Category: News

Founders College Launches Beta Web Site

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

FoundersWeb_Logo.gifWe just received the following announcement:

Greetings!
There’s been a lot of mystery surrounding the startup of Founders College — the greatest revolution in higher education of our lifetime. You can be the first to get the real deal (not the media mush) on this exciting project by checking out www.founderscollege.com. Whether youâ??re a friend or just curious about the project, youâ??re getting a first look because youâ??re a rational, prolific, powerful web communicator. There will be many exciting milestones to come — announcement of our location, full faculty listing, and much, much more — and weâ??ll be in touch along the way.
Best,
Tamara K. Fuller
Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer
Founders College Education, Inc.

Their web site looks like a good start to a great idea. (I mean, who could not love that logo?)

Capitalism = Happiness?

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

The situation may not be as simple as “Living Under Capitalism = Being Happier” but a new article in New Scientist called “Wealthy Nations Hold the Key to Happiness” suggests that such a conclusion is not far from the truth.
The “Map of World Happiness” below sums it up pretty well. Red indicates happiness. Yellow indicates unhappiness.

world-happiness.jpg

From the article:

According to the analysis, a countryâ??s happiness is closely related to its wealth, along with the health and education levels of its people. It is no surprise that people spending heavily on healthcare, such as US citizens, rank highly, says White, as this investment increases life expectancy and general wellbeing.
“There is a belief that capitalism leads to unhappy people,” he says. “However, when people are asked if they are happy with their lives, people in countries with good healthcare, a higher [earnings] per capita, and access to education were much more likely to report being happy.”

Many thanks to friend and political-happiness scholar Will Wilkinson for calling this new article to our attention.

This certainly adds an interesting twist to the “Materialism = Unhappiness” equation that we hear advanced a lot, implicitly or otherwise, in American Buddhist and leftist circles.

Here is an interesting tidbit:

Countries that rank in the top 20 in both Whiteâ??s list and the Happy Planet Index â?? presumably very happy places indeed â?? are Costa Rica, Bhutan and Antigua and Barbuda.

I wonder what these countries have going for them.

Objectivist "Founders College" Headed for Maine?

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

An update on the (Objectivist-backed) Founders College, from some apparently disappointed citizens of Oxford, North Carolina:

Organizers of Founders College seem to increasingly have their sights set on a $26.4 million coastline retreat for sale in Maine instead of opening for business in Oxford.
Harry Osgood, a higher education specialist for the Maine Department of Education, said that plans were almost set for an Aug. 8 hearing by an application review team.
Once representatives of Founders College are called forward, “The show is theirs to make,” Osgood said.

See the full article for much more on the subject.
And for more background about the college, see this Inside Higher Ed article from last month:

New private liberal arts colleges arenâ??t established every day, so pending proposals in Maine and North Carolina to create institutions from scratch have officials in those states intrigued. But the proposals, which have been cloaked in mystery, are raising some eyebrows â?? partly because of their sponsorsâ?? ties to Ayn Randâ??s Objectivism philosophy, and partly because of suggestions that Maine officials expedited their usual process for approving new colleges because the collegeâ??s backers are reportedly looking to buy a vacant $26 million piece of land. (Maine officials deny those accusations.)
Applications to create Founders College, as the new institution would be called, were submitted nearly a year ago in North Carolina and just last month in Maine. The main people behind both applications are Gary Hull and Eric Daniels, who are a senior lecturing fellow and visiting assistant professor, respectively, at Duke Universityâ??s Program on Values and Ethics in the Marketplace, one of multiple such programs at colleges in North Carolina that are supported financially by BB&T Bank.

Keep reading…

Monika Kovacs Places 2nd in Canadian Provincials

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

I just received word that Atlasphere member Monika Kovacs (pictured below, at left) has won second place (in “medium class figure”) at this year’s Canadian Provincials female bodybuilding competition.

Monika Kovacs (pictured at left)

Congratulations, Monika! And… WOW. 🙂
“What makes this event especially amazing to me is what led up to it,” she writes. “I attended the first Provincials two years ago as a spectator and looked at the stage full of graceful beauties like a child looks at a window of a candy store, with eyes sparkling and wide open, wishing they could indulge.
“I went back last year. Then and there my passions and love of competing intensified, and I knew I wanted to be back, and I had to be there!
“I am soooo happy and at the same time so tired now! I am taking a little break as my body and mind are very exhausted. I cannot wait to be back on track again and set out to achieve my next goals.”
Keeping my fingers crossed that she can fit us in for a full interview at the Atlasphere one day soon.
UPDATE: I just learned that Monika also won the Northern Ontario Championship on June 10th.  And she has agreed to do an interview with the Atlasphere, so hopefully we’ll have that ready within a couple weeks!

