Author: s1e2t3u4p5

Gary Hull Writes of Valentine's Day

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

ARI op-ed columnist Gary Hull has written an editorial exploring the nature of love from an Objectivist viewpoint. From his column:

The nature of love places certain demands on those who wish to enjoy it. You must regard yourself as worthy of being loved. Those who expect to be loved, not because they offer some positive value, but because they don’t ? i.e., those who demand love as altruistic duty ? are parasites. Someone who says “Love me just because I need it” seeks an unearned spiritual value ? in the same way that a thief seeks unearned wealth. To quote a famous line from The Fountainhead: “To say ‘I love you,’ one must know first how to say the ‘I.'”
Valentine’s Day ? with its colorful cards, mouth-watering chocolates and silky lingerie ? gives material form to this spiritual value. It is a moment for you to pause, to ignore the trivialities of life ? and to celebrate the selfish pleasure of being worthy of someone’s love and of having found someone worthy of yours.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Salon.com on Ayn Rand Dating Service

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Lynn Harris has written a Salon.com article about niche dating sites, which includes kind remarks about the Atlasphere and its denizens:

More and more sites now employ some sort of virtual velvet rope to screen out undesirables; others focus around hobbies, interests, tastes and lifestyles ? and not just dirty ones. These niche sites are more eclectic still than personals services devoted to specific ethnicities, religions, basic sexual preferences, or readers of the same online magazine.
Looking for fellow bikers? Why they’re right here. For doctors? Armchair astrologists? Raw foodies? Geeks? Fans of “Buffy,” “Smallville,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Star Trek”? Just a click away. People with pets can go toKissyKat.com, which is for single animal lovers willing to use a site called KissyKat.com.
There’s also ? my personal favorite ? the Ayn Rand Online Dating Service (part of the Rand-admirer community “the Atlasphere”), whose members, fans of Rand-flavor reason and rationality (and perhaps Objectivism), would totally win a rumble against the “metaphysically minded people” searching for their “twinflames” at Astral Hearts Metaphysical Personals.

Isn’t that the truth.

Adam Vinatieri Discusses Atlas Shrugged

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Commitment is important in football, but not all players’ inspiration for excellence and commitment is instilled by the coach. Here’s a few words from Adam Vinatieri on his favorite book, Atlas Shrugged.

If you assume Vinatieri’s reading list begins and ends at Field & Stream, guess again. His favorite book is Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. It is an epic novel about a society in mysterious decline, and about the death and rebirth of the human spirit. The book profoundly influenced Vinatieri’s feelings about the importance of pride in the work place.
“The book’s about commitment,” he says. “Whatever you do and whatever you’re going to put your name on, whatever you’re going to sign as your work, do it to be proud of what you’re doing. Do it the best you can and you’ll never be disappointed. You’ll never have to say, ‘What if I had tried a little harder?'”

From an NFL.com interview conducted by Vic Carruci. The column is titled “Kickin’ back with the Vinatieris.”

Bidinotto Lecturing on 'Guerrilla Activism'

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Robert Bidinotto will be delivering a lecture in New York City on March 4th titled “Guerilla Activism: How One Individual Can Wage and Win Ideological Battles.”
From the announcement:

Thursday, March 4, 2004, 7:00 p.m.
The Shelburne Murray Hill Hotel
Ballroom, main floor
303 Lexington Avenue @ 37th St. (see map)
Free admission-no reservation necessary
Social change depends primarily upon the spread of new ideas. And spreading those ideas depends, in turn, upon effective persuasion. But how can one person be heard amid the din of millions of other voices clamoring for public attention? How can a single individual hope to compete with organized non-profits, well-heeled propagandists, slick politicians, and famous pundits? Does it take a lot of money and sophisticated resources? Or are there principles that anyone can apply to wage and win philosophical and political battles in the public arena?

See Bidinotto’s announcement for further details.

