Winter Issue of The Objective Standard now online

Wow! The winter issue of the journal The Objective Standard is now online. Some articles/reviews are accessible for free. Others will be available on December 20.
Go check it out!

http://theobjectivestandard.com/

It's December so, 'Christmas should be more commerical'!

Just click on the link.

http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2254

NYU panel discussion

Yesterday some friends of mine and I drove into NY to attend the NYU's opening "lecture" for the 2009-2010 school year. Featuring John Allison of BB&T and Yaron Brook, it was two hours of a pure intellectual buffet. The title of the talk was, "The Cause of the Current Crisis: Government Meddling."
This event was filmed, so it should be available soon from the Ayn Rand Bookstore,or, more likely, ARCTV, at the Ayn Rand Center. Definitely worth a look.

The Objective Standard's Fall Issue

Is now online. There's a great article by John David Lewis available for free. Go check it out.

The Objective Standard's Summer Issue

TOS is now available online for viewing. Access to all the articles will be on 6/20 but you can see what's in store now.

Great stuff.

Harry Potter

"There are dark and dangerous times ahead. Soon there will be a time when we have to choose between what is right, and what is easy."

Albus Dumbledore

Google closes George Reisman's blog

Just going through my blog roll at random and I clicked on my link to George Reisman's blog. Apparently earlier this month, Google locked him out of his own blog either due to complaints or whatever that his blog was declared "spam". Now he posts from his own website, capitalism.net.

So much for free speech. Thanks Google.

Think You Know What "Sovereign" means....

...wrong. Obama and crew have a different idea, and it is harmful to America. Very harmful.

Two articles on the subject...

by former UN Ambassador John Bolton

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-coming-war-on-sovereignty-15080

..and the "Action Plan" he sites, from Brookings Institute

http://www.brookings.edu/events/2008/1120_mgi_plan.aspx

Intermarket Forecasting

Although this article is from last month, it still rings true. Check this out...

Why They Won't Leave Bad Enough Alone by Richard Salsman

http://intermarketforecasting.com/02.13.09%20-%20Why%20They%20Won%27t%20Leave.pdf

Voices for Reason added

It is with great pleasure that I add The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights' new blog to my blog roll. Visit Voices for Reason, and be enlightened.

This is truly disgusting, and not surprising in the least, knowing Bush and conservatives

[Hat tip: gus van horn]

What this story amounts to, in essence is, I'm going to murder you in order to save you from any more suffering....

"Bush says he sacrificed free-market principles to save economy"

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081216215816.8g97981o&show_article=1

Let's see, under Bush the growth of government and regulation has doubled, if not tripled. The size of the deficit has grown by a trillion dollars. He's all but demolished the seperation of church and state.
Is there anything "free" left in America, let alone the marketplace?

The Law of Church and State in America

The First Amendment Center has posted online an apparently long-lost book on the history of church/state issues here in America. This is an issue very important to me and to each American's freedom of thought.
I'm eager to see the Objectivist answer to this coming in the summer of 2009!

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?item=Dean_Kelley_Law_Church_State

BB&T chief blames crisis on government [and so do I]

John Allison of BB&T tells it like it is...

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2008/10/13/daily50.html?ana=yfcpc

Repeal the Bailout

Here's a new website that's just been created and deserves your immediate attention. I'm also putting it in my blog roll.

http://www.repealthebailout.net

Check it out!

Speaking of China...

While I enjoyed the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last night, take a look at Sinodefence.com to catch the latest on China's military buildup/modernization. BTW, I've had this site in my blog roll for years.

http://www.sinodefence.com

Another reason to browse through my blog roll is that I've added Caroline Glick, one of my favorite journalist's to it.

Sad, if true

I was watching Forbes on Fox last night when Steve Forbes himself said the following, "There are now more bureaucrats in the Department of Agriculture than there are farmers in the United States."
If this is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, can you say "leviathan?"


P.S. Today is my birthday!

Coalition for Secular Government

I've just received an email from its founder and I'm posting this announcement for readers. I've joined this new coalition and am looking forward to participating as much as time allows.

Check out the Coalition for Secular Government

http://www.seculargovernment.us/


This is GREAT!!! I've added both the Coalition and their blog, Politics without God to the blogroll.

Government meddling in biofuels caused food crisis

Although I'm no fan of the Guardian, here's a story that should be widely circulated...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/03/biofuels.renewableenergy

Hat tip: ALDaily

RED ALERT

I was going through my GMail "cyberwar alerts" this morning when I encountered this link. Perhaps it belongs in the "horror file"? I'll excerpt it below and provide the link.

The blogger sites a Rand Corp. study from 2005 outlining "worst case scenario's" with a global cyber-environmental movement designed to cripple America's---and the West's industrial capacity. The blogger, an environmentalist, has most/all pertinent links.

Take a look...

Perhaps most striking is that their near-worst case scenario called a “transnational web,” sounded like the global justice movements best case scenario.

They write:”In this hypothetical future, the period from 2020 to 2025 witnesses a dramatic growth in the threat to the United States presented by radical transnational “peace and social justice” groups. Using the goal of creating a just “global civil society” as their rallying cry, large militant transnational actors appear, promoting radical agendas for the environment, nuclear disarmament, and Third World land reform.”

They paint a fictitious 2025 scenario of what the Transnational Web could look like in action. In their fictitious scenario they describe a climate network with groups in 80 countries; “World Environmental League (WEL), is spearheading a crusade to compel the UN General Assembly to approve a radical treaty for fossil fuel emissions reduction that would cripple many American and Western manufacturing industries.”
WEL engages in violent actions against the US and corporations and requires a military response.

It’s interesting that they understand the power of decentralized leaderless network organizing more than many social movement folks, who continue to organize in weaker top down organizations, nonprofits, parties and unions.

In the study they recommend a military “Netwar Army” response. Like the RAND book Networks and Netwars, they actually lay the ground work for a military response to international grassroots networks organizing for positive social change and challenging the power of governments and corporations, whether or not nonviolent and un-armed.

Essentially they view grassroots democratic networks and activism as a threat requiring a military response to maintain the deeply anti-democratic power of nation states and corporations.

Welcome to the future.

Here's the link:

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2008/06/12/rand-not-ran-study-of-future-environmental-networks/

New Items

With a gracious hat tip to Principles in Practice, I've added Andrew Bostom to the blog roll. Check out his insightful critique of Islam. Plus, check out the books I'm currently reading/studying in the left column. I'm trying to clean up my bad habit of starting multiple books, so these are the ones I've selected out of the piles of books [ahem] that I have already partially read. The exception is/are the two non-fiction books, which I haven't started yet. Anyway, I've picked up Soul of the Fire and will finish it before picking up another one of these to go thru. Would that reading/starting too many books was my "only" problem in life! HA.

War on Free Political Speech

Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute has another great article posted at Forbes. Please follow the link below and leave a comment if you are so inclined.

http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/03/19/yaron-campaign-finance-oped-cx_ybr_0321yaron.html

The Time for Activism, is Now

Ed Cline, over at the Rule of Reason, has posted an excellent indictment of our Congressoid's moral cowardice. Here is an excerpt:

Congress is proposing, in Barack Obama's Global Poverty Act (S.2433, based on H.R. 1302, passed by the House September 25, 2007), that Americans be delivered into a state of indentured servitude as laborers for the United Nations. Perhaps "indentured servitude" is too kind a term, for as horrendous a condition as it is, there is usually a time limit to such servitude. Slavery would be the more accurate term in this instance, for what Congress is considering is servitude by Americans in perpetuity, in exchange for nothing but the privilege of laboring to "save" the world without thanks or reward, of filling the alleged needs of others, of performing unlimited "community service" for the offense of merely existing.
The not-so-peculiar and odd thing about H.R. 1302 was that it passed the House by voice vote. This is a stratagem adopted by legislators who fear that a bill is so outrageous that it is better that no record be kept of those who endorsed it. S.2433 was passed from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the same manner - by voice vote, without public hearings, to protect the identities of the guilty.

It will probably be introduced to the Senate for a similar, anonymous voice vote - by Harry Reid.

There is a double irony in this behavior. First, S.2433 is a bipartisan-sponsored bill. This underscores the fact that there is no fundamental difference between the Democratic and Republican Parties. Second, it is a piece of legislation which, given the altruist, collectivist premises behind it, one would have thought its creators should have trumpeted boastfully. But it is being handled by corrupt, guilty, fearful sneaks who haven't the courage of their own malice.

Here's a link to Mr. Cline's full article. Don't miss it, if you value your life.

http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/2008/03/congressional-duplicity-or-treason.htm

Priced in Gold

With an extremely useful HT from Nick over at Rule of Reason, I've added the economic web site, Priced in Gold to my blogroll, for us to witness the destruction of our currency. This site has many other thoughtful uses, as well.

