"Atlas Shrugged" Essay Contest Doubles in Size!

“Atlas Shrugged” Essay Contest Doubles in Size!

IRVINE, Calif., September 30, 2009–The Ayn Rand Institute announced a new record in submissions for its annual “Atlas Shrugged” essay contest. ARI received more than 4,000 entries this year, more than twice as many as last year’s record.

ARI credits the surge in essay contest submissions to the recent boom in “Atlas Shrugged” sales, along with the continued growth of ARI’s free books to teachers program. The ARI essay contest is part of a larger educational program that encourages high school and college educators to use the book in their classrooms.

How Do We Deal with Iran?

How Do We Deal with Iran?

WASHINGTON, September 28, 2009–Iran announced on Sunday that it has test fired several short-range missiles, just days after proclaiming that it has been building a second uranium enrichment plant. In response to this show of force, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates implied that the United States has no military solution to the problem, and added “I think there’s still time for diplomacy.”

The Ayn Rand Center Offers Blueprint for Freedom

The Ayn Rand Center Offers Blueprint for Freedom

WASHINGTON, September 25, 2009–Critics and the media have sometimes criticized the tea party movement for lack of a positive, cohesive message beyond the anger and outrage at current government policies. The Ayn Rand Center launches a new website offering the American people intellectual ammunition they need to fight the wave of big government that we are now witnessing:

http://www.principlesofafreesociety.com/

What makes a society free? What does it mean for an individual to be free—free to pursue his rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness? What must we now do to achieve the type of free society that our Founding Fathers envisioned?

Principles of a Free Society is a new Web site that explores Ayn Rand’s answers to these and many other questions. It presents and defines the principles that are necessary for a truly free society.

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Is Opposing Health Care Reform a Crime?

Is Opposing Health Care Reform a Crime?

WASHINGTON, September 22, 2009–The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently launched an investigation into an attempt by the health insurance company Humana to enlist its customers to fight proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage. The investigation was initiated at the urging of Senator Max Baucus, who said, “It is wholly unacceptable for insurance companies to mislead seniors regarding any subject–particularly on a subject as important to them, and to the nation, as health care reform. . . . I’m not going to let insurance company profits stand in the way of improving Medicare for seniors.”

According to Don Watkins, a writer for the Ayn Rand Center, “It is painfully obvious–and alarming–that Humana is not being investigated for its ‘marketing’ practices. It is being investigated because it had the gall to challenge the assertions of a member of Congress.

“The implication of Baucus’s statement is that Humana must be investigated for in effect defrauding its customers by misleading them about the nature of Baucus’s proposal. But what did Humana’s ‘fraudulent’ claim consist of? No one disputes the fact that the budget for Medicare Advantage could be slashed under the health care bills now in Congress. The dispute is over the effects this will have. Humana claimed it could potentially lead to some of its customers losing benefits–not an unreasonable view–but Baucus insists ‘The health care reform bill we released . . . strengthens Medicare and does not cut benefits.’

“Think of what it would mean for politicians–hardly notorious for their scrupulous honesty–to be able to punish Americans because our claims about the effects of a proposed law conflict with their assertions.

“In a free country, it is not a crime to question the claims of one’s political leaders. If Baucus’s action is allowed to go unchallenged, however, free speech is gravely threatened.”

Fighting for the People. . .of Afghanistan?

Fighting for the People . . . of Afghanistan?

WASHINGTON, September 23, 2009–In a recent statement by top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, he criticized the U.S. military for being “preoccupied with protection of our own forces” in Afghanistan. He wrote that American forces should “share risk, at least equally, with the people” of Afghanistan. What makes our leaders think that they can ever win a war with this sort of philosophy?

The U.N. is Fundamentally Flawed

The U.N. is Fundamentally Flawed

WASHINGTON, September 24, 2009–Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s recent 90-minute tirade, and the anti-semitic ranting of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, both at the United Nations general assembly, are yet two more reminders of what’s fundamentally wrong with the United Nations.

“The fundamental feature of the U.N. is its policy of opening membership non-judgmentally to all nations–whether free or oppressive, peaceful or belligerent,” says Elan Journo, a fellow with the Ayn Rand Center.

“The U.N.’s policy of neutrality accomplishes precisely the opposite of its putative effect; it actually protects and bolsters vicious regimes.

“That the U.N. benefits evil regimes is a necessary consequence of its avowed ideal of neutrality. The willful refusal to discriminate between good and evil, between freedom and slavery, can benefit only the vicious. It is only an evil regime that fears moral scrutiny, that needs to conceal its crimes, and that struggles for a veneer of moral legitimacy. The U.N.’s policy of moral neutrality is precisely what evil desperately craves: a license to commit any depravity and escape with a reputation for being decent.

“No organization can resolve conflicts if it evades the objective difference between right and wrong, and perversely treats an aggressor as the moral equal of his innocent victim. The U.N. is far from a means to achieving peace. Because it arms and bestows a moral sanction on vicious regimes, it is an accessory to their incalculable atrocities and murders.”

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Windfall Profits for the Unbuildable and Unmarketable Continue

Tuesday, August 5th, brings the last of the major EELS acquisitions to the Board of County Commissioners.

As pretty much the last of the 2005 bond issue of a twenty year revenue stream is squandered again paying far too much for land which is in absolutely no danger of being developed, the mentality driving these ‘bargains’ was evident in the purchase a few weeks of large mosquito impoundments (100% wetlands and water surrounded by a dike) on Sykes Creek. Read more

R.I.P. Scottsmoor – Man Versus EELs

Scottsmoor, the last little community in very north Brevard, Florida, will gasp its final breath and be laid to rest August 5, 2008 if the County Commission approves the vast Scottsmoor EEL purchases. The dreams of any future small business and jobs in Scottsmoor will be dead on arrival as a result of the Board’s actions. Read more

A Philosophic Defense of the FairTax

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This is the first article in a three part series…

Of all the injustices Americans face today, the progressive income tax is perhaps the worst. Fortunately, there is a movement and legislation afoot aimed at obliterating the progressive income tax. It is called the FairTax.

The FairTax is a “revenue neutral” national retail sales tax designed to replace all federal and payroll based taxes. In other words, it will eliminate the IRS. Let me say that again: it will eliminate the IRS.

There are now two books available detailing the FairTax plan and how it would work, and as those books are so well written, I’m not going to go into the concretes and particulars here. I want to present a more abstract moral defense of the FairTax. Read more

Nothing Suprises Me With EELs Anymore

I received a phone call today from Ms. Lil Banks.  She had called on her County Commissioner to question why Brevard County paid $2 million for the mosquito impoundments on Sykes Creek.  When told numerous letters of support had come to the Commission Office for the purchase, Lil simply asked for copies.

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