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I heard a lecture where Ayn Rand was answering a question where she was making a hypothesis about the number of people in Atlantis (it was about a thousand I think, but I have to check) in Atlas Shrugged. I can not refind it, does that tell you something? Thank you.

Midas Mulligan and Andrew Mellon Did Ayn Rand base her character Midas Mulligan on Andrew Mellon? I recently came up with this question reading The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes and, from Shlaes's description, it sure seemed plausible. Ayn Rand lived through the Great Depression and Mellon's name was everywhere in the culture up to and after that time. We know Rand often based her fictional characters on elements of real-life people. This was part of her literary technique. A famous example from her youth is killer William Edward Hickman. She observed Hickman in his murder trial and used elements of him (and the public's reaction to him) for her hero Danny Renahan in her unfinished work "The Little Street." You can read her notes of this process in The Journals of Ayn Rand. Her play Night of January 16th used the scandal of Ivar Kreuger for her main character Bjorn Faulkner (who never appears on stage). In The Fountainhead, Ellsworth Toohey was based on elements of Harold Laski (and others). In Atlas Shrugged, Robert Stadler's counterpart was J. Robert Oppenheimer and Nat Taggart was practically a rewrite of James Jerome Hill. This sleuthing could get fun one day. But although Rand used real people as templates, she never wrote in the spirit of Roman à clef. The purpose of her fiction works was always artistic, not disguised celebrity gossip. So let's look and see if Mellon and Mulligan fit. First, Amity Shlaes's the passage on Andrew Mellon from The Forgotten Man (Chapter 1 - "The Beneficent Hand"): Ayn Rand described Midas Mulligan early in Atlas Shrugged. Do I need to say it? I don't want to, but I guess I better. And this is only for the nitpickers in O-Land. Obviously Rand did not use Shlaes's work for her inspiration. The reason? The Forgotten Man was published in 2007 and Ms. Rand was a bit deceased at that time. However, there is no doubt Shlaes description represents the reality of Andrew Mellon and the general public perception of him when he was alive. Ayn Rand would have been well aware of that public perception. What's more, it makes a perfect template for Midas Mulligan. All Rand really needed to do was select the parts that interested her, pour her themes on top and let her imagination do the rest. Michael

Rick Santelli - We are living Atlas Shrugged Lookee here: Kewell! Michael

The OL Atlas Shrugged A-Store Do you know how much Atlas Shrugged stuff there is for sale? That you can buy? I didn't until I made this astore. Browse around below and see for yourself. Does Atlas Shrugged excite you? Of course it does. But do you want more than the novel? Do you want books about Atlas Shrugged? Criticism? Analysis? You'll find them here, the good, the bad and the ugly. And a lot more than books and DVD's, too. You can get t-shirts, fashion items, iPhone covers, posters, coffee mugs, money-clips, and all kinds of odds and ends. Just navigate on the sidebar. Or search. Oh... you could find this stuff by yourself on Amazon, but who wants to bother when you're in an Atlas mood? Here it's all preselected. And great for gifts. I hope you find something you like. May Atlas Shrugged shine on your life and those of your loved ones.

Is Dr. Robert Stadler alive and working, - no, shilling,- for NASA?? In a hurry to justify their grants and their resultant jobs, NASA "scientists" have issued the following report. (total ignoring their - or other global warming alarmists' - earlier near-hysterical reports that the "Antarctic Ice Shelf is thinning due to global warming, - and could break-off at any minute! ).featured on AOL and probably the Huffington Report (seeing that they are the same people): http://www.aol.com/article/2014/10/08/antarctic-sea-ice-hits-an-all-time-high-nasa-blames-global-warming/20974708/?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl7|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D542513 No, really!

The ATLAS SOCIETY has a limited time offer (next five days) for a FREE copy in eBook Kindle format of their just released book (to coincide with the movie release of Atlas 3: Who is John Galt?), ATLAS SHRUGGED: THE NOVEL, THE FILMS, THE PHILOSOPHY, from Amazon. Go to The Atlas Society site for details, or look the book up on Amazon.

Apparently, the completed entire movie, Atlas Shrugged, Part 3, was screened at the Future of Freedom conference last Wednesday (according to their Agenda). If this really happened (probably a test run to get audience response), I wonder what were the reaction(s) to the movie? Anybody know? Curiously, the agenda for The Atlas Society Summit (which started Thursday in New Hampshire), indicated that excerpts, but not the full movie, was to be shown at their conference. Perhaps they also are now planning to screen the completed movie.?

