• • • Economic ideas welcome, dissed 
Ray Shelton, Los Angeles Times Ayn Rand Institute  |Capitalism  | (Not available online.)Lawrence O'Donnell is wrong in claiming, "We're all socialists now." That an intellectual of O'Donnell's stature could be so unaware of a small but growing pure capitalist movement in this country is astounding. We pure capitalists are pure capitalists precisely because we understand socialism for the evil that it is; the evil of parasitism. [....] If O'Donnell wishes to learn more about pure capitalism, I suggest he visit the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine.   Published: 2013-03-24

• • May Kickstarter Round-Up: Caveman Chow and Ayn Rand Games 
Jef With One F, Houston Press BioShock  |Capitalism  | [In Face of Mankind: Fall of the Dominion] we can see that anarcho-captialist utopia that all the Rand fans want to see play out in real time rather than watching it as a story in BioShock. This will be the stuff of intertube legends, full of YouTube gold and online dickery the likes of which we have never seen.   Published: 2013-05-16

• • She’s the best antidote to today’s selfish thinking 
Stephen Goldstein, Sun-Sentinel (FL) Atlas Shrugged  |Egoism  | [Connie Silver is] an artist, teacher-therapist and giver who donates all proceeds from the sale of her art to charity. She’s the opposite of the “greed-is-good” poison. Ayn Rand would have made her a villain in Atlas Shrugged because she helps other people. Paul Ryan and the Koch Brothers would accuse her of coddling the needy. She’s a one-woman answer to the tea party-GOP. [....] I suspect that Connie Silver was born restless, with an overdose of chutzpah. If she were to write her autobiography, she might call it Atlas Slugged: Ayn Rand, I'll give you a hand. She's that generous — and forgiving.   Published: 2013-05-26

• • LTCI Watch: Skepticism 
Allison Bell, LifeHealthPro Capitalism  | I’m sympathetic to objectivists and other people who believe in a pure free-market system, but I’m just not an objectivist. I don’t have any theoretical objection whatsoever to the idea of the existence of ERRP. I have no objection to some of my tax dollars going to pay for ERRP. I take no joy in seeing ERRP have problems.   Published: 2013-05-30

• • • And the Rand Played On… aka The Hell with Edutainment, Let’s Have Fun! (Review) 
Tony Dallas, Cincinnati CityBeat Capitalism  |Egoism  |Individualism  |Paul Ryan  | And the Rand Played On aka The Hell with Edutainment, Let’s Have Fun! by John Ray and performed by the Burying Beetles Collective is a mad romp into the life and work and adorning fans of Ayn Rand, America’s rabid advocate for capitalism and social darwinism. Her writings and philosophy were a warning against creeping socialism and unionists’ aspiration to drag the country into a dull decay. Rand, with her thousand-page books that hail the self-reliant individualist as hero (with a distinctly social realist aesthetic), is the darling (or führer) of the tea party movement. Reading her books as an adolescent launched Paul Ryan’s career as a politician. Rand, with her philosophy of “objectivism” and selfishness, her writings are fodder for adolescents who think they have the world licked — they’re also fodder for those stuck in adolescence.   Published: 2013-05-30

• • Academic Aces: Community Christian 
The Wilson Times (NC) Atlas Shrugged  | The Wilson Times talked with the top seniors from each private school in the area about their high school experience, their plans for life after graduation and about what it's like to juggle academics, sports and part-time jobs. [....] During his free time, Chad [Higgenbottom] watches professional football and basketball. He’s read "Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand that discusses objectivism and politics and the economy.   Published: 2013-05-22

• BioShock Infinite Review 
Philip Bayles, Filmoria The original BioShock [....] took place in the underwater city of Rapture [...] and balanced exciting, action-packed gameplay with a hugely intelligent story that was not only a critique of Randian Objectivism but also made us think about the way we look at games as a whole.   Published: 2013-05-22

• • What I Learned at My First Dallas Comic Con 
Audra Schroeder, Dallas Observer - Mixmaster BioShock  | [T]hree girls tell me they are characters from a video game called BioShock, a first-person shooter that also has a strong female lead (and, apparently, is based on Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism).   Published: 2013-05-20

• Can't Smell Or Breathe, But Checks Keep Coming 
Anita Gates, New York Times In Paul Zimet’s “Marcellus Shale,” when the church ladies get together to pray for “those who are sick and suffering,” the list of names goes on and on and on. Auggie (Joel Leffert), whose cows all died, has been in a wheelchair since his stroke and spends his days watching television and reading Ayn Rand.   Published: 2013-05-30

• • How leftists judge great women 
Bruce Walker, Canada Free Press Atlas Shrugged  |The Fountainhead  | Consider these forgotten giants: [....] Ayn Rand‘s Atlas Shrugged has been called the most important book of the 20th Century, and other novels like The Fountainhead are not far behind. She may rightly be called the most eloquent voice against collectivism and statism, yet Rand is left off nearly every establishment list.   Published: 2013-05-29