Night of January 16th

Last night my wife and I went to the Park Road Playhouse in West Hartford to see a production of Ayn Rand's play. I won the tix where I work and the whole night was sponsored by the Farmington Chamber of Commerce.
It was quite a shindig. Really. The Chamber had a meet and greet before the show and there was good food and wine to set the night off right.
Overall, the play was done well. The local actors got in the spirit of the play for the most part, although one or two of the parts were overeplayed, thus done poorly. Still, it was fun.
No, I didn't sit on the jury, but that's okay. The verdict was "not guilty."
Upon leaving the theater, we looked up to see the moon with an orange tint and watched the sky for several minutes. Nice!

Shucks

The Patriots lost in their bid to go undefeated last night in the Super Bowl. It was a great game to watch though. The Giants proved their mettle, especially with a stout defense, that harassed Brady all night and closed down the Patriot running game early. I'm happy for Eli Manning, as well.

Update: I'm now wondering if reality and justice caught up with the Patriots, who were shown to be cheating against the Jets earlier this football season???? Hmmmm...

Gather 'round

Two stories have caught my eye recently. Both are very positive, so I wanted to share them with readers.

The first is a story about America's next great gymnast. A 16 year old girl, Shawn Johnson, who seems very much to have a brain as well as athletic skills.
With quotes like these from her, I know I'll be paying closer attention to the Olympics.

"In my eyes, I've never failed because I've never given anything less than my best."

"I think going into any competition, I'm always thinking of myself and not paying attention to others," she said. "I don't feel any different from the first day I started. I love what I do and I don't let anything affect me."

"What leads my career is that you can't succeed in something unless you're having fun," she said. "I love my sport and that really has helped me to get where I am today."

Here's the whole story:

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=765329

The second story that excites me is about SpaceShipTwo. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Airways has released the design of their ship. Go take a look @:

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/23/601315.aspx

I'm ready to go! Let's fly!

Minor editing.

Columnist Mark Steyn being sued by Canadian Islamic Congress...

Looks like some Canadian's are "offended" by a column Mark Steyn wrote in 2006 and he is now being sued. Here's the link:

http://www.macleans.ca/columnists/article.jsp?id=7&content=20080103_113631_1360

Here are the first two paragraphs:

Do you remember a cover story Maclean's ran on Oct. 23, 2006?

No? Me neither, and I wrote it. Such is life in the weekly mag biz. But it was an excerpt on various geopolitical and demographic trends from my then brand new tome, America Alone: The End of the World as we Know It. I don't know whether my bestselling book is still available in Canadian bookstores, but it's coming soon to a Canadian "courtroom" near you! The Canadian Islamic Congress and a handful of Osgoode Hall law students have complained about the article in Maclean's to (at last count) three of Canada's many "human rights" commissions, two of which have agreed to hear the "case." It would be nice to report that the third sent the plaintiffs away with a flea in their ears saying that in a free society it's no business of the state to regulate the content of privately owned magazines. Alas, I gather it's only bureaucratic torpor that has temporarily delayed the province of Ontario's en­­thusiastic leap upon the bandwagon. These students are not cited in the offending article. Canadian Muslims are not the subject of the piece. Indeed, Canada is not mentioned at all, except en passant. Yet Canada's "human rights" commissions have accepted the premise of the Canadian Islamic Congress--that the article potentially breaches these students' "human rights."

In a related issue, quoting another columnist:

"It didn’t attract much notice, but the General Assembly of the United Nations ended the year by passing a disgusting resolution protecting Islam from criticism of its human rights violations."

Here's that article:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ukcorrespondents/holysmoke/dec07/islam-resolution.htm

I can't imagine any of our political candidates manning the ramparts in defense of free speech.

2008 !

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND READERS.

Force over Football

Dennis, over at his blog, posts about the horror of discovering how the government "pointed a gun" at the NFL to get the Patriots game to be broadcast over more than one channel.
Follow the link:

http://dennislifeisgood.blogspot.com/2007/12/force-over-football.html

The Golden Compass

Since it's just after midnight while I'm writing this-- yesterday, we went to see The Golden Compass at the movie theater.

It was fantastic. Like other Objectivist bloggers, I usually agree with Scott Holleran @ BoxOfficeMojo, but here, he's way off base. I found the film to be superbly well crafted-overall-with my only--minor--complaint being that some of the dialog seemed a bit choppy to me. But, that's only because I loved the books so much, which I wrote about almost three years ago here:

http://secularfoxhole.blogspot.com/2004/12/author-author.html

This film has just the right pace, is visually stimulating, and the casting is brilliant. Plus, the added feature of having one of my favorite singer's, Kate Bush, on the soundtrack, makes this one of my instant favorites.

If you haven't yet seen this film, GO. Buy the books, you will be pleased. Now, having said that, Pullman is no Objectivist, but he is a serious thinker, grappling with meaningful issues.

I do hope the other two books will now be made into films, to finish the trilogy.

Dr Peikoff's latest Podcast

Dr. Peikoff has posted his third, and latest podcast at his website.

Update

I've added back to my blogroll, Gideon's Armchair Intellectual blog, along with Clemson's Capitalism Resources page, that he pointed out.
Also, take a look at the recommendations from my Amazon page, with a gracious hat tip to Noodle Food for showing me the way on that addition.

Views of Life [Joke]

******WARNING******* Some foul words involved.

Ponder upon these views of life...

Taoism: Shit Happens.

Confucianism: Confucius say,"Shit Happens."

Buddhism: If shit happens, it isn't really shit.

Zen: What is the sound of shit happening?

Hinduism: This shit has happened before.

Islam: If shit happens, it is the will of Allah.

Protestantism: Let shit happen to someone else.

Catholicism: If shit happens, you deserve it.

Judaism: Why does shit always happen to us?

Agnosticism: What is this shit?

Atheism: I don't believe this shit!

News Flash!

Perusing Dr. Peikoff's site, it appears he will start podcasting in September!

Here's the announcement:

http://www.peikoff.com

Book Update

Well, this is kind of an "on the spot" posting. Actually, I was thinking about a post that gus van horn linked to about the Leftist Goon Squad practice of "re-shelving" books in bookstores [ a practice both unethical and time-wasting] when I caught a link of his to an old post of mine about what books I'd read in 2004.

So, I thought I'd bestow upon my readers a partial list of the books I've read so far this year, and recommend you check them out.

"The Messenger" by Daniel Silva [perhaps the best of the Gabriel Allon series, so far]
"The Exiles Trilogy" by Ben Bova [an SF oldie but a goodie]
"The Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey [recommended]
"To Live Forever" by Jack Vance [My all-time favorite SF writer]
"The Sign of the Book" by John Dunning [5th, I think, in the Cliff Janeway series]
The "Sparrowhawk" series by Edward Cline [Wonderful. Highly recommended]

There aren't that many more, as I've been unemployed since February and sadly, still looking for work. I hope to land something soon, however.

Military Religous Freedom Foundation added to Blogroll

I am adding an organization fighting the "evangelicalization" of the military to my blogroll.
Here is a YouTube presentation of why they now exist.

http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/with-god-on-our-side-movie.html

Check them out.

[As an aside, some are now calling the city of Colorado Springs the "Protestant Vatican". And, on a sad note, this organization seems to oppose the all-voluntary armed forces. They believe that this "evangelicalization" started taking place when the military ended the draft.]

Upcoming on CNN: God's Warriors

Later this month, CNN will have a six-hour special [2hrs x 3 nights] on the rise of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic "warriors".
Here's an excerpt from the press release on the shows:

For this documentary, Amanpour reports that during the last 30 years, each faith has exploded into a powerful political force, comprised of followers – “God’s warriors” – who share a deep dissatisfaction with modern society, and a fierce determination to place God and religion back into daily life and to the seats of power. Their political and cultural struggles to save the world from what they view as secular materialism, greed and sexual corruption have caused anger, division and fear.

The first showing is next Tuesday, August 21 at 9PM EST.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/gods.warriors/

Join the Signers

While touring the US Government official website, I came upon a link where you can download copies of our Charters of Freedom, at the National Archives. Scroll through and you can also sign your name to the Declaration [!] and print that copy.

