Another Objectivist @ Forbes.com

In case you're unaware, Richard Salsman has his own column at Forbes now. I've long admired him and encourage you to visit.

Richard Salsman

The Objectivist Round Up!

Welcome to The Objectivist Roundup, a weekly blog carnival featuring the best blog posts on any topic written by Objectivist bloggers.

Objectivism is Ayn Rand's philosophy of this-worldly reason, egoism, and capitalism.  Ayn Rand is the author of the epic novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.  As she explained:

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute. ("About the Author," Atlas Shrugged)

Here is this week's edition of The Objectivist Roundup:

Joshua John M. Lipana presents American Thinker Blog: Sam Harris Versus the Self-Made Man posted at American Thinker, saying, ""Harris has continuously claimed to be an advocate of reason when it is precisely man using his rational faculty to enjoy life that he sets himself against.""

John McVey presents Simultaneous concretisation posted at John J McVey, saying, "We have the technology. Thank you, Miss Rand!"

Edward Cline presents Lara Logan and the Drooling Beast posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "In the aftermath of the abduction, rape and beating of Lara Logan, CBS foreign correspondent, in Cairo on February 11th during the “celebrations” in Tahrir Square over the resignation of Hosni Mubarak as head of Egypt’s government, the news media and the web have been buzzing with accounts and recollections of how dangerous it is for especially women journalists to cover events in so-called “hot spots.”"

Gene Palmisano presents Enter the Theocrats posted at The Metaphysical Lunch, saying, "The pathological lie that democracy is synonymous with freedom."

Paul Hsieh presents The Wisconsin Protests and the New Medical Ethics posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "My latest OpEd at PajamasMedia discussed the Wisconsin doctors who signed fake "sick" notes for political ends, and the relationship to a dangerous new form of ethics being taught to medical students."

Ari Armstrong presents Grand Junction Could Use Some Common Sense Economics posted at Free Colorado, saying, "City governments should not run recreational businesses such as golf courses."

David C Lewis, RFA presents Whole Life Policy Returns posted at A Revolution In Financial Planning, saying, "I take another look at a financial product that usually puts people to sleep: life insurance! (did the exclamation point help keep you awake at all?) I approach this usually dry subject from a slightly different perspective, give a brief history of the product and discuss some of the implications of investment returns associated with the policy's built-in cash reserve."

C.W. presents Treasury Grab of Retirment Assets: So Far posted at Krazy Economy, saying, "Update.  Hearings in September ignored rights issues.  Keep your eye on the government's plans for your savings."

Jason Stotts presents Quirkyalone posted at Erosophia, saying, "A reader asks about being "quirkyalone," a new relationship movement that advises people to wait to enter relationships until they find the right person, and my analysis of it."

Ryan Krause presents More About Unions posted at The Money Speech, saying, "A closer look at the proposed right-to-work law in Indiana that is causing so much fuss."

Stella presents Enforced paid maternity leave? No, thank you. posted at ReasonPharm, saying, "Forcing companies to offer paid maternity leave is a terrible idea."

Rachel Miner presents Experimenting. Parenting. Part Two. posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "Experiment number two!  I share another success of how I've been able to remove limits that were so essential for my son's success when younger.  I imagine that this process intensifies as kids get older. I need all the practice I can get with removing limits, as does my kiddo.  How can a child make the more vital choices well if they haven't had the practice of trial and error with choices when younger?"

Rational Jenn presents Education Bills in the Georgia State Legislature posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "A couple of bills in the GA state senate open up the possibility of allowing homeschoolers to participate in extracurricular activities at public schools. I am opposed to such legislation for many reasons."

Rational Jenn presents Mini-Podcast: SnowCon Preview posted at Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore, saying, "***NOTE TO HOST: Please list "Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore" as the authors and "Cultivating the Virtues" as the blog name. Blog Carnival usually screws this up, sorry! Thanks!*** If you'd like to know a bit about our SnowCon talk, listen to our preview!"

Rational Jenn presents ATLOSCon Schedule posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "ATLOSCon 2011 will be held in Atlanta over Memorial Weekend (May 26 - 30). Our schedule is up, check it out!"