Quick question, In Atlas Shrugged as you all know Hank is blackmailed into signing away Rearden Metal and later in part three realizes it was not correct for him to give in that it was immoral but, isn't he under the threat of a force, which would make him given in justified, is him signing away the metal justified but he still believes he shouldn't have or is it not justified? Hope that makes sense Thanks, David C.

I am just beginning the third part of Atlas Shrugged and I am sad to see it end. My perspective on life has certainly been changed, and I am so glad I decided to read this book. My question pertains to objectivist novels, are there other novels that preach objectivism not written by Ayn Rand. I never like to read the same author twice in a row and would like the read something in-between Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead. Thanks, David C.

Well, there it is, Galt's Speech. Parts of it read and emphasized by Ted Cruz on the Senate floor, today See the C-Span link http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4465993 A first? Probably not the last! Watch MSNBC go ballistic!

Link to an article in the London Telegraph, comparing Ayn Rand's depiction of Starnesville and Detroits economic collapse. Not identical, but some interesting paralells. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100227375/obamanomics-is-turning-america-into-detroit-ayn-rands-starnesville-come-to-life/

A 20 year veteran and a former member of the Navy's SEAL TEAM 6 as Chris Beck,, retires from the Service - comes out publicly as a transgender woman, Kristin Beck, as recounted in her autobiography, Princess Warrior.(which is also the title of her Facebook page - check it out)! Well, making that sort of very dramatic life change certainly takes a lot of "intestinal fortitude," to say the least! But what does this have to do with Objectivism? Maybe a lot. Guess what books inspired her the most? Atlas Shrugged and Robert Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land. OL members may or may not, support her decision to have a sex change. (Personally, I do.In her case and anyone else if they so desire. Their life is their own. But it would take much more than the skills shown in Nip and Tuck, to make such a transformation on me. Some things are beyond medical science!). The virtues of Courage, Independence, Self-Esteem, and Integrity can be expressed in many ways. It is not coincidental, that Kristin lists ATLAS SHRUGGED as a book that influenced and inspired her. Warrior princess: From Navy SEAL to transgender crusader www.wtop.com Transitioning from Christopher to Kristin Beck wasn't a choice for the former Navy SEAL, it was an imperative. Note: For some reason, Kristin's photo did not print. No problem! Just click on the URL above to get the picture!

While at OCON the other day I saw a talk by a programmer named Jason Crawford and he spoke a bit about spreading Objectivism. He has a cool little site that matches students who want to read Ayn Rand's works to people who have been touched by the philosophy and want to donate books to these students. If you have extra books around you want to share or would like to buy books for these students pledging to read them, check out the site at http://freeobjectivistbooks.org/

Hello All, I am the new CEO of The Atlas Society. I am giving a webinar next Monday @ 9pm ET called Galt's Gulch Now! We have limited availability, so if you are interested, please register now at http://www.atlassociety.org/webinar-galts-gulch-now I have provided a brief description below: In reaction to the negative global trends for economic freedom and personal freedom, a number of new communities are being created using the "Galt’s Gulch" moniker from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. In this live, interactive presentation, Atlas Society CEO Aaron Day will review the state of economic and personal freedom, discuss and define "Galt’s Gulch," and then analyze some of the larger initiatives (such as Glenn Beck’s Independence Park and The Free State Project) to see if they meet the essential definition of a "Galt’s Gulch." Sign up now to reserve your spot and participate in the online discussion after the presentation. Best, Aaron

http://news.msn.com/us/day-of-service-a-chance-to-give-back-to-the-communityItem for THE OBJECTIVIST "HORROR FILE" - Where are you when we need you? Did you know that TODAY is the NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE? Of course, you did! But in case you didn't, it was started with " Mr Thompson's" first inauguration. Did you miss it? Here's your chance! Did you foolishly think that working in your job or other creative personal endeavor might be considered as also contributing to the economy and general standard of living in your community? Well, of course not! YOU MUST SERVE! YOU MUST "VOLUNTEER" (for now) and drop any silly selfish activity and SERVE OTHERS? HOW? You want to know, don't you? This article http://news.msn.com/us/day-of-service-a-chance-to-give-back-to-the-community will give you the links to find local SERVICE in your community. If you need inspiration, consider how previous efforts have benefitted their people: such as the MAO'S "GREAT LEAP FORWARD" where up to 45 million were killed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward and followed-up by MAO'S CULTURAL REVOLUTION http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution in China during the 1960's, forcing selfish city dwellers to go out and work in the fields. Or POL POT'S PEOPLES REVOLUTION IN CAMBODIA which took inspiration from the Maoists in even a more direct application (see the movie, THE KILLING FIELDS). Perhaps, these past glorious attempts will inspire "Mr. Thompson". After all, there are still people who think like this: "I wished to come here and say that the integrity of a man's creative work is of greater importance than any charitable endeavor. Those of you who do not understand this are the men who're are destroying the world." "Mr. Thompson" (well, actually, his clone in The White House) has plans for you. And he is watching.