Here's the link:

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration.html#more

Birthday Bash

Yesterday was my birthday. We had a fun filled day traveling to southern Connecticut's Mohegan Sun casino to watch the WNBA's Connecticut Sun defeat Seattle 76-58. Looked to be about six or seven thousand folks in attendance. Not bad.
I then hit the slots and won $186 on a nickel machine. Nice. Took that money and ran, unlike most who would just sit there and lose it back again.
I had ordered Harry Potter's last book months ago and last night/this morning at midnight was the official release date, so the wife and I decided on the way home from the casino to go see the costumes and such. One young boy was dressed so good as Harry, it's a shame the movie's were already cast! Others just showed up in there drab and filthy "regular" clothing but with pink hair or blackend this and that. Very little imagination, IMO.
Border's at Westfarms Mall was packed with about 1,000 people in the store when we got there just after midnight this morning. At about 1:45am, book in hand, we were on our way home.
So, with a wallet stuffed full of cash, here I sit, typing to my blog. :-)

Religion vs. Free Speech

Craig Biddle, editor of The Objective Standard, has made his excellent editorial on this subject, available to all. Here is the link:

http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2006-summer/religion-vs-free-speech.asp

NBA Finals

No doubt San Antonio is the better team, but I was hoping Cleveland at least would show up. So far, it looks like a sweep for the Spurs, but we'll see. Tim Duncan is probably the best player in the world, IMHO. The Cavs, hopefully, are learning a lot and will be around in the playoffs for a few years. Let's see how they play with their own fans and court in Cleveland.

I think it's "funny-scary" too

Noodle Food owner Diana has this link to the Top 100 List of Crazy Quotes from Fundamentalists. #7 left me hysterical, but yes, funny-scary is appropriate...

http://www.dianahsieh.com/blog/2007/05/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and.html

Tongue in Cheek ?

Check out "Sinner's Guide to the Evangelical Right".



http://www.evangelicalright.com/

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25th Anniversary?

If memory serves, it was 1982 when Leonard Peikoff's great philosophy of history work, "The Ominous Parallels: The End of Freedom in America" was published. If so, that makes 2007 the 25th anniversary of that great work.
I hope ARI does something to celebrate that. In fact, I may write to them about it.

SinoDefense.com: Exposing the Military Power of China

I stumbled upon this website while browsing Amazon, of all places. The web "master" of this site looks like -- at first blush -- to have a keen grip on what China is doing to become a world superpower. Perhaps the only superpower............
At best, the opinions on this site are a mixture, but worth giving a look.
Here's one headline story that caught my eye:

Russian Helicopter Manufacturer Eyes Chinese Market

I've added it to my blog roll. Check out some books recommended.

In China's Shadow: The Crisis of American Entrepreneurship by Reed Hundt

Taiwan: The Threatened Democracy by Bruce Herchensohn

Lewis talk rescheduled @ GMU for April

Quoting Craig Biddle @ The Objective Standard:



To the credit of George Mason University's administration, the school

has decided not to submit to the "will of Allah" or to "his" followers

on earth.



The talk, "No Substitute for Victory: The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism" one of the most important speeches a university student could possibly hear, has been set up for April 24, 2007 at 7:30pm.



Here's a PDF of the flyer:



https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/blog/_files/2007-04-24-flyer.pdf

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The Lives of Others

saw the director of this Oscar winning foreign film on Charlie Rose, before the Oscars, and knew immediately this is one film worth getting a.s.a.p.

Here's Scott Holleran's review at Box Office Mojo:



http://www.boxofficemojo.com/reviews/?id=2263 />

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2007 Marks the 50th Anniversary of Atlas Shrugged

...and right off the bat we have a christian critique of the novel! Ha. I'll be starting my LTE to the Monitor very soon.

[Hat tip: Noodle Food]



http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0306/p09s01-coop.html?page=1

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Important Message from Radio Dismuke

I've taken the liberty of copying this message that was posted on Myrhaf's blog about the danger now posed to the fledgling Internet Radio sector, by the entrenched FM stations and the RIAA.
Spread the word.

Myrhaf -

Thanks so much for your help in getting the word out about this.

The royalty rates put out by the Library of Congress are beyond irrational - they are downright insane.
The royalties I am talking here about are the ones that Internet
stations have to pay to SoundExchange in order to play copyright CDs
and records.
What is really disgusting is that AM/FM stations
are actually exempt from having to pay those royalties for their over
the air broadcasts. As a result of the payola scandals of the 1950s,
they don't have to pay a single dime. Only Internet radio stations have
to pay them.
The old rates which the new ones replace were
already outrageous and were MANY times higher than the royalties that
stations paid for composers royalties to ASCAP/BMI and SESAC combined. The new rates are, in fact, significantly in excess of 125% percent
of revenue of even the most commercially successful Internet radio
stations. And, on top of that, the rates are scheduled to increase
every year through 2010 by as much as 34% per year. The 2010 rates will
be a whopping 149% over what the already expensive old rates were.

If these rates are allowed to stand, the vast majority of Internet radio stations will be bankrupt.
Most
Internet radio operators do not have a problem having to pay royalties.
What would be a rational royalty scheme would be something along the
lines of that which is currently used by ASCAP/BMI and SESAC for
composers royalties which are calculated on a percentage of revenue
that a station takes in. Those royalties are not cheap - but they are
not so high as to drive broadcasters into bankruptcy.
The new
rates for SoundExchange are simply not viable - there is no way that an
Internet radio station can successfully charge enough money for
advertising to pay for the new SoundExchange royalties - and that is
not even taking into account the ASCAP/BMI/SESAC royalties, bandwidth
and other operational expenses stations have.
Why would the
Library of Congress come out with such economically impossible royalty
rates? Well, as a certain philosopher once said, don't bother to
examine a folly, ask yourself what it accomplishes.
My personal
take on it is that Friday's decision by the Library of Congress is
nothing more than an outright attempt on the part of lobbyists for the
RIAA (major record labels' trade association) and perhaps even the FM
radio industry to use political pull to eliminate the competition from
Internet radio that will make both industries technologically obsolete.
The last ounce of relevance the RIAA has in today's
technological world is the advantage that major labels have in
promoting their artists by means of airplay on large FM stations which
is essential to turning a song into a hit. Most FM stations won't even
talk to independent labels or artists who produce their own recordings
- for the most part, they are only interested in the artists
represented by the major labels.
If Internet radio somehow
survives and becomes available in cars in the very near future, people
will have tens of thousands of stations to choose from and most FM
music stations will be toast. And when it comes to the economics of
promoting music to tens of thousands of small Internet radio operators,
the RIAA has no significant advantage over artists who self promote. My
very strong guess is that there are some at the RIAA who regard
Internet radio as a far greater threat to the long term viability of
the major record labels than even illegal downloading.
Of
course, FM operators are terrified of Internet radio as well. Once
Internet radio is available in cars (which some say is only a year or
two away) and people have thousands of stations from around the
world to choose from, who on earth is still going to be listening to
the lowest common denominator type swill currently being spewed out by
FM stations? It currently costs several million dollars to buy a
successful FM station in even a small market. Stations in a large
markets such as Fort Worth/Dallas have sold for hundreds of millions of
dollars. Once wireless Internet and Internet radio becomes affordable
and commonplace - well, those hundred million dollar investments will
be technological dinosaurs overnight.
Sadly, a lot of my fellow
Internet broadcasters are trying to fight this by giving the matter an
anti-capitalistic spin and blaming it all on "corporate greed." In
fact, this whole mess is nothing more than what one gets under a mixed
economy where the rates that everyone must pay are set by a
quasi-governmental body and where political pull means everything.
A
LOT is at stake here for anyone who enjoys good music from whatever
genre - especially if one's musical tastes fall outside of the lowest
common denominator mainstream.
Before Internet radio came along,
there simply was no place where large numbers of people could tune in
and be exposed to unusual genres of music such as that which I play
over Radio Dismuke, a station that is strictly devoted to popular music
from the 1925 - 1935 decade. Today, there are Internet radio stations
that play any kind of music imaginable - and 1920s and 1930s music now
has a great many young enthusiasts, some of them of high school age,
who would have otherwise never have discovered it had it not been for
Internet radio. I hear from such people all the time.
I urge
everybody who is reading this, regardless of what genre of music you
enjoy, to PLEASE, tell as many people as possible about what is going
on and what is at stake. Tell your friends - especially those friends
who are passionate about music. Talk about this issue in discussion
boards you participate in. If you blog, please mention it in your blog
postings. If you know someone who blogs, ask them to spread the word in
the same manner as I sent a brief message to Myrhaf. Webcasting is a
very new industry and very few operators have yet to turn any profit on
it - so they simply do not have the resources to hire the lawyers and
lobbyists to compete with the RIAA which is still vastly wealthy by
virtue of its continued economic momentum from the days when it was
actually economically and technologically relevant. The only way that
the Library of Congress is going to listen is if enough people become
irate enough and speak out.
At some point, I am probably going
to endorse some course of activism for people who are concerned about
this. For now, I am waiting to get further details on what is going to
happen and to make a determination about which of the various efforts
that people will be undertaking I think will be the most effective.
I
have set up a "Save Internet Radio" section on my Message Board which
contains the postings that Myrhaf linked to. I will continue to update
that section as more information becomes available. You can access the
board at http://RadioDismuke.com/forum.
Eventually, I will probably have links up there to places that will be
far more authoritative and up-to-date than my board will be - but for
now it is a good place to check for updates and to refer people to for
additional information.
Thanks in advance to all who help spread the word about what is happening.