Michael Labeit presents Inflationism and Social Unrest posted at Michael Labeit at EconomicPolicyJournal.com.

You can submit your blog article to the next edition of The Objectivist Roundup using this submission form.  Past posts and future hosts can be found here.  If you're an Objectivist blogger, you can get weekly reminders to submit to the carnival by subscribing to OBloggers @ OList.com.

The Objectivist Roundup is delayed

I am unable to post this week's roundup due to html errors that I cannot decipher at this time. Hopefully, Jenn will step in and have the roundup  posted before much longer......

I apologize to all who have submitted articles and hope to figure out these glitches in the near future for other hosting dates.

Another Solid Snowfall During the Night

I was outside @ 7am looking at a solid 15 inches of new snow. On top of the record snowfall for January here, that's a lot of snow!
Took two hours to clear it out, and I still didn't get to my car!! Oh well. At least I don't have to go to work till noonish.....

Here Comes another GOP/Conservative 'Sucker Punch'

The House Republicans' first major technology initiative is about to be unveiled: a push to force Internet companies to keep track of what their users are doing.

GOP Pushes ISP's to track data

A Philosopher Reflects on the Giffords Shooting

From Capitalism Magazine. Don't miss this...

A Philosopher Reflects

It pays to know your neighbors

Last weekend our washing machine gave out after 11 years of use. Not bad, really. So naturally, we went price shopping at Sears and Best Buy to look for an affordable new washer and found two that we were strongly considering. Well the next day a neighbor, who has recently moved in to the house caddy-corner across the street mentioned that the previous owner left both their relatively new washer and dryer behind and for them they were just 'taking up space' and would I like the washer?! I said I'd be happy to look it over and did so last night. It looks only two or so years old and just needs to be cleaned up a bit. Otherwise it's practically new, so yes, I'll take a shot with a Whirlpool washer that's hardly been used, and free.

In Love with Frederich Hayek

This is a cute YouTube video I found @ Virginia Postrel's site. Check it out...

In Love with Frederich Hayek

20 inches and counting...

Well, I got up @ 7:40am to try and clear out the snow. I'm back in at 10:10am from using my little blower and shoveling. Not ashamed to say I'm soaked and more than a bit tired. Still snowing at a slow and steady clip. Later I gotta go out and clean off my car to go to work!#$$%$%^@^

LOL

How I was introduced to Objectivism

This is my first post of the new year and the first attempt to write about how I came to Objectivism, so bare with me.
Imagine in the early 1970's, a not very good looking teenager driving around alone at night in his 1969 327 Camaro. I vividly recall one night driving around and lamenting my life and future. Here I am a high school grad and saying out loud to myself, "I need to learn how to think." I knew then as a struggling 19 year old, (I graduated HS at 17), that something was missing, and I also knew that government schooling was not providing the answers I needed.(I also knew that going to college right after HS was not going to serve me well, even though my dad put lots of pressure on me to do so). Sadly, many years go by and all I'm reading at the time are the sports page and the occasional magazine. Alas, having moved to Nashville, Tennessee from those school days in Arkansas, I'm still functioning at a very low level, just working menial job's and scraping by. Living in Nashville a short while, I walk into a music store and strike up a conversation with one of the salesmen about music and bands. We became friends and after a few months, he says to me, "I've got something you should look at."  He brings me The Fountainhead and says he'd like me to read it.
Well, that was in March of 1979. After reading it for a day or two, I went out and bought my own copy and anything else I could find of Miss Rand's. I carried my copy around in my back pocket for weeks, reading it in snatches. To me, The Fountainhead was like Linus's security blanket. Hell, I even went to bed with it next to my pillow.
For years, everything I had been seeking, thinking about and not able to put in to that many words were flowing out of those pages and into my mind.
I've never looked back.
Oh, and yeah, I wish I still had that Camaro!

Merry Christmas! (Belated)

We had a wonderful day here with family and I was able to talk to my brother who lives in the southwestern states.

Now I Know The Government Has Gone Too Far! #$%^Q@#$%^&

The mayor of Oklahoma City cancels the Lingerie Football League.