"The Atlas Society" Becomes TOC's Official Name

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Today The Objectivist Center announced that it will begin using “The Atlas Society” as its official name:

As you know we’ve had an Atlas Society since 1999. That name and the special part of our website were meant to appeal to those who read Ayn Rand novels and are taken — as so many of us are — by the excitement, romance and vision of a benevolent society of productive individuals. Rand’s books sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year. Thus there is a potentially huge audience for our organization. And now that an Atlas Shrugged movie is seriously in the works, that audience is likely to grow.

Indeed it is.
Keep reading for more information about The Objectivist Center Atlas Society’s decision.

Spring 2006 Journal of Ayn Rand Studies

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

The Spring 2006 issues of the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies has been published. From the announcement on Chris Sciabarra’s site:

It gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of the Spring 2006 issue of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. The issue features a dialogue on Ayn Rand’s ethics, with contributions from Tibor R. Machan, Frank Bubb, Eric Mack, Douglas B. Rasmussen, Robert H. Bass, Chris Cathcart, and Robert L. Campbell. In addition, there are articles covering topics in epistemology (Merlin Jetton) and literature (Kurt Keefner and Peter Saint-Andre). Other contributors include Sheldon Richman on Thomas Szasz and Ayn Rand; Max Hocutt on postmodernism; Steven Yates on capitalism and commerce; and David M. Brown on the new Ayn Rand Q&A book.
The issue opens with my own tribute to R. W. Bradford, without whom The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies would never have been founded. This Spring 2006 issue is dedicated to the memory of Bradford, Joan Kennedy Taylor, and Chris Tame. A PDF of my tribute piece is available here.
For subscription information, see here.

'Keeper of the Flame' Endorsed by Rush Limbaugh

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Leading talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh recently endorsed, on the air, Henry Mark Holzer‘s new book, The Keeper of the Flame: The Supreme Court Jurisprudence of Clarence Thomas.
Holzer was Ayn Rand’s lawyer in the 1960s, and his new book represents an important contribution to the public debate about Thomas’s legacy on the Supreme Court, because it provides objective information about Thomas’s actual decisions, helping counter the innuendo and ad hominem public attacks that Thomas has suffered since his nomination to the high bench.
The Atlasphere recently published an excerpt from the book as a feature column, under the title “Clarence Thomas: The Keeper of the Flame.”
Also, economist Thomas Sowell has penned a glowing review of the book (which we will be publishing soon as an op-ed). This is no doubt how the book came to Limbaugh’s attention.
Limbaugh himself has a (justifiably) mixed reputation among Objectivists, but his public prominence will no doubt help bring this important book to the attention of the many individuals who should be reading it. In the past, Limbaugh has also recommended that his listeners should read Atlas Shrugged.
The audio recording of Rush’s endorsement is available online.
The book itself is available for purchase through Amazon.com.

Firefly Season 2 Project

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

More than a few fans of Ayn Rand’s novels are also fans of Joss Whedon’s ill-fated Firefly television series. For background, see Monica White’s review of Firefly and Jeff Perren’s review of Serenity, and our earlier blog posts on related topics.
Now it looks like an independent production company is seeking the rights to continue producing Firefly:

Captain Mal and the crew of Serenity need your help to stay flying.

We are looking to push the envelope of episodic television by offering Season Two of Firefly in a groundbreaking new format. Each episode (or the entire season) would be made available for purchase in Standard or Hi-Definition.

It’s possible that subscribers may choose one of three playback options; monthly DVD deliveries, TV On-Demand using your cable or satellite provider, or computer viewing via Streaming Download.

It’s also possible that a box set of DVD’s would be available at the end of the season.

In order for our plan to be successful, we need to take stock of the browncoat recruits that support our cause. It will only take a minute, is strictly confidential, and each profile will take us one step closer to victory!

For more information, visit the web site and fill out their support survey for the project.

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