- Dismuke

powered by performancing firefox

Muslims for America?

Going through the channels this morning, I happened upon a Link tv show called, It's My Country Too: Muslim Americans.

http://www.linktv.org/programming/programDescription.php4?code=country

See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_world/434061.stm


In this program the narrator interviewed a successful Pakistani-American family from Colorado who have created the website, MuslimsforAmerica, and who are also huge Bush supporters. Why do they support Bush? Because he is a christian who "shares the same values we do".

See: http://www.muslimsforamerica.us/


It is a great sadness to me to see otherwise productive, intelligent people [who are also multi-millionaires] nevertheless preparing the way in America for authoritarianism. Aiding and abetting their christian fellow travelers in the establishment of a religious state right here in the land of the free, home of the brave.

[Minor revisions]

Glitches

The new and improved Blogger still has some glitches. Aggravating glitches! [Insert favorite cuss words here...]

GMU Goes Dhimmi: John Lewis Talk Cancelled

This email was distributed last night. I'm posting it in its entirety.

Dear Subscribers and Friends of TOS [The Objective Standard]

George Mason university has abandoned its commitment to freedom of expression on campus. At the last minute, GMU has caved-in to pressure from Muslim groups and has cancelled Dr. Lewis's talk, 'No Substitute for Victory: The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism' which was scheduled for tomorrow night [i.e., tonight]. This is all we know right now. We will post details as soon as we have them. Please spread the word.

Yours,

Craig Biddle, Editor
The Objective Standard

[Everything in brackets, mine. Ed.]

All Thumbs

The other day I went to Best Buy and bought myself a thumb drive [also known as a flash drive]. It's a small "stick" that connects into a USB port.
My 4GB unit from the manufacturer PNY costs $64. Not too bad.
If you get/have one of these, look over the following website and see if you like these "portable apps"...

http://www.portableapps.com

They have versions of Firefox, Thunderbird, and OpenOffice.

Links added

Hat tips both to Amit over at Thrutch and to Gus for these new links.

God Is Imaginary

Pedagogically Correct

Check 'em out.

Quote

I only caught a piece of a documentary on singer James Brown last night, but I did catch a pretty good statement he made:

" Of course I have an ego. I had to have an ego to escape where I grew up. Where I grew up there was no way out."

It's a shame he seemed to have little or no education [not that public schools are worth a s**t in that regard] yet he became a world famous entertainer in spite of his personal demons, which haunted him all his life.

Correction

In rereading my post of 2/7, where I expressed my dissapointment at being escorted out the door at work, I neglected to mention that there were about 40-50 of us given the heave-ho, not just me. Sad for all of us, for sure.
I am involved with the career transition firm that my former employer set us up with and am learning tons of useful, great stuff about my possible future. We'll see how it goes.

Summer Seminar on Capitalism!

[Hat tip: Charlotte Capitalist]

The Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism is holding a summer conference to study the moral foundations of capitalism. This is indeed good news.

Here's the link:

http://business.clemson.edu/BBTCENTER/cci/conferences.htm


I have added The Clemson Institute to my blogroll, as well.

Plato's Republic

Well, I bought the book the lecturer recommended [The Republic of Plato by Allan Bloom. ISBN:0-465-06934-7]
The lecture series offered by The Teaching Company on this topic is first-rate. The professor who teaches this course sincerely admires the topic and offers us the challenge of dealing with Plato's obvious "communism".
Indeed, I am not even half-way through the course, but I see Leonard Peikoff's point of calling Plato "the first communist"--with Aristotle being the first capitalist.
For those who have not undertaken the reading of the Republic, the central theme throughout is focused on justice. "What is Justice?" asks Socrates, the main character in the story. Other topics [which Plato and his main character favor] include seperating people into classes, censorship, communal living, the banishment of private property, regulation by the city/state of education, etc., etc.
In short, we can see the beginnings of all the problems we face today. At a later date, I may choose to write a full review of this course and book.

Then again, it may be too depressing. ;-)

Dissapointment

Earlier this evening at work, I was terminated. After eight years I was "downsized". I only blame myself. I should have prepared better for this event, but I had survived three 'purges' prior to this and just got caught blindsided. Oh well.

It's their loss, not mine.

Free Speech Denied at UCLA

The debate on Immigration Policy that was to be held on 2/6 at UCLA was canceled by the university in a shameless act of cowardice, and appeasement of the protestors who said they would disrupt the proceedings.

Here's the link:

http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=13963&news_iv_ctrl=1221

A New Declaration of Independence

[Editor's note: I found this at George Reisman's Blog. I have only given it a cursory glance, but at first blush, this seems pretty on-target. Okay, don't accuse me of heresy or anything....]

http://georgereisman.com/blog/2007/01/declaration-of-independence-2007-by-gen.html#links

Blog Update #2

Thanks to Gus's tip, I was able to gather almost all of my links. A huge and hearty thanks, Gus!!!
Check 'em all out.

Movie

Yesterday, I watched "The Guardian" on DVD. This is an excellent, reality based film, complimenting the US Coast Guard and recommended. There are some flaws, sadly, but they only subtract from the film if you let them.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Blog Upgrade

Oh well, like Gus, I decided to try my hand at upgrading to the "new" blogger. Much to my dismay, I seem to have lost all my links to other bloggers for this new page layout. If that is the case, it is a major bummer, but it will give me a chance to add and subtract blogs, so I guess I will grin and bear it. I like the new color scheme and welcome any comments on it.

Be nice.

Brief Notes #2

Last night I watched Charlie Rose on PBS. His first guest was Robert Rubin, former Treasury Secretary under Clinton. Here is an obviously bright man who, philosophically, is clueless in the absolute. He spoke at length on "what needs to be done" to fix America. He wants a bi-partisan/non-partisan "dialogue" on the issues of the day, concerning health care, public education, the environment, infrastructure, regulatory reform and globalization. He mentioned something called "The Hamilton Project" [concerning economics] which I later discovered was partnered with the Brookings Institute, which is a left leaning think tank.

What is depressing, but not unexpected by the Left or Right today, is during this whole interview, not once was the idea spoken of concerning the separation of state and economics of the health care system, or of any of these other topics. Concerning health care, Rubin said that he knows of four different "paths" to universal coverage that he'd like to see discussed by the new democratic majority, which by the way, he lauded loudly and long about how much good they've already achieved [!] He "admires" Hillary to the extreme and has positive thoughts on Obama, too!!!! Gee, how nice to see him lobby for a position in their possible future administration! HA.

The other tidbit is local. Some outfit called CTFourm.org is hosting a lecture series on one night called "Save the World." It features an all-star all-Leftist panel [as far as I can tell] including the actor Tim Robbins, among others. The topics are--of course--how to 'save' the environment, how to deal with terrorism, etc. Again, not one opposite idea or expression of thought except for a leftist bent.

I can see a lot more heavy-lifting ahead for us.

RED ALERT!! Follow Up to Brief Notes

Two alarming stories hit my eyes earlier this morning and I will link to them shortly. In my brief notes post the other day, I mentioned the growing merger between left and right on environmentalism. Yahoo News has a story on the evangelical and "scientists" [quote marks around the word scientists are for obvious reasons]. Here is the article in full:

Evangelicals, scientists join on warming

JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jan 17, 7:22 PM ET


WASHINGTON - Saying they share a moral purpose, a group of evangelicals and scientists said Wednesday they will work together to convince the nation's leaders that global warming is real.

The Rev. Rich Cizik, public policy director for the National Association of Evangelicals, and Nobel-laureate Eric Chivian, director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, were among 28 signers of a statement that demands urgent changes in values, lifestyles and public policies to avert disastrous changes in climate.

"God will judge us for destroying the Creation. Therefore, we as evangelicals have a responsibility to be even more vigilant than others," Cizik told a news conference.

"Science can be an ally in helping us understand what faith is telling us," he said. "We will not allow the Creation to be degraded, destroyed by human folly."

Among the project's supporters are Edward O. Wilson, a two-time Pulitzer prize-winning scientist and author; James Hansen, a prominent NASA climatologist; and Calvin B. DeWitt, president of the Academy of Evangelical Scientists and Ethicists.

Chivian said evangelicals and scientists are not as odd a couple as they may seem.

"We discovered that we were both speaking from our hearts and our minds. We found that we really like each other," he said.

Not all evangelicals were on board.

The Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, formed by evangelicals who say scientific evidence counters claims of climate change, derided Wednesday's announcement as "just another attempt to create the impression of growing consensus among evangelicals about global warming. There is no such growing consensus."

The alliance charged that the National Association of Evangelicals' board never approved the new collaboration. The NAE said its board approved a "dialogue," but no specific actions.

