• • NCAA’s Cinderella Team Can Thank Ayn Rand 
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Atlas Shrugged  |Egoism  | Florida Gulf Coast University opened its doors less than 20 years ago, but school leaders already have succeeded in raising its national profile. How? Basketball and Ayn Rand, writes Jonathan Mahler at Bloomberg.  

• • • Idaho Bill Would Force Kids to Read Atlas Shrugged 
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Atlas Shrugged  |Image  | Quick, what's the most important work in the English language, the one you absolutely should not be able to graduate high school without a thorough knowledge of? If you said Atlas Shrugged, then you have a lot in common with Idaho state Sen. John Goedde, who has introduced a bill that would force kids to pass a test on Ayn Rand's conservative fable before graduating, the Spokesman-Review reports.  

• • • Ayn Rand Dating Site ‘Less Scary’ Than Expected 
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Altruism  |Anthem  |Egoism  |Image  | Staff members at the liberal website Wonkette went trolling on The Atlasphere—a dating site for Ayn Rand enthusiasts—in the hope of finding "the wackiest, most completely out-there profiles we could find," writes Doctor Zoom. But they were shocked to find rather down-to-Earth folk rather than the "outrageously a--holish profiles in general-purpose dating sites like OKCupid."  

• • Obama: Ayn Rand Is for Teens 
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Paul Ryan  | In one [Rolling Stone interview] answer that’s already got people talking, Obama was asked about Paul Ryan’s “obsession” with Ayn Rand. Obama said he had read Rand’s work. “Ayn Rand is one of those things that a lot of us, when we were 17 or 18 and feeling misunderstood, we’d pick up. Then, as we got older, we realize that a world in which we’re only thinking about ourselves … that’s a pretty narrow vision.”  

• • Paul Ryan: Let’s Make America ‘a Tax Shelter’ 
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Paul Ryan  | Mother Jones has dug up two more politically charged videos—these of Paul Ryan describing a rather Ayn Randian economic vision for America. In one, he told American Business Magazine last year that the US should make its tax rates competitively low: "Let's make this country a tax shelter for other countries instead of having other countries be a tax shelter for America." [....] In another videotaped discussion, Ryan made remarks Mother Jones says are reminiscent of Mitt Romney's 47% philosophy—that nearly half of Americans are freeloaders addicted to government programs.  

• • Ayn Rand Wouldn't Love Paul Ryan 
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Atlas Shrugged  |Paul Ryan  | Paul Ryan adores Atlas Shrugged author Ayn Rand, calling her “the reason I got involved in public service.” But the feeling wouldn’t be mutual, writes Conor Friedersdorf in the Atlantic. First off, the very idea of “public service” is pretty un-Randian: She calls the notion of the “public interest” inherently unfair. And taking a look at his voting record, Rand would likely be dismayed.  

• • Ryan Choice a ‘Gamble,’ But He’s No ‘Robot Nerd’ 
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Atheism  |Capitalism  |Paul Ryan  | [Paul] Ryan has dismissed Ayn Rand’s worldview as cold and atheistic, but Objectivists seem upbeat about the VP pick, Politico reports. “I think the announcement is great news,” says Atlas Society CEO Aaron Day. “The influence of Rand on Ryan as it relates to the role and nature of government is a huge step forward for the liberty movement.”  

• • • Yoga Chain’s Ayn Rand Bags Irk Customers 
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Atlas Shrugged  |Egoism  | An upscale yogawear chain isn’t the most likely place you’d expect to find promoting the works of free-market libertarian author Ayn Rand, say some Lululemon shoppers. Since late October, the chain has been using shopping bags with the words “Who is John Galt?” in reference to Rand’s controversial 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged. The book—which has been added to the staff reading list—hails the virtues of self-interest.  

• Meet New York’s worst hipsters: Cavemen 
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Atlas Shrugged  | The New York cavemen—or “paleos”—include just one woman, and regularly “judge each other for not being extreme enough cavemen,” [Lindsay] Robertson writes. “They sound like the biggest assholes in the entire world!” In one bizarre twist, all of them work Internet-related jobs—and several call themselves libertarians: “Of course they do! Someone should tell them that real cavemen didn't carry around worn copies of Atlas Shrugged.”