On YouTube:

Lingerie Football League

(Just tryin' to inject some levity into very serious times we're living in.)

Goodbye Sweden?

Comic Pat Condell condemns Sweden's multiculturalism and influx of Muslims. Don't miss this.

Goodbye Sweden

Objectivist Round Up November 18 Edition

Welcome to the November 18, 2010 edition of objectivist round up. Objectivism is the philosophy created by novelist Ayn Rand. Here's a quote of her's to get things started:


"I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows. This--the supremacy of reason--was, is and will be the primary concern of my work, and the essence of Objectivism."



David Lewis presents will the real Objectivists please stand up? posted at david in real life, saying, ""...an Objectivist without integrity is like steak without the grizzle. It looks nice, but the best part is missing."
In this entry: my experiences with Objectivists. There are some really fantastic people out there. There are also some real duds. I explore the lack of integrity in some Objectivists."


Kyle Becker presents The Ghosts of Capitalism posted at Rogue Operator, saying, "Thanks for the opportunity to send you an article."


Aditya Pawar presents The Right to Petition Government for Redress of Grievances, Part VII posted at Axiom, saying, "Seventh Installment. I explain why "conservation of judicial resources" is not a legitimate reason for the judiciary to disallow court access to persons with injuries."


Jared Rhoads presents Brace for chaos in 2014 posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, "What will happen to those who lose health insurance coverage as a result of the health reform legislation?"


Paul Hsieh presents Radiation Risk From TSA Scanners? posted at NoodleFood, saying, "I discuss whether Americans should be worried about the medical risks related to the TSA whole-body x-ray scanners. (This is separate from the broader, more worrisome political issues.)"


Rational Jenn presents Family Business posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "We've been exploring the idea of "family privacy" with our kids (ages 8 and 5). It's turning out to be a rather tricky idea to get across."


Rational Jenn presents Podcast #12: The Nature of Children posted at Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore, saying, "***NOTE TO HOST: Please list 'Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore' as the blog authors, and 'Cultivating the Virtues' as the name of the blog. Blog Carnival messes this up sometimes.*** Our latest podcast is based on a previous post by Kelly."


Ari Armstrong presents In Praise of Some Great Objectivists posted at Free Colorado, saying, "In light of recent controversies, it is worth remembering the profound value that others have offered us."


David Baucom presents The Religion of Green posted at Cyrano Rises, saying, "Just published in Charlatan Magazine, the article compares the Green movement to religion and reveals its essence as a religious faith in collectivism."


Roberto Sarrionandia presents Free Speech for Cheryl Gillan posted at Roberto Sarrionandia, saying, "Response to an anti-free speech campaign on my campus."


Lynn Peters W presents Same-Sex Marriage in Vermont: Right Decision, Wrong Reason: The Beginning posted at The Lone(ly) Vermont Objectivist, saying, "My first submission!"


Jason Stotts presents Alcohol and Sex posted at Erosophia, saying, "In this essay, I look at how all too often people are so ashamed of their sexuality that they can't even admit it to themselves until they start drinking heavily. Commentary ensues."


Peter Cresswell presents “To Sir E. Hillary” posted at Not PC, saying, "An unashamed rant at the government theft from his widow of Everest hero Ed Hillary's personal property."


Peter Cresswell presents Negotiation by riot posted at Not PC, saying, "In their violent pursuit of education at someone else's expense, what rioting British students demonstrate more than anything else is the bankruptcy of the education they've been given."


Edward Cline presents The TSA’s “Protection” Racket posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "There is a scene in "Schindler’s List" in which all the inmates of the concentration camp are forced to strip naked en masse and run through a gauntlet of outdoor medical checks. If the inmates weren’t already “conditioned” to incarceration, humiliation, being kidnapped, robbed, tagged, folded, spindled, shredded, and “processed,” that exercise guaranteed it. Those who didn’t pass the “test,” were pulled from the line and never heard from again. Not that it mattered in the long run: they were all scheduled for extermination.