International Ayn Rand Meetup Day

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Meetup.com provides a new way for people of common interests to gather for mutual benefit. Admirers of Ayn Rand’s novels may be particularly interested in aynrand.meetup.com, which enables participants to:

Meetup with other local fans of author Ayn Rand and her philosophy, Objectivism ? a philosophy of Reason, Purpose and Self-Esteem that holds human life on this Earth as the standard of all values and your life as an end in itself.

From the ?About Meetup? page on the Meetup web site:

Meetup helps people get together with a group of neighbors that share a common interest. We power global, monthly “Meetup Days” for almost any interest group. Meetup is an advanced technology platform and global network of local venues that helps people self-organize local group gatherings on the same day everywhere. Meetups take place in up to 612 cities in 51 countries at local cafés, restaurants, bookstores, and other local establishments.
Meetup earns its money from:

  • Establishments that pay to be listed as possible Meetup venues (MVPs)
  • Users that sign up for Meetup+
  • Organizations that want special services to help strengthen their community
  • Sponsors that have relevant messages for Meetup chapters (text ads only)

We believe that it’s possible to be profitable while doing great things for people.
For more info, see messages from people that have gone
to a Meetup and press reports about Meetup.

Visit aynrand.meetup.com to register, or to host an Ayn Rand Meetup near you. [Thanks to Luke Setzer for this news tip.]

2004 TOC Summer Internship

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

The Objectivist Center is offering a paid 10-12 week internship at its offices. The internship is intended to provide training in writing on Objectivist themes. In addition, unpaid internship applications and fellowship project ideas will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
More information along with the application is available on the internship and fellowship page of the TOC web site.The application deadline is April 9, 2004.

TOC Graduate Scholarships

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

The Objectivist Center has announced plans to offer up to a maximum of $12,000 annually in living expenses and tuition and fees to support qualified graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in philosophy and closely related fields such as psychology and cognitive science. The application Deadline for Fall 2004 is March 1st.
More information and application forms are available on the graduate scholarship page of the TOC web site.

New 'We the Living' Movie Site

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Duncan Scott Productions has launched a new web site for the We the Living movie, which includes historical information about the movie as well as a link to purchase the video via PayPal.
The Atlasphere recently published a two-part interview with Duncan Scott, wherein he talks extensively about his experiences releasing the movie in America, with Ayn Rand’s approval and guidance.
…Stay tuned for developing news about the big screen re-release of We the Living in San Francisco next month.

IHS Summer Seminars

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Interested in receiving training to help advance the cause of liberty? The Institute for Humane Studies is offering a variety of free seminars targeted towards students and recent graduates who want to bolster their understanding of the economic, political, and cultural foundations of liberty.
From their seminar overview:

If you’re like many students, you’re not quite satisfied with standard answers to social and political issues. You like to think for yourself, and you often come up with answers that don’t fit neatly into “left” or “right” pigeonholes.
In the face of new global challenges, IHS seminars provide an opportunity to re-examine society and politics from outside the usual boundaries. They open a window on the classical liberal or libertarian perspective – a perspective that begins with individual liberty and explores where that leads for the individual, community, government, economy, culture…

The seminars are offered in a number of locations across the country. Visit the IHS summer seminars page for further details.

Lecture on Kay Nolte Smith in Washington, D.C.

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Atlasphere columnist Michelle Fram-Cohen will be delivering a lecture entitled “A Tribute to Kay Nolte Smith” at the Washington Metro Objectivism Discussion (WMOD) group on Saturday, January 31st.
From her recent column for the Atlasphere on this same topic:

This year is the tenth anniversary of Kay Nolte Smith’s death. It is hard to believe that less than twenty years ago, her novels stirred up an audience of admirers of Rand’s work yearning for romantic writings, and were the topic of animated discussions, while today, all but one of her eight books are out of print. Yet Kay Nolte Smith was the most prolific, successful and original
novelist to come out of Ayn Rand’s inner circle.

For more information about her upcoming lecture, see the WMOD announcement on their web site.

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