The new effort represents the boldest evangelical step yet into the world of environmental activism.

To start, the coalition is meeting with congressional leaders, both Democrat and Republican, organizing a summit on environmental issues and developing public relations tools such as a "Creation Care" Bible study guide.

It also has requested a meeting with President Bush. Sens. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., Richard Lugar (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., and Olympia Snowe (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine, all signaled their support Wednesday for the collaboration of evangelicals and scientists.

Their pairing grew from a retreat last year at which all sides agreed that human behavior and public policy have put the environment at risk.

In the past, conservative Christians who embraced that cause have met significant resistance.

The Rev. Joel Hunter of Northland megachurch in Longwood, Fla., refused to become president of the Christian Coalition of America last year because he said the group would not expand its agenda to include the environment and poverty. Hunter has now endorsed the new project.

___

On the Net:

National Association of Evangelicals: http://www.nae.net/

Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment: http://chge.med.harvard.edu

The other story that hit me, coincided with gus van horn's excellent post on the Fairness Doctrine. Found here:
http://gusvanhorn.blogspot.com/2007/01/reviving-fairness-doctrine.html

This is from a fellow blogger, Bill Hobbs, of Nashville who had this important post on his Blog yesterday--again, posted in full with link:

http://billhobbs.com/2007/01/criminalizing_free_speech.html


Criminalizing Free Speech
The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate is moving to restrict your free speech rights in a big, big way. Section 220 of Senate Bill 1, the lobbying reform bill legislation currently before the U.S. Senate, would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress just as big-time lobbyists do.


Section 220 would require reporting of "paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying," - and would define "'paid" merely as making communications to 500 or more people. That's it. And last week the Senate passed an amendment to the lobbying reform bill to create criminal penalties, including up to one year in jail, if someone "knowingly and willingly fails to file or report."

So, a blogger with 500 readers who criticizes Congress or urges some sort of policy action would be subject to the law's reporting requirements. In effect, critics of Congress would have to register with Congress.

This blog has more than 500 readers. In fact, it is read by around 25,000 different people every month, though not every day. But I will never register with or file a "lobbying" report to Congress. Never. Because BillHobbs.com is not a lobbying effort, it is a independent project in journalism, protected by the First Amendment, which says that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Section 220 threatens to abridge my - and your freedom of speech and of the press (ink or digital), and it even threatens my - and your - First Amendment right to the free exercise of your religious faith.

That's because Section 220 isn't limited to bloggers and others who wish to write and speak out about their government. Section 220 also represents a wholesale attack on the free exercise of religion, as any pastor, rabbi, imam or guru who speaks about a public policy issue to an audience of 500 or more people would have to register as a lobbyist and file quarterly reports. A pastor who writes an op-ed urging the U.S. to pull its troops out of Iraq, or urging Congress to fund or not fund stem-cell research, for example, would be communicating to more than 500 people. They, too, would be subject to the onerous registration and reporting requirements of Section 220 =- or risk the criminal penalties.

it is not just an assault on the First Amendment rights of religious leaders - it is an assault on the First Amendment rights of all Americans. If you emailed 500 people and urged them to "call their congressman" to support or oppose some bill, and you didn't register as a lobbyist and file a quarterly report, you would be at risk of a year in prison.

All brought to you courtesy of the Democratic-controlled Senate.


[Addendum: Hell, in my post the other day, I didn't even mention the mindless Islamic hordes who want to kill us. A good ten other things could've been included, too for that matter. I just didn't want to depress myself any further!]

Brilliant

How to Truly Support our Troops
By Alex Epstein

Whatever their views of President Bush's new "surge" of 20,000 soldiers, both liberals and conservatives continue to claim that they support our troops. Liberals say they support our troops by criticizing or opposing "Operation Iraqi Freedom," which they claim has unnecessarily killed 3,000 soldiers. Conservatives say they support our troops by supporting the mission that most of our troops believe in.

In fact, neither liberals nor conservatives truly support the brave men and women who risk their lives to defend America. For both, "support our troops" is a cheap, undeserved claim to patriotism--one that obscures their unwillingness to do what is truly necessary to protect America and its soldiers.

Granted, almost everyone wants to give our troops the resources they need to do their jobs: the best weapons, armor, provisions, and training available—as well as praise, gratitude, and encouragement. But for our government to truly support our troops, it must do far more than help them do their jobs; it must give them the right jobs to do--the jobs that will effectively defend America while minimizing the risk to their lives. Our government must place soldiers' lives at risk only when American freedom is threatened, and during war it must give them the objectives and tactics that will defeat the enemy as quickly as possible.

The conservatives' Iraq war does not meet this standard. It could have--if the war had been undertaken as a step in defeating the anti-American, terrorist-sponsoring regimes of the Middle East and thus rendering the region non-threatening. Instead, President Bush made the war's primary focus the welfare of Iraqis--above all, their "freedom" to elect whatever regime they wished, no matter how anti-American. Further sacrificing Americans to Iraqis, Bush and his subordinates imposed crippling "rules of engagement" (also supported by liberals) that place the lives of civilians in enemy territory above our soldiers. Our hamstrung troops in Iraq have not been allowed to smash a militarily puny insurgency; instead, they have been forced to suffer an endless series of deaths by an undefeated enemy, while Islamic totalitarians worldwide rejoice in our defeat.

One does not support our troops by sending them to fight wars of self-sacrifice and then thanking their corpses. The conservatives' call to "stay the course" in Iraq--or to add 20,000 troops to that course--is harmful to America and its troops because the mission has been conceived and conducted in defiance of American interests.

If the conservatives do not support our troops, then do the liberals? Absolutely not.

Observe that while liberals criticize the Iraq war for killing our troops, they propose no alternative policy that would protect America against Islamic totalitarianism and its state supporters, including the militant, terrorist theocracy of Iran. Liberals' only policy proposal is that we not take military action in Iraq or in any other country beyond Afghanistan. Why? Because they believe that America has no right to defy the "international community" or "impose its will on the rest of the world"--i.e., to aggressively pursue its self-defense. They, like the conservatives, advocate self-sacrifice in foreign policy. Denying our right to an all-out military defense, liberals say we must engage committed enemies like Iran with endless "diplomacy," i.e., bribery, appeasement, and inaction.

One does not support our troops by keeping them home when their and our freedom requires military action. Our soldiers did not join the military to sit on their hands while Iran prepares for nuclear jihad.

If liberals were truly concerned with our troops in Iraq and the freedom our soldiers should be fighting for, they would call for our soldiers to smash the insurgency and move on to defeat our other enemies. Instead, they call for a self-effacing retreat from Iraq, followed by further kowtowing to the anti-Americans at the United Nations--actions that would greatly embolden the Islamic totalitarians.

Liberals oppose the Iraq war and other wars, not because they truly value our soldiers, but because they--like the conservatives--oppose our soldiers mounting an uncompromising, self-assertive defense of America. But such a defense is required to defeat the threat of Islamic totalitarianism. We must adopt a foreign policy of self-interest and commit to defend ourselves using our full, unmatched military might. Neither the conservatives nor the liberals support this, and thus they end up sacrificing our troops and our freedom.

Do not let the conservatives or liberals pose as defenders of America or its military. Demand that they start truly protecting America and its soldiers--or be scorned as traitors to both.

Alex Epstein is a junior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute (http://www.aynrand.org/) in Irvine, Calif. The Institute promotes Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand--author of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead." Contact the writer at media@aynrand.org.




Copyright © 2006 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.

Brief Notes

On the collapse of civilization...Noumenal Self has an essay commenting on Robert Tracinski's series "What Went Right". I agree with Noumenal's assessment, so far.
My own thoughts are that civilization is hanging by a thread. I will define civilization this way: a secular, technologically advancing culture with a solid "society-wide" philosophical respect for and proper knowledge of reason, logic and reality.
America today is a cesspool of nihilism and worship of the irrational. The Left's hatred of freedom, and the Right's hatred of human life on earth both dominate our society/culture in nearly every aspect.
Yet these ideas are reaching their zenith. The world-wide collapse of communism showed that altruist-based political structures have failed. Freedom isn't guaranteed to any society or culture. It's not a light-switch that can be turned on "just like that". Philosophy is the motor of history, and the engine of any truly human future we are to have. But more than that---it has to be the correct philosophy. Ayn Rand's philosophy, to be exact.
While it is great that "free-markets" are spreading, the cynic in me sees that these markets are being used and manipulated by thugs and dictator's to simply "loosen the noose" around their subject's necks, not to aid in the prosperity of the nation's citizen's.
Notice too, please that the "religion" of environmentalism is fusing both left and right together. Surely you've seen the increasing news items on how religionists are more and more quoting how men are to be the "stewards" of earth for future generations? So much for property rights.
Notice too, the incremental increase in chipping away our freedom of speech. Which is being attacked by both sides of the aisle. I can't recall at the moment but it was either Miss Rand or von Mises who said, " a Constitution without it's proper philosophic base is just a meaningless piece of paper".