• • Like Christie and Obama had any choice but be nice to each other 
Alex Pareene, Salon The primary victim of Obama’s increasingly sad attempts at seeking common ground hasn’t been his party, it’s really been himself. Because he’s just been making his own job — governing the country — harder, by promoting the notion that Republicans are reasonable. (He’s obviously dialed back on this notion since 2010.) Chris Christie isn’t James Inhofe, and he’s not an Islamophobe and he’s not a Randian, but the more politically successful he is, the better it is for his political party, which is made up in large part of James Inhofes, Islamophobes, Randians, and worse.   Published: 2013-05-29

• • • Was Dhoni right in keeping mum? 
Santhosh S R, Deccan Chronicle Altruism  |The Fountainhead  |Egoism  | An individual is obliged to no one but to himself or herself. That statement, brazen though it might sound, sums up the essence of one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century: "The Fountainhead". The controversial novel that was penned by Ayn Rand damned the philosophy of altruism while extolling the virtue of selfishness. No other work of literature glorified the concept of human ego the way the Fountainhead did.

The hallmark of a work of art lies not in the glory of its creator but in the relevance of the same for posterity. Thus, even 70 years after its publication, Ms. Rand's novel continues to illuminate its readers and reminds them that there are no obligations that one individual owes another. The protagonists of the novel are two uncompromising idealists who find fulfillment and happiness in staying true to themselves than in bowing down to the whims and diktats of society.   Published: 2013-05-29

• • The Ronald Reagan of Virginia 
Peter Ferrara, American Spectator Capitalism  | [A]s Ayn Rand used to say, there are only two choices, capitalism or socialism. Choose.   Published: 2013-05-29

• • • Who Is John Galt? 
Paul Constant, The Stranger - The Slog (Seattle, WA) Atlas Shrugged movie  |Atlas Shrugged  | The big thinkers over at the Atlas Shrugged movie site are taking another poll. [....] And who do the Objectivists see as the ideal John Galt? Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be a popular choice, although there are recommendations for conservative actors Gary Sinise, Kelsey Grammer, Jim Caviezel, and Tom Selleck, too. Daniel Craig, Clive Owen, Nathan Fillion, and even George Clooney are mentioned a few times. Shockingly, only one person mentions Tom Cruise, who for some reason I think would play a great self-satisfied prick.   Published: 2013-05-29

• • Who cares about the Oxford comma? Me 
McKinley Smith, The Daily Barometer (Oregon State University) Another example is a dedication gone wrong: “This book is dedicated to my parents, Ayn Rand and God” featured in the Economist article, “Oxford comma, still with us.”   Published: 2013-05-29

• Libertarian Ghostwrites for Kim Jong Il 
Brian Doherty, Reason - Hit & Run The New York Observer profiles Objectivist-libertarian celebrity ghostwriter Michael Malice, focusing on his latest project: a ghostwritten memoir of late Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.   Published: 2013-05-29

• To be reborn… 
Mini P. Thomas, Manorama Online - The Week The Fountainhead movie  | [Manisha Koirala’s] posts on social networking sites talk about her love for movies. She says she loved watching Kite Runner, Argo, Les Miserables and The Fountainhead.   Published: 2013-05-29

• • What It Takes 
Jay Nordlinger, National Review Online - The Corner Atlas Shrugged  | Last week, I quoted a European businessman who said the salvation of the American economy would be oil extracted from shale. A reader then sent me a slice of Atlas Shrugged, which I quote in today’s column. The character Ellis Wyatt says,

Oil shale. How many years ago was it that they gave up trying to get oil from shale, because it was too expensive? Well, wait till you see the process I’ve developed. It will be the cheapest oil ever to splash in their faces, and an unlimited supply of it, an untapped supply that will make the biggest oil pool look like a mud puddle. Did I order a pipe line? Hank, you and I will have to build pipe lines in all directions . . .

  Published: 2013-05-29

• Theresa Anne Messner 
The Salinas Californian An avid reader for her entire life, Terry especially appreciated the novels of James Michener and Ayn Rand.   Published: 2013-05-29

• • The ‘cult of capitalism’ and U.S. moral decline 
Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch Capitalism  | We now see what John Bogle call a “mutant” capitalism that no longer resembles Adam Smith’s inspiring economic principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. This type of capitalism has turned into an out-of-control virus destroying America’s moral values from within. Missing is an sense of honor and love of democracy that made me proud as a U.S. Marine sergeant. Missing is a balance of conservative free-market principles with liberal compassion. All that has vanished in the blind ideologies of today’s Ayn Rand clones demanding a return to a world that mimics the Wild West.   Published: 2013-05-29