Too eerily a parallel with the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA's) new “enhanced” security policies at American airports, which include full-body scans that show every detail of one’s person beneath clothing and/or intimate “pat-downs” by manqués wearing blue surgeon’s gloves, who are authorized to probe and grope infants, school children, adults, nuns, businessmen, well, everyone for combustibles or explosive materials."


Roderick Fitts presents Reduction of Justice posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "This is a reduction of the basic idea of 'justice,' and it will allow me to induce the principle that justice is crucial or important in human life."


Amy Mossoff presents The Miracles of Modern Medicine posted at The Little Things, saying, "My husband and I are about to embark on an interesting journey through super-high-tech medicine: donor egg IVF. It stinks that we're so unlucky that we can't seem to make any more babies on our own, but I am so grateful to the heroes who have developed these techniques so that we still have a chance to do it with the help of science."


Michael Labeit presents Martin Wolf is Confused About Fractional Reserve Banking, Part 1 posted at Michael Labeit at EconomicPolicyJournal.com, saying, "A generally good, pro-globalization economist makes a common error."


Miranda Barzey presents What Inspired Me to Become an Art Model posted at Building Atlantis, saying, "How a renewed interest in art inspired me to become an art model."


Earl Parson presents Tennessee House: Fireplace & Stone Wall posted at Creatures of Prometheus, saying, "Last week they installed the fireplace stone, as well as some exterior wall stone, on my latest house design, now under construction in Tennessee. The masons did a great job - check it out!"



That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
objectivist round up
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.

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ALERT: Obama's DOJ plans to nix the military's absentee votes this November

Hat Tip: Jerry Pournelle

Obama's DOJ

It's not all BP's fault. Let's look to environmentalism and government over-regulation for starters...

The Gulf Spill, the Financial Crisis and Government Failure.

Objectivist Blog Carnival #150

Hi and welcome to the latest Objectivist Blog Carnival. This edition is choc-full of mental goodness for you to feast upon, but first, some background.

Objectivism is the philosophy created by novelist Ayn Rand, author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged as well as non-fiction works like The Virtue of Selfishness and Capitalism The Unknown Ideal.
Here is a quote from her to get things rolling:

"The Objectivist ethics proudly advocates and upholds rational selfishness—which means: the values required for man’s survival qua man—which means: the values required for human survival—not the values produced by the desires, the emotions, the “aspirations,” the feelings, the whims or the needs of irrational brutes, who have never outgrown the primordial practice of human sacrifices, have never discovered an industrial society and can conceive of no self-interest but that of grabbing the loot of the moment."

Here's one more quote:

"The Objectivist ethics holds that human good does not require human sacrifices and cannot be achieved by the sacrifice of anyone to anyone. It holds that the rational interests of men do not clash—that there is no conflict of interests among men who do not desire the unearned, who do not make sacrifices nor accept them, who deal with one another as traders, giving value for value."

Welcome to the May 27, 2010 edition of objectivist round up.

Roderick Fitts presents Part 5: Errors vs. Moral Breaches posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "A post on Peikoff's and Kelley's views on errors of knowledge versus breaches of morality. We also learn about the role of philosophy in history and the higher standards of experts in relation to ordinary people."

Rachel Miner presents Make It Less Messy posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "Sharing some fun tricks for making things less messy, especially as the summer approaches :)"

C.W. presents What next? Negative Interest? posted at Krazy Economy, saying, "Fed. target discount rates has gotten lower each cycle. What could happen next. Not good."

Edward Cline presents Obama: Neither Naïve nor Foolish nor Misguided posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "With some minor editing, I sent this letter to Charles Krauthammer, syndicated columnist for the Washington Post and other newspapers, in response to an article severely critical of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. In it, he points out that Obama’s “make nice” policy and obsequious deference to statist regimes are backfiring."

Mike Zemack presents Christie's "War on the Court" posted at Principled Perspectives, saying, "The highest budget deficit in the nation on a percentage basis; out of control, record high state spending; record high per-pupil education costs; coupled with record high income tax rates and property tax rates– that’s New Jersey. Gov. Christie places major blame on an “activist” state Supreme Court, which in the 1970s imposed a system of state financing for local public schools along with a state income tax to pay for it – by judicial fiat. But was an “activist” Supreme Court the cause of NJ’s budget woes, or can the blame be placed upon the NJ constitution, which mandates the state to provide “a thorough and efficient system of free public schools”?"