The good news is, Objectivism is spreading. It has a toe-hold and the foot is gaining on solid ground. Ayn Rand's ideas are right, not because I say so, nor because a majority 'believes' them, but because they correspond to reality and offer man a blueprint to happiness. Life-long, life-sustaining happiness. This is indeed good news, but the struggle ahead is long and painful. However, the enemy is so small, really, that when we win, we'll wonder why it took so long.

Buckeyes takin' a whippin'

Ohio State is losing to a better team in Florida. Right now it is 34-14 Gators with a minute to go in the third. I do not expect the Buckeyes to score again, frankly. It's never over till it's over, but I'm going to go ahead and tip my hat to Urban Meyer and say congratulations.

It MUST Be True!?

Dateline: Northeast United States
Time: January 6,2007
Temperature: 70 degrees and sunny


It goes without saying then. It's gotta be Global Warming. Just LOOK outside! It's self-evident. The majority of "scientists" MUST be right. Who can argue with World-Wide consensus? Who can argue with Professor/Scientist Al Gore? After all, he has only our well-being at heart. Right? Democracy IS democracy says Bush, so who can know more than the masses on this issue? Why, the majority of people here "know" something goofy's goin' on, so they automatically jump to the conclusion's relentlessly hammered into them, for decades now, of our "objective" and honest MSM.
By God, the Democrats BETTER DO SOMETHING now that we've put them in charge to try and corral a renegade planet raping administration!!!

[This public service message brought to with tounge firmly in cheek by Yours Truly--from sun drenched Connecticut! HA!]

1-1-07

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Moral Values Without Religion

I had to take time out of my holiday celebrations to celebrate this great editorial by Peter Schwartz. Found at Capitalism Magazine.

Moral Values Without Religion
by Peter Schwartz (December 25, 2006)


Does morality depend upon religion? Most people believe it does, which is a major reason behind the appeal of the religious right. People believe that without faith in a supernatural authority, we can have no moral values--no moral absolutes, no black-and-white distinctions, no firm demarcation between good and evil--in life or in politics. This is the assumption underlying Justice Antonin Scalia's assertion that "government derives its authority from God," since only religious faith can supposedly provide moral constraints on human action.

There is indeed morality without religion--a morality, not of dogmatic commands, but of rational values and of unbreached respect for the life of the individual.

Full editorial found here:

http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4875

Holidays

I'm gonna lay low till after the new year.

My best thoughts to all fellow bloggers and to my readers for a great Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Back in Action

I don't know if other bloggers have noticed and already commented on it, but Ian of Banana Oil fame, is back to blogging from China. He seemed to have dissapeared for a few months and he isn't discussing what happened, but he's back!

Conservative Hack Criticizes Article in The Objective Standard

Orrin Judd of The Brothers Judd, attacks Objectivism, Rand and Brad Thompson's article.

Nick Provenzo @ The Rule of Reason responds to criticism of the essay, The Decline and Fall of American Conservatism, by Brad Thompson.
Read it here:

http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/2006/12/foxhole-theist-syndrome.htm

I also must add my two cents worth of criticism toward the Brothers Judd.

Citing, in his comments, that 8 or 9 of 10 Americans believe in God, is not proof that the supernatural exists. Neither sheer numbers, nor one's belief, should be the standard of proof on a subject so important to everyone. It is merely the product of a sloppy mental process, or more accurately, of 'feeling' that something is true.

Man's reasoning mind, studying the nature of reality, of existence, is the proof I seek.

Be sure to follow the links that Nick's article provides, to get both 'sides'.

The folly and deceptiveness of Gun-Control

A great article found at The American Daily [HT:Classical Values]

Excerpted here, but read the whole thing at:

http://www.americandaily.com/article/16614

There's No Such Thing As Sensible Gun Laws
By John Longenecker (12/02/06)


First of all, very first of all, when it comes to guns, there is no governing to be, with the exception of protection of the Bill of Rights. Since the right to bear arms is absolute, there is no governing over it. There can be only protection; you protect the rights of the people on that and that is your oath. Simple. Anything else is an attack.

Refusal to understand this not only reflects a poor understanding of the law and practical values in America, but reveals a hidden agenda to overthrow us all. All of us, not just those who support rights, but all of us. That would include Mr. Helmke, himself, unless he wishes to own a gun secretly.

In fact, if any anti-gun activist owns positively any sort of weapon in the home for self-defense And I don't care if it is a baseball bat! - he/she supports self-defense and the use of up to lethal force. Or, don't they realize what they are saying and doing? Most anti-gun nuts do in fact own weapons. Right, Rosie? N'cest pa, Dianne?

Introducing

DennisBlog.

Another of our small group of Objectivists here in Connecticut has discovered blogging. I encourage you to scroll down my blogroll and find his blog. Give it a whirl. His positive outlook is contagious and his most recent post on Thanksgiving is inspiring.

Congratulations Dennis!

#1 BABY!

Yesterday's victory over a fine Michigan team cemented Ohio State's status as #1 in the land.


NOT THAT THERE WAS EVER A DOUBT.

GO BUCKS!!!!

Director General: MI5

On November 9th, DAME ELIZA MANNINGHAM-BULLER, gave a speech to the British nation [one assumes] and had some startling things to say. I post the "highlights" of this, with a link to the entire speech at the end.

" I have been Director General of the Security Service (MI5) since 2002. Before that I was Deputy Director General for five years. During that time, and before, I have witnessed a steady increase in the terrorist threat to the UK. It has been the subject of much comment and controversy. I rarely speak in public. I prefer to avoid the limelight and get on with my job. But today, I want to set out my views on the realities of the terrorist threat facing the UK in 2006; what motivates those who pose that threat; and what my Service is doing, with others, to counter it."

"Five years on from 9/11, where are we? Speaking in August, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, the head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch of the Metropolitan Police, described the threat to the UK from Al-Qaida-related terrorism as "real, here, deadly and enduring". Only last week the Home Secretary said the threat will be "enduring - the struggle will be long and wide and deep." Let me describe more fully why I think they said that."

" What I can say is that today, my officers and the police are working to contend with some 200 groupings or networks, totalling over 1600 identified individuals (and there will be many we don't know) who are actively engaged in plotting, or facilitating, terrorist acts here and overseas. The extremists are motivated by a sense of grievance and injustice driven by their interpretation of the history between the West and the Muslim world. This view is shared, in some degree, by a far wider constituency. If the opinion polls conducted in the UK since July 2005 are only broadly accurate, over 100,000 of our citizens consider that the July 2005 attacks in London were justified."


LINK: http://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/Page568.html




"

Dr Hurd on Whores

"Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us. "

--P. J. O'Rourke

Speak for yourself, P.J.!

Regrettably, he has a point -- in terms of government as we know it. The United States was formed, originally, to above all protect the rights of the individual. Today, the individual is sacrificed in the political warfare of competing pressure groups. Some pressure groups want money. They go after the most productive, through taxes. Other pressure groups want your mind, or what they call your "soul." They go after you by attempting to impose rules of personal behavior on you that they fail to practice themselves.

There's a solution to all of this, and it's neither liberalism nor conservatism; neither Democrats nor Republicans.

The solution is freedom. The implementation of freedom implies the right of the individual to be free from the coercion of groups of individuals ... including the pressure groups who now comprise the United States government.

Yet that's not how it works anymore. Our "Republicrats" are whores, only much worse than a whore. An actual prostitute doesn't take your money (or your soul) at gunpoint. Politicians do.

Noumenal Self

...discusses his thoughts on Tuesday's election, with a promise of more to come.

A New Book on Fourth Generation Warfare

I do not agree with this author's basic premise, that the West [America] can't defeat terrorism, but he offers interesting arguments on other factors. I only here publish the synopsis of the book as food for thought.

Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization
John Robb
ISBN: 0-471-78079-0
www.wiley.com

Description

Terrorism has become global, and incredibly complex, because it exists inside a social and economic system that's become global and complex. Globalization, unfortunately, has planted the seeds of its own destruction. Every new technology for improving the world system, is also a tool for undoing it. The question John Robb is most concerned about boils down to: will terrorism, in the end, be able to destroy the current system? The tragedy of 9/11 represents the pinnacle--and finale--of terrorism the old way. The goal was to inflict psychic damage, and nothing will ever top that--but they don't need to. Most forward thinking military strategists understand that we've entered the age of "fourth generation warfare." The first three "generations" of strategy revolved around the best way for one state's large army to inflict massive casualties on the other state's army. Political scientists are moving away from state against state thinking, to thinking about non-state actors. Our enemies are now much smaller than that: small, ad-hoc bands of like-minded insurgents, organized less like bees in a hive than like the millions of users for Wikipedia, each with its own competing, but complementary agenda.

