed into a worship of them [...]. That Ayn Rand enthusiast Alan Greenspan chaired the Federal Reserve for most of that period seems appropriate.     Share on Facebook

• • A fond farewell 
Indira Dammu, Indiana Daily Student (Indiana U, Bloomington) I’ve made no secret about the fact that I’ve been a recovering conservative for three years now. I shudder to think of the days when I called Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman my intellectual heroes, but I blame it on the foolishness of my youth.     Share on Facebook

• Hot button 
Washington Times Atlas Shrugged  According to an FBI criminal complaint, Daniel Knight Hayden, who went by the name CitizenQuasar on a popular microblogging site, threatened murder on several occasions in the run-up to tax day. [....] Postings on Mr. Hayden's MySpace profile included [...] lengthy quotations from the books "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and "The Gulag Archipelago" by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.     Share on Facebook

• Waiter drops it like it’s hot, sued by rapper 
Enduring Vision Ayn Rand Institute  Satire."This frivolous lawsuit is just another example of anti-reason," said Peter Schwartz, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ayn Rand Institute, which was contacted but no one knows why. "In fact, this entire situation is beyond reason. It is...unreasonable."     Share on Facebook

• World economic order after G20 
Mohsin Hafeez , Dawn (Karachi) One sees a little of Ayn Rand [...] in the developed nations’ initiative to support the less privileged countries. It’s all good as long as it works for them at the end of the day. And, if by chance and in the process thereof, it actually helps out the poor, it can’t be all that bad.     Share on Facebook

• Around the BEA booths: S 
Jill A. Tardiff, John Niernberger and Diane Patrick, Publishers Weekly STEERFORTH PRESS. Featured: [...] Ayn Rand for Beginners by Andrew Bernstein [...].     Share on Facebook

• • Ryan shines as GOP seeks vision 
Craig Gilbert, Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI) Atlas Shrugged  The Fountainhead  Capitalism  [Paul Ryan] brings a deep philosophical attachment to market capitalism and "supply-side" economics - a world view shaped by such icons of individualism and free enterprise as Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. "The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand," Ryan said at a D.C. gathering four years ago honoring the author of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead."     Share on Facebook

• Obama loves the rich 
Michael Maiello, Forbes All the major polls tracked by Real Clear [Politics] have majorities saying that the country is headed in the wrong direction, and Obama's opposition is hardening around the question of the president's socialist tendencies. [....] Do we all have to revert into precocious high-schoolers and go back to underlining and dog-earing Ayn Rand novels and annoying our ex-hippie mothers? No, no we don't. Obama's no socialist. An observer from Mars would think the man's a downright oligarch.     Share on Facebook