(Revised, with corrections) A criticism of Rand that is repeated ad nauseum, is that her depiction of government bureaucrats in Atlas Shrugged are merely caricatures, grossly and unfairly exaggerating their incompetance, and bearing little resemblance to the behavior of "real-world" government bureaucrats. Well, here are four real-world examples which illustrate that , if anything, she underestimated the degree of their incompetance: 1) The blundering of FEMA and other federal and state agencies in New York state and in New Jersey, who, despite Obama sending in the National Guard to assist, have shown themselves to be utterly unequal to the tasks assigned to them. This has been amply documented in the media with stories of the anger and despair of residents in those area still without powere, heat, and in some cases adequate shelter and food. Remind your liberal friends of the glowing accounts in the MSM, immediately after the storm, about how efficient and swiftly effective Obama and FEMA were in handling this situation. Instead, reality butts in. 2) The ongoing mega-multi-scandals invovling General Petreus who, as CIA Director was unable to find or use a secure encrypted method to seng his own emails to his biographer/lover. This was followed by even worse evidence of incompetency from the General in charge of our Afghanistan forces - who was also preoccupied also sending voluminous emails of a "flattering" (at least) nature.and perhaps also fooling around with some socialite who had a thriving business "hosting" top military brass. This guy was preparing to become the Supreme Commander of NATO forces! 3) And then there is the ongoing scandal of our government's failure to protect out Ambassador to Libya from being assassinated in a "safehouse"(??) in Benghazi. Since that attack, there have been numerous stories that the Whitehouse had been warned of an impending attack by our Ambassador - and still was unable to send nearby U.S. military forces that could have saved him. Now we see the Whitehouse staff , the State Department, the FBI, and the CIA (!!) falling over each other in C.Y.A. attempts. This story is only going to get worse as it inevitably unfolds. 4) A documentary produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Commission, aired a couple of weeks ago, on the History Channel (unfortunately, I have been unable so far to find a link to that particular program). It gave considerably more details on the actions of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government on the day of the original 9-11 2001 attack, than had been known previously. It is shown that there was a complete breakdown of the elaborate emergency plans that had been set up to protect the President and others in the Executive Branch in case of a surprise attack.. These plans had been drafted years ago in the Reagan Administration, by Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, to develop elaborate measures to deal with a possible nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. And, even though these original drafters of that plan were in the Whitehouse on 9-1-1, even they could not get their own plan to work! After being notified that the twin towers in New York had been hit, the Secret Service was supposed to quickly escort President Bush back to Air Force One, but they went the opposite direction for another 45 minutes before discovering their mistake and doubling back. Then, the Emergency Communications system on Air Force One failed and they could not establish communication with The Whitehouse. A cellphone was borrowed and they had to use a non-secure line to finally contact The Whitehouse. The Emergency Plan had called for there to be air cover over Washington, but only one jet fighter was available, and it was unarmed. There was a concern that there may have been another hi-jacked airliner on its way to hit The Whitehouse or the Capitol building. The pilot's plan , without any armanents, was to collide with the expected airliner in order to bring it down., Even back at The Whitehouse, there was confusion as to exactly who was running the show in the President's absence. Ignoring the line of Executive succession established by the Constitution, General Alexander Haig announced to the press that he was in command. Chaos reigned for a while until it was finally decided who was supposed to be in charge. The point of the documentary was to show that the nation's Executive branch Emergency Plan, completely broke down. If there had been an ongoing concerted attack by the terrorists or worse, by the Russians with nuclear missiles, the Executive Branch would have been "decapitated." Even Ayn Rand could not have foreseen this level of gross incompetency!