Michael Labeit presents Against Democracy!?! posted at Michael Labeit at EconomicPolicyJournal.com.

Stella presents A sale would be cleaner posted at ReasonPharm, saying, "This week's New York Times Ethicist column illustrates why forbidding organ sales creates unnecessary dilemmas."

Diana Hsieh presents Pay Me to Podcast on Finding Romantic Prospects posted at NoodleFood, saying, "I'll produce a podcast on finding good romantic prospects by June 10th... if people are pledge enough money to justify it. (Only those who pledge will get it before OCON.)"

Ari Armstrong presents Rand Paul Wants Total Abortion Bans posted at Free Colorado, saying, "In light of Rand Paul's views on abortion, reproduction, and end-of-life decisions, nobody should be asking whether Paul advocates too much liberty."

Paul Hsieh presents Leonard Peikoff Interview With Magician Steve Cohen posted at NoodleFood, saying, "Magic, Objectivism, and Peikoff -- what more could you ask for?"

Rational Jenn presents MiniCon Class Schedule posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "The MiniCon Schedule is up on the Atlanta Objectivist Society website! Check it out! (Coming soon--a registration form, whee!)"

Shea presents Putting the Cause Before the Truth posted at Shea's Blog, saying, "My first substantive post at my new blog. Why would someone advocate an idea that he knows to be false?"

Martin Lindeskog presents INTERVIEW WITH JOHN COX | EGO posted at EGO.

Roderick Fitts presents Part 6: Tolerance posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "I wrap up my series with a shorter essay on Objectivism's application to tolerance, contrasting Kelley's view of tolerance with that of Objectivist Tara Smith, showing him to expand the role of "tolerance" in our lives past legitimate standards."

Roderick Fitts presents The Vampires of Objectivism posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "Part-calling out "Objectivist pretenders," part-"call to action," I'm posting this to alert any susceptible Objectivists to the "vampires" among us, from whom we should only expect negatives, loss, and the lowering of the credibility of Objectivism, Rand, and unfortunately, ourselves. Let the warding off commence!!"

Jeff Montgomery presents Mountain Micro Capitalism posted at Fun With Gravity, saying, "This is a small instance of free enterprise in the Colorado hill country, suggesting that the world will not spin out of control simply because we grant people freedom to act on their own."

Edward Cline presents Flirting with Tyranny posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "The title is intriguing, tempting, and ostensibly relevant in today‘s culture: The Treason of the Clerks (La Trahison des clercs), by 20th century French novelist and critic, Julien Benda. By clerks, Benda meant Medieval scribes, a small class of men who could read and write and understand what others read and wrote."

David C Lewis, RFA presents Life Insurance: What's Wrong With Non-forfeiture Laws?: Life insurance | Precious Metals | Retirement Plans | Financial Planning | Investing | Saving Money posted at A Revolution In Financial Planning.

Editor's Note: Anyone familiar with HTML--can you email me on how to eliminate the spaces between entries? Thanks!

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
objectivist round up
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.

Share
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Technorati tags:

objectivist round up, blog carnival.

Are the Greek Riots A Picture of Our Future?

Ayn Rand was right. Altruism, the dominate moral code of the world, is leading us toward destruction. While dominant, it is not the only moral code vying for people's minds.

In the US, 40 to 45% of the population lives on government "entitlements" which the vast majority of them think is theirs 'by right'. [!] Wrong.

Greek Riots

Smokin' Hot!

I saw this hilarious YouTube video at Noodlefood. I totally agree!


Restore Joss Whedon

gus van horn @ Pajamas media!

Gus van Horn has an article that should be read by as many thinking people as possible. That means you!

Treat the Cause, Not the Symptom: Welfare State is Draw for Illegals

Agreed. Go check it out.

My thanks to Gus for writing this, too.