Oil companies will surely be getting a beating for their record profits this year. When you see it, just keep this in mind: “Gas Taxes Exceed Oil Companies’ Profits.” Here’s the take-home-message:
Since 1977, governments collected more than $1.34 trillion, after adjusting for inflation, in gasoline tax revenuesâ??more than twice the amount of domestic profits earned by major U.S. oil companies during the same period:
Via Instapundit.
Objectivist History Project founder Duncan Scott sends us this unfortunate news:
Joan Kennedy Taylor, former publisher of one of the first Objectivist themed magazines, Persuasion, and an associate of Ayn Rand for over twenty years, died Saturday morning after a long battle with cancer.
Beginning in the early 1970’s Kennedy Taylor wrote and spoke on feminist issues from a Libertarian perspective. She also directed book programs for the Manhattan Institute and the Foundation for Economic Education; was an editor for The Libertarian Review and The Freeman; and for ten years was a commentator for the Cato Institute’s syndicated radio program, “Byline.” Earlier, she was the founder and editor of Persuasion from 1964 to 1968. She was the National Coordinator of the Association of Libertarian Feminists and a member of the board of directors of Feminists for Free Expression.
She was the author of several books, including Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Rediscovered, published in 1992 by Prometheus Books. She was the editor of Free Trade: The Necessary Foundation for World Peace, and the co-author with Lee M. Shulman of When to See a Psychologist. Besides writing articles for publications that include The Wall Street Journal, Success, The Washington Times, and Reason, the Hoover Institution brought out her pamphlet, “Women’s Issues: Feminism, Classical Liberalism, and the Future,” in its Essays in Public Policy series and she has contributed to a number of books: Equal Opportunities: a Feminist Fallacy (London, 1992), Beyond the Status Quo: Policy Proposals for America, and Freedom, Feminism, and the State, as well as several textbooks.
Kennedy Taylor was interviewed for The Objectivist History Project on April 4th, 2004. Excerpts from the interview were shown at The Objectivist Center Summer Seminar in Vancouver in July 2004, with Miss Kennedy Taylor attending. She spoke of her close relationship with Ayn Rand, of her father, composer Deems Taylor, and his friendship with Rand in his later years. She described efforts by Objectivists to end the military draft which ultimately proved successful.
According to her son, Michael Cook, current plans — which may change — are to have calling hours at Frank Campbell Funeral Home on 81st St. and Madison Ave., New York City on Wednesday, 4 pm to 7 pm (call Campbell FH 212-288-3500 to confirm), to have calling hours in Lee, Massachusetts on Thursday, and to have her funeral on Friday in Stockbridge, followed by a burial in the Stockbridge Cemetery.
Joan Kennedy Taylor, one-time associate of Ayn Rand, passed away October 29, 2005. (as reported here and here) Ms. Taylor is probably best known for her work: Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Rediscovered. She also contributed an essay to Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand, edited by Chris Sciabarra and Mimi Gladstein.
Ms. Taylor was interviewed in 2004 for The Objectivist History Project. In the interview, she recalled her first meeting with Rand and the surprising role that many early students of Objectivism played in bringing about the end of the military draft.
On a personal note, I had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Taylor while we waited for flights after TOC’s 2004 Summer Seminar in Vancouver. We spoke more about her association with Rand—of whom she had warm memories. I wish I had known Ms. Taylor better; she will be greatly missed.
In a stellar short essay, Uriah Kriegel illuminates a dangerous trend in legislative thinking — adherence to the principle: that which is not explicitly allowed is therefore forbidden.
Kriegel focuses on some absurd recent rulings of the European Commission, but his insights apply equally well to all countries’ regulatory bodies.
He rightly points out that such a principle is entirely antithetical to the American system of government, in principle if not always in practice.
His use of Justice Stephen Bryer’s recent book, Active Liberty, as an example is apropos, especially in light of recent debates over ‘judicial activism’.
Readers of Anthem and Atlas Shrugged will understand the principle already, but Kriegel makes his own case with no explicit reference to Rand’s philosophy.
And make it he does… in spades.
The essay is available on Tech Central Station’s web site.
From the Santa Barbara Independent:
THE INDY LIST
Top 10 Sellers at the UCSB Bookstore
In addition to the thousands of textbooks that fly through their doorsâ??such as Chemistry 1Aâ??s super-hot Chemicals and their Principles, which sold 750 copies in just two days on the shelfâ??the UCSB Bookstore also sells books that college students can use and enjoy. Here are the top 10:
1. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction, by Manfred B. Steger
2. Everything Is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer
3. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
5. Cliffâ??s Notes for Othello
6. Harper-Collins Latin Concise Dictionary
7. Oxford American College Dictionary
8. Better Homes and Gardensâ?? New Cookbook
9. An Insiderâ??s Guide to Santa Barbara, by Karen Hastings
10. The Guide to Getting It On, by Paul Joannides and Daereick Gross
According to a recent article in BoxOffice Mojo:
“…Howard Baldwin, [who] tells me that he is closer to bringing Ayn Rand’s epic to the screen. ” writes editor and publisher Scott Holleran.
There’s some reason to hope the screenplay will be faithful to the spirit of the novel.
“Based on a reading of the Atlas Shrugged script, producer Baldwin promises that Miss Rand’s essential principlesâ??reason, selfishness, capitalismâ??are integrated in the plot and that, as in the novel, businesswoman Dagny Taggart struggles to operate a transcontinental railroad in a nation run by preachy socialists, while looters and moochers pick at the remains.”
That would be welcome news, indeed.