As Brave New War explains, system disruption lies at the heart of the agenda. Instead of symbolic, or deadly attacks, we should be on the lookout for economically devastating attacks. Our enemy will be looking for gaps in the system where a small, cheap action--say, on an oil pipeline--will generate a tremendous return. It may not even make the evening news, except as a report on spiraling gas prices. Because of the open source nature of the enemy, they don't all need to be smart. In fact, none of them need to be smart. They'll just keep trying random acts until one really works, and then they'll all copy it. That doesn't take genius, just flexibility. Is this all just theoretical? No, it's exactly what we're seeing in Iraq, as their IEDs improve, their targeting abilities expand, and their networks become more invisible. But isn't Iraq sui generis? Hardly. From Nigeria to Saudi Arabia to Chechnya and beyond, it's spreading. Right now, the West is not prepared for it, and worse, we never can be truly prepared. No one can predict what the next catastrophic attack will be, because even now it's beyond the imagining of those who will perpetrate it.


What's the solution? What Robb refers to as deep resilience. We need to make our economic and communication systems more decentralized. If we can't stop an attack in advance, we can mitigate it. Right now, we've left ourselves too open to attack, with all our resources too concentrated. A simple, successful attack in Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, or New York could shut down the world's oil, high-tech, or financial markets, costing millions. We have too few energy sources, too few shipping routes, too few companies making the components for all the things we need. Until Americans start seeing the world as John Robb does, we'll spend all our resources preventing the last attack, rather than the next one.

New Streaming Videos from The Ayn Rand Institute

[Hat tip: Principles in Practice]

1] Quick registration required @ ARI

2] Permalink:

http://theobjectivestandard.com/blog/2006/10/new-streaming-videos-from-ayn-rand.asp

ALSO: A belated Happy Birtday to gus van horn, who's [whose?] blog turned two recently! [You can tell I just got up a bit ago. Brain isn't in gear yet;-)]

Is it a Miracle? ;-)

My 85 year old mother-in-law is reading 'Atlas Shrugged' for the first time. She and I have had more than a few conversations about relgion and morality, so I view this as a great event.

New Banner!

While cruising the blogsphere, I noticed The Objective Standard offers bloggers a banner to place on their site. I have done so. Scroll down to the bottom of the left column and check it out. Cool.

A Poem--for the ages??

Andy Clarkson wrote this himself. My thanks to The Charlotte Capitalist.

I Live Here On Earth and Worship The Mind


I flew to Paris to see Aga Khan
And his beautiful carpets from Somewhere-a-stan
We sipped tea with our pinkies out
I asked him if he ever had a doubt
About the source of all his splendor
He replied, "Never mind that. When will the West surrender?
Come join us my friend and do as we do
And I can offer you a virgin or seventy-two"

Hey Aga, thanks for the chat
But, sorry sir, that's not where I'm at
You don't fool me and I am not blind
I live here on Earth and can use my mind

I then took the train to Rome to see the Pope
To understand all his talk of faith and hope
We spoke quietly in The Holy See
I asked him what I should do about me
And if I fit into The City of God
He replied reverently with a gentle nod
"Come join us my son into the realm of passivity
And I can offer you blessed eternity"

Hey, Your Holiness, thanks for the chat
But, sorry sir, that's not where I'm at
You don't fool me and I am not blind
I live here on Earth and can use my mind

Well as fast as I could, I blew out of Rome
Went to pay a visit to ancient Noam
We sat in his office at MIT
I asked him if we would ever be free
And if he could help clear up all this confusion
He replied, "Don't worry, its all just an illusion.
Come join us my brother into the world of skepticism
And stay away from the certainty of Objectivism"

Hey, professor, thanks for the chat
But, sorry sir, that's not where I'm at
You don't fool me and I am not blind
I live here on Earth and can use my mind

Copyright 2006 Andy Clarkson. All rights reserved.

Link:

http://charlottecapitalist.blogspot.com/2006/10/i-live-here-on-earth-and-worship-mind.html

The Battle of Our Era

by Harry Binswanger [Hat Tip: Capitalism Magazine]

http://www.capmag.com/articlePrint.asp?ID=4802

Excerpts:

Whether the enemy bombs the World Trade Center, abortion clinics, logging equipment, or medical research labs, the target is the same: reason--the use of reason to produce material values.

Hostility to global trade, to nuclear power, to DDT, to "urban sprawl," to Wal-Mart--it all comes from the same root and has the same meaning: antagonism towards man's life as a rational animal. Reason is man's basic means of survival. The life- giving power of reason is sensed by those who rail against the technological-industrial achievements of the West and particularly of America. Whether environmentalist or Islamist, they cannot abide the success of America. It stands as an unbearable reproach. It's America or their own irrational way of functioning, which they would rather blow themselves up than challenge and change.

GO. NOW.

Good News

Amazon emailed me today and told me that 'The Fountainhead' is now available on DVD. At $14.99 I hope it is quality merchandise.

Movie recommendation

'Finding Home' is a film set in Maine. Beautiful Maine. A state I've come to admire for its scenic and glorious waterways and mountain vista's.
A young woman who works in New York City, is estranged from her grandmother [Louise Fletcher] because of her mother's interfering ways, is called to her funeral and discovers she is left with the Inn her grandmother's family owned and ran for decades. The story unfolds of her 'finding home' and discovering, or rather rediscovering, a life she loved as a child but was torn from by her mother.
I give it four out of five stars.

October's reading...

Fiction: The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson. This is the first story in the 'Repairman Jack' series.

Non-Fiction: The Objective Standard. Volume 1 # 3

In Our Self-Interest: America Must Decide on Immigration

Legalize The American Dream: Immigration is in America's Self-Interest
by Rebecca Knapp

Excerpts:

The arguments can be confusing. Anti-immigration groups ask us to consider our self-interest as Americans, claiming that illegal immigrants are stealing jobs and benefits from citizens. Pro-immigration groups, by default, concede the question of self-interest to their opponents. They ask Americans to consider the broken homes deported immigrants leave behind and the tragedy of those who die crossing the desert from Mexico. So which is it? Should we protect our jobs and our taxes, or be moved by the plight of those who seek refuge while we allow our country to be overrun?

It’s a trick question.

In one respect, the anti-immigration groups are correct: Americans should consider their self-interest when deciding where they stand on immigration. But they are wrong that illegal immigrants are a drain or a scourge. Immigrants, illegal or otherwise, are a boon to the United States.

Consider the arguments to the contrary. The claim that illegal immigrants hurt the economy boils down to two allegations. The first is that immigrants steal jobs from Americans. The second is that they suck up welfare or benefits without paying enough taxes to cover themselves.

It is true that immigrants work when they get to America. They get jobs as soon as they can, and yes, they’re willing to work cheaply. But they don’t steal jobs. If you’re paying the teenager who baby-sits your children $15 an hour, and the girl across the street comes along and says, “I’ll do it for $10,” has the new girl stolen anything when you hire her? Of course not. It’s your money. You have no obligation to pay a higher price, if you can get the labor for a lower one. That doesn’t change when the nationality of the cheaper babysitter happens to be Mexican. As long as the money that you worked for still belongs to you, you get to choose what to do with it.




Link:

http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=540

Bush Lied! / Our Military-Secret Service Destroyed the WTC! / It's All America's Fault!

Are you a member of the Tinfoil Brigade?

http://www.scholarsfor911truth.org/

Sad. Truly sad.

If I were President

I've long held the fantasy of "if I were President, what would I do?". I'm sure many of us has had that dream every once in awhile. A recurring fantasy of mine is this: surrounding the United Nations building with troops, grabbing a bull-horn and saying, "Come out with your hands up! You are under arrest for crimes against the United States. Come out peacefully, or we come in and take you out."
Oh well, guess some people are real lucky I'm not the Prez ;-)

Along those lines, here's a wonderful letter from the Ayn Rand Institute.

Dear Editor:

Last week a rag-tag group of anti-American countries held their annual "club" meeting in Cuba as they have for the last 30 years. Nobody paid them too much attention and rightly so.

This week, another rag-tag group of anti-American countries, including some that attended the Cuba meeting, held their latest "club" meeting at the United Nations. This time everyone is paying attention to them and they have the world stage.

The United Nations is one of the world's most corrupt organizations. It allowed the Iranian president, who has called for the destruction of the United States and Israel, an opportunity to address its members. It allowed the Venezualean president to call for the world to unite against America.

That such a meeting occurs on American soil, that our U.N. "ambassador" remains present throughout these speeches, that our President chooses to speak on the same stage, and that we go to this group for "approval" when it comes to defending ourselves, is disgusting.

Debi Ghate
Vice President, Academic Programs
Ayn Rand Institute






Copyright © 2006 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.

