Ed Hudgins

Jordon, Chris and, of course, Barbara, I look forward to seeing you all. And I hope we can get a good turnout from the Objectivist Living community. It you missed our Summer Seminar, this is your chance to have a great day with other lovers of Atlas and lovers of life! And if you did go to the Summer Seminar, well, the fun just keeps on coming! -- Ed

Atlas Shrugged 50th Anniversary Celebration on October 6! Since its publication half a century ago, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged has inspired millions. Come hear leading scholars, experts and achievers discuss the literary, philosophical, moral, economic and political aspects of this great novel and its impact on our world--past, present and future. Our keynote speakers are John Stossel of ABC's 20/20 show and Charles Murray, libertarian scholar. (See full schedule below.) Hear any updates on the planned Atlas movie. Celebrate with others who love the book. Don't miss the excitement! If your life and thinking were changed by Atlas Shrugged, this is a day you won't want to miss! You can get further information, updates and register online at Atlasevents.org or http://www.atlasevents.org/atlas_shrugged_fifty.html. When: Saturday, October 6, 2007, 8:00am- 9:00pm. Conference and banquet location: Marriott Renaissance Hotel, Washington, D.C. Afternoon Reception: The Cato Institute, Washington, D.C. Seminar costs for entire day, reception at the Cato Institute and gala banquet: $210 before September 21. $250 after September 21. $150 student rate. $199 per night at Renaissance Hotel if registered by September 6. The Program: 8:00-9:00am -- Registration 9:00am -- Welcoming Remarks: *Edward Hudgins, executive director, The Atlas Society 9:15-10:30am -- Panel One *Anne Heller, author of an upcoming biography on Ayn Rand -- "Atlas and Rand's Life" *Mimi Gladstein, author of Atlas Shrugged: A Reader's Companion -- "Atlas and Rand the Writer" *David Kelley, founder and senior fellow, The Atlas Society -- "Atlas in Academia" 10:30-11:00am -- Coffee Break 11:00am-12:15pm -- Panel Two *Tibor Machan, professor, Chapman University, philosopher and author -- "Atlas and Ethics" *William Thomas, director of programs, The Atlas Society -- "Atlas and Loving Life" *David Mayer, professor of law and history, Capital University -- "Atlas and the American Revolution" 12:30-1:45pm -- Luncheon speaker: Charles Murray -- "Atlas and Achievement" 2:00-3:15pm -- Panel Three *Edward Younkins, professor of economics, Wheeling Jesuit University -- "Atlas and Economics" *Ed Snider, chairman, Comcast Spectacor -- "Atlas and the Entrepreneur" *Rob Bradley, president, Institute for Energy Research -- "Atlas and Business Ethics" 3:15-3:30pm -- Coffee Break 3:30-4:45pm -- Panel Four *Fred Smith, president, Competitive Enterprise Institute -- "Atlas and Politics" *Edward Crane, president, The Cato Institute -- "Atlas and the Fight for Freedom" *Edward Hudgins, executive director, The Atlas Society -- "Atlas & the Future of Objectivism" 5:00-6:15pm -- Reception at the Cato Institute. *Reflections on Atlas Shrugged by Nathaniel Branden and Barbara Branden. 6:30-9:00pm -- Gala Banquet *Keynote: John Stossel, "Atlas and America Today." *Final Remarks: David Kelley Register today!

Michael -- One of my talks at the Summer Seminar was on "The Anatomy of Belief." I didn't just denounce irrationality but tried to describe patterns that keep individuals from seeing the truth. These insights were not meant to exempt individuals from responsibiliy for their actions but to help us understand and thus more effectively deal with irrationality. By the way, Robert Campbell is probably familiar with one of the books I cite: Religion Explained, by Pascal Boyer.

Robert-- I don't know why Ellison left the Nation of Islam--certainly one of the worst of the worst groups in terms of ideology. It's certainly worth researching. Michael -- Do I think Ellison supports fundamentalist Islam? I give him the benefit of the doubt and say "No." But it is legitimate to be suspicious of Muslims in general. In the U.S. what we have not seen is massive rallys of Muslims in support of tolerance. (David Kelley did speak at a smaller rally in DC of a Muslim group opposed to terrorism a few years ago.) But on the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. there was a huge conference at the Finsbury Mosque in London in favor of and a celebration of the attacks. One can ask whether Muslims, if they find themselves in the majority, would push for a religious tyranny? We know that Catholics and other Christians supported religious freedom only when they did not have power to inflict their views on others via political power and thus feared repression. Unfortunately, Muslims did not have a Renaissance or Enlightenment as in the West, which involved freer thought and such secular pursuits as knowledge and beauty. (It's been a millennium since the height of Islamic civilization.) By the way, I am pleased that, if the reporting is correct, Ellison says he supports the right of atheists to be atheists. I have yet to hear such talk from most Republicans or see them speak before an audience of non-believers.