As was announced on this Meta-Blog item, the upcoming Liberty Film Festival will honor Ayn Rand with the screening of We the Living. The festival will feature an additional item of interest to Ayn Rand fans: a panel discussion on the blacklisting of the Hollywood Ten, titled: “Was Communism a Threat to Hollywood?”
In 1947, Ayn Rand testified before the House of Un-American Activities Committee, who was investigating the Communist inflirtation of the Holloywood film industry. Rand, who testified on the false portrayal of life under Communism in the movie “Song of Russia,” had been vilified for her support of the HUAC. The recently published Ayn Rand and Song of Russia: Communism and Anti-Communism in 1940s Hollywood provides a detailed re-examination the role of communism in Hollywood, the nature of the HUAC, and the famously blacklisted Hollywood Ten.
PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE BLACKLIST:
“Was Communism A Threat to Hollywood?”
Moderator: Film historian/journalist John Meroney
Panelists: Richard Schickel (TIME film critic, noted film historian), James Hirsen (best-selling author, Hollywood Nation), Ron Radosh (Red Star over Hollywood), Patrick Goldstein (LA Times film critic, columnist), Ed Rampell (author, Progressive Hollywood) and Jeff Britting of the Ayn Rand Institute (producer of the Oscar-nominated Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life). Authors Richard Schickel, Ron Radosh, James Hirsen, Ed Rampell and Jeff Britting will do book signings after the panel.
EVENT 7 – Saturnday, October 22, 6:00PM – 7:15PM
Ticekt price – $8
Is Bond Corporation (as in, “James Bond 007”) Director Tony Oates an Ayn Rand fan? Sounds like it:
CURIOUS buyers from the ranks of Perth’s elite to suburban family battlers yesterday converged on a $5 million Swan Valley horse stud to pore over the goods and chattels at the former home of Bond Corporation director Tony Oates.
From the gleaming Rolls Royce to the rusty Japanese pick-up, the vehicle line-up outside the sprawling estate was testament to the broad appeal of the upmarket garage sale.
The high-profile status of the disgraced businessman helped pull in more than 500 punters, all eager to get a glimpse of the lifestyle once enjoyed by Oates, a man whose name is synonymous with 1980s corporate greed and the era known as WA Inc.
Bargain hunters Steve Good and Wendy Quinn, hobby farmers from Mandurah, thought the stud farm would have been a “grand place” to live.
But apart from a few knick-knacks, a tatty old horse rug emblazoned with the moniker, “The Bond Australia Show Jumping Championship South Australia – 1986” and a dog- eared copy of Ayn Rand’s Capitalism – The Unknown Ideal lying on top of a cardboard box of household junk, there were few hints to Oates’s private world.
Keep reading for more.
From a press release we received yesterday:
As part of its “100th Birthday Tribute to Ayn Rand,” the Liberty Film Festival will be screening the 1942 Italian classic, “We the Living,” based on Ayn Rand’s novel of the same name. Preceding the film will be special introductions by co-producer Duncan Scott, and by Jeff Britting of the Ayn Rand Institute.
The 2005 Liberty Film Festival will be held the weekend of October 21-23, 2005 at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. The Liberty Film Festival showcases films that celebrate the traditional American values of free speech, patriotism, and religious freedom. This yearâ??s festival includes over two dozen feature films, short subjects, panel discussions, and special events. The tribute to Ayn Rand will be the grand finale of the three-day festival.
â??We the Livingâ? was originally produced in Italy during World War II without the knowledge or consent of Rand. The film premiered in Rome, Italy, in 1942 in two parts entitled, NOI VIVI and ADDIO KIRA. Long thought to be lost, the film was rediscovered many years later by Randâ??s attorneys, Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer. Rand authorized the film’s restoration and Scott will talk about that process and of the embattled production history of the film.
Drawing from her early years as a young woman in Russia, â??We the Livingâ? is, perhaps, the most personal expression of Randâ??s ideas. New York Newsday said the film â??Stirs the soul… dazzling performances… qualifies in every respect as film treasure… one of the best movies of the year”. In his review of the film, movie critic Michael Medved called it “An amazing piece of cinema… I loved every minute of it…Valli has the same kind of quality as Garbo– just magical.” Medved will be at the Festival, moderating a panel discussion on Sunday afternoon.
For more information about the movie, visit www.wethelivingmovie.com.
100th Birthday Tribute to Ayn Rand with screening of â??We the Livingâ?
Event 13 â?? Sunday, October 23rd 2005 at 6:15pm
Ticket Price: $10
Pacific Design Center
SilverScreen Theatre, 2nd Floor Center Green,
8687 Melrose Avenue,
West Hollywood, CA 90069
For tickets to the â??100th Birthday Tribute to Ayn Randâ? or for other Liberty Film Festival events, go to www.libertyfilmfestival.com. Please note that tickets are only available for purchase on-line at the Liberty Film Festival website (Please do not contact the Pacific Design Center for tickets).
In a column from last December, conservative pundit George Will mentions Atlas Shrugged, semi-favorably, in a piece discussing Michael Crichton’s latest novel.
State of Fear is the story of the hunt for a group of radical environmentalists planning a ‘natural’ disaster for publicity purposes. Along the way a naïve, moderately left-leaning attorney has his eyes opened by a professor-cum-government operative who interrupts the plot occasionally to deliver miniature lectures.
Will writes:
“State of Fear,” with a first printing of 1.5 million copies, resembles Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” — about 6 million copies sold since 1957 — as a political broadside woven into an entertaining story. But whereas Rand had only an idea — a good one (capitalism is splendid), but only one — Crichton has information.
See Will’s full article for more information about Crichton’s book.
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