Government Censorship is Here

This is a few weeks old, but Scott Holleran of BoxOfficeMojo comments on Disney's caving to Senatorial bullies on their show, The Path to 9/11. Here's an excerpt or two, then the link:

September 8, 2006

At issue is a made for television movie called The Path to 9/11, a documentary-like dramatization of the Islamic terrorist attack. Like most docudramas, it contains elements of truth and fiction in a selective depiction of the event. Apparently, among these is the assertion that the Clinton administration chose not to respond militarily against the Islamic terrorist responsible for attacks on the United States. The manner in which the point is portrayed caused the censorship.


None of that matters now—the movie is under siege and every freedom-loving American must defend Disney's right to air it. By sending the letter, these government officials—who ought to be censured and removed from the Senate—are using the authority of the state, i.e., the power of law enforcement, to violate free speech.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/commentary/?id=2152&p=.htm

Health Care at Risk

Press Release



"Universal" Health Care Is Immoral
September 13, 2006

Irvine, CA--"Governor Schwarzenegger should be commended for his commitment to veto the California Health Reliability Act, which seeks to eliminate private medical insurance and establish a state-run health insurance system in California," said Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute. "But the basic issue is not, as the governor indicated, that the system would be too expensive. 'Universal' health care is immoral.

"Health care is not a right. The fact that someone cannot afford the latest medical test or treatment does not entitle him to force others to pay for it--just as he is not entitled to a free gym membership on the grounds it would improve his health.

"There is a crisis in health care, but its cause is government interference in the health care system. The solution is to leave doctors, patients and insurance companies free to deal with each other on whatever terms they choose--not to socialize American medicine."

### ### ###




Copyright © 2006 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.

Movie Review

I went to see "The Illusionist" yesterday. A smart film well crafted and a beautiful 'period piece' of old Vienna. The film is a love story about a magician who finds love as a young boy. Loses it. Travels the world looking for mystery and returned to Vienna only to see his lost love about to marry an aristocrat who is a woman-beater and basically insane with power. I'll let you discover the rest of the story.

This is a wonderful film, superbly photographed and intelligent. Go.

Is the U.S. Bankrupt?

I have to admit up front that I only caught bits and pieces of an interview on CNBC with Boston U economics professor Laurence J. Kotlikoff. The topic was the fiscal bankruptcy of the United States, via Social Security and Medicare programs. He took issue with a [very] recent [today?] editorial in the WSJ on the alleged "robustness" of our economy and its "fiscal soundness".
He pointed to an article on his website called "Benefits Without Bankruptcy--The New New Deal" written in August of last year.
I don't know Prof. Kotlikoff's economic stance nor do I know his underlying philosophic outlook, but here are excerpts of that particular article and the link to his website.

"First the demographics. According to U.N. projections, male life expectancy in the United States will rise from 75 to 80 between now and 2050...The share of the American population that is 65 or over is set to rise form 12.3 percent to 20.6 percent.
In 25 years when almost all 77 million members of the baby-boomer cohort have retired, we'll have twice the number of elderly, but only 18 percent more workers to pay their benefits..
...this is bound to put a major strain on the systems designed in the distant days of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.
...Today, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits total $21,000 per retiree. Multiply that by the current 36 million elderly, and you see why these programs account for nearly half of the federal tax revenue. Over the past four years the Medicare benefits per beneficiary have grown 16 times faster than the real wages of the workers paying those benefits. Medicaid benefits per head have grown almost as fast. [And this is BEFORE Bush's mandate of the perscription drug benefit!!!-Blair]

That's just a taste of what this economist has to say.

As Objectivist's, we know it is only a matter of time unitl financial bankruptcy catches up to the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of altruism's philosophic practice. One thing we can all do to stem this tide, is to donate--or increase our donations-- to The Ayn Rand Institute. In the long-term, Ayn Rand's ideas, applied to every field of endeavor, are the only thing that can save us, and advance the cause of individual rights and freedom.

http://people.bu.edu/kotlikoff/

http://www.aynrand.org

Harry Potter = "King of Darkness"

Pope Benedict XVI's chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, has called fictional wizard-in-training Harry Potter the "king of darkness, the devil."

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/09/03/harrypotter-exorcist-pope.html?ref=rss

I won't embarrass the Church by pointing out that when religion ruled the earth, unopposed, that period of time is known today as the Dark Ages.
I won't embarrass the Church by pointing out the serious problems they face of ignoring the pedophiles in their midst.
I won't embarrass religionists by pointing out the utter incompatibility of their pathetic faith with successful human life - on earth - while we are living.
I won't mention the global threat from an undiluted, medieval Islam, while they are throwing a piss fit over a fictional character.

Speaking for myself, I prefer this interpretation of the Harry Potter series, as quoted in a letter from Dianne Durante of The Ayn Rand Institute:

"Fiction books aren't textbooks. The purpose of literature isn't to teach concretes but to show a broad view of The Way Things Work. Does good or evil prevail in the world? Do people think and act in accord with their own will, or are they helpless puppets? The enormous appeal of the Harry Potter series comes from the fact that Rowling presents characters who do think and act, and who repeatedly triumph over evil."

http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7536


I think it is the above sentiment, that these books show children thinking and acting on their own judgement. This is the 'real' threat to the Church. Their followers, and sadly, most of the world's populace, are too stupid to see that for themselves and will blindly listen to the "chief exorcist" instead. Therein lies the tragedy today.

[Edited this a bit. My thanks to noumenalself and to Gus Van Horn for posting this on their blogs].

September Reads

My two books for September are:

Fiction- Numbered Account by Christopher Reich

N-Fiction- Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera by Fred Plotkin
[This book is excellent. I am very impressed with this writer's ease of style in taking a complex subject, like Opera, and making it accessible. Recommended.]

How to Solve America's Terrorism Problem in 5 Easy Steps

by Craig Biddle

[from the Principles in Practice blog]

Here is how America could solve her terrorism problem in 5 easy steps:

1] Stop sacrificing American soldiers to bring "freedom" to savages in Iraq. Pull our soldiers out of that hell hole, and let the savages have their civil war. ( Iraq is not and never was the main source of terrorism against America. Iran and Saudi Arabia are.)

2] Declare war on Iran.

3] Obliterate, from high altitude and long distance, all known Iranian military assets, all Iranian government buildings, all Iranian mosques and madrassahs, and the residences of all Iranian leaders, imams, clerics, and government officials. Hit these targets when they are most likely to be occupied (e.g., mosques during the day and residences at night). Do not send soldiers in on foot, except as necessary to identify targets or gather intelligence. We do not need to send soldiers in on foot to fight, and it would be immoral to do so. We have many big missiles, fast planes, and good bombs, and we should use these liberally while building bigger, faster, and better ones. (As to innocent non-Americans, such as Iranian children, who would be killed in such a campaign, they are not properly the concern of our government. Nor would their deaths be the fault of our government. Such deaths are always the fault of the force-initiating regime—and of those who in any way support or enable it—whose actions necessitate such retaliatory measures.)

4] Airdrop leaflets across the Middle East explaining: "From now on, this is how America will respond to any and all threats to her citizens or allies. We look forward to the time when you decide to civilize yourselves, stop taking religion seriously, renounce the initiation of physical force, recognize the principle of individual rights, establish rule of law, and join the free world. Until then, we will be watching you from way up in the sky—higher even than Allah, by means of technology He cannot fathom—and if we see anything that we so much as feel might conceivably pose even a remote threat either to America or to our allies, we will annihilate it and everything in its proximity without further warning."

5] Notify the regime in Saudi Arabia that it got lucky and has the option of not being obliterated; that we are prepared instead to seize "its" oil fields and sell them to private industry, in part to pay for the campaign against Iran, and in part to return the fields to private industry where they belong; that it has 24 hours to turn the fields over to our agents; and that if it fails to comply or ignites the fields or does anything to thwart our program, its leaders, like those of Iran, will meet Allah sooner than later.

If we took these (or similar) measures, our terrorism problem would be solved. Sure, there would still be a few isolated instances of terrorism here and there in months and years to come; this much is inevitable given how long we have permitted the Islamists to plan and plot and establish cells. But, so long as we follow through as indicated above and immediately destroy anything that we think looks even remotely threatening, state sponsorship of terrorism against America would be over; the major threat to our lives would be gone.

Of course, we will not take such measures any time soon. Altruism will not let us. We will not take such measures until there is widespread understanding of the moral rightness of doing so—that is, until a substantial number of Americans understand that self-interest is moral and self-sacrifice is evil—and we are a long way from that. But such measures are morally correct—they are what we should do—and everyone who understands that they are should say so loudly and clearly. By placing such actions on the table for discussion, we create an opportunity to explain why they are morally correct—and that is what Americans (and westerners in general) most desperately need to learn.