It’s legitimate to ask whether the American invasion of Iraq was in our security interest. And it’s right to criticize the Bush administration for an incompetent job after the initial victory over the Iraqi military. And as I said, there are legitimate concerns with the Patriot Act and other such measures. See my “Policing Phone Calls.” http://www.objectivistcenter.org/cth-43-16...hone_Calls.aspx But Saddam’s government, whose Baath Party can trace its ideological origins to Nazi Germany, was cruel, brutal and with no moral legitimacy; any party would be morally just to overthrow the regime and try to replace it with something closer to a free society. Comparing the Bush administration to Hitler's or Saddam’s regimes is the same sort of moral equivalence as comparing the United States to the Communist Soviet Union during the Cold War, that is, a rejection of moral standards and measurements. Islamo-fascists are the greatest international danger to peace and prosperity. They're faith-based fanatics perhaps even more dangerous ideologically than the communists, who at least claimed to seek economic prosperity. See my piece on “The Means and Ends of Islamists.” http://www.objectivistcenter.org/cth-43-13...mmentaries.aspx There are all too few Muslims—fortunately, I know some—who emphasize the need for their co-religionists to reject such radicalism or, better still, embrace the Enlightenment and become secular. This should be Job One for decent Muslims. See my piece on “Allah Bless America.” http://www.objectivistcenter.org/showconte...amp;printer=Tru Also see “The Pope vs. Islam.” http://www.objectivistcenter.org/cth--1767...for_Reason.aspx Ellison chose his religion. If he spent all his time denouncing Muslims worldwide who put out fatwas on Danish cartoonists, Salman Rushdie, innocent comments by the Pope, who rally and riot in the streets of Europe by the tens of thousands and generally act like savages, calling for the deaths of those who offend their offensive bigotry, I’d be impressed. But when I see this sort of speech, despite my problems with Bush, I know Ellison is part of the problem, not the solution.

Where to start? First, this guy is a Muslim convert. Most individuals stick with the religions in which their families indoctrinated them so you can cut such individuals some slack. But this convert to the especially irrational mess that is Islam is already known to be weak-minded if not profound irrationality. Second, since so many Muslims actually liked Hitler and since Hilter influenced the Baath movement among others, perhaps Ellison should be tipping his hat to Bush for his choice of political role models! Third, just as an historical point, most scholarship now suggests that the Nazis did not start the Reichstag fire though they certainly exploited it to the hilt with the Enabling Acts. I'm no fan of aspects of the Patriot Act nor the Bush administration's phone call monitoring without some sort of judicial oversight. But Ellison pushes such concerns too far on this one. Fourth, atheists are going to acquire an even worse reputation than they already have by inviting a guy like this to speak. I haven't looked at their website closely but I suspect this is a left-leaning atheist group. Ed -------- Bush like Hitler, says first Muslim in Congress By Toby Harnden in Washington Last Updated: 3:32pm BST 16/07/2007 (Keith Ellison, a convert to Islam, has cultivated a moderate image since being elected last November) America's first Muslim congressman has provoked outrage by apparently comparing President George W Bush to Adolf Hitler and hinting that he might have been responsible for the September 11 attacks. Addressing a gathering of atheists in his home state of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, a Democrat, compared the 9/11 atrocities to the destruction of the Reichstag, the German parliament, in 1933. This was probably burned down by the Nazis in order to justify Hitler's later seizure of emergency powers. "It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that," Mr Ellison said. "After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted." To applause from his audience of 300 members of Atheists for Human Rights, Mr Ellison said he would not accuse the Bush administration of planning 9/11 because "you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box - dismiss you". Vice-President Dick Cheney's stance of refusing to answer some questions from Congress was "the very definition of totalitarianism, authoritarianism and dictatorship", he added. Mr Ellison also raised eyebrows by telling his audience: "You'll always find this Muslim standing up for your right to be atheists all you want." A convert to Islam who was previously linked to the extremist Nation of Islam, Mr Ellison, 42, has cultivated a moderate image since being elected last November, concentrating on issues such as health and education. He is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq. But he angered his own anti-war supporters by voting for a budget bill that aims to end the war over the next 18 months. His followers want an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. After his speech was reported, Mr Ellison said he accepted that Osama bin Laden was responsible for 9/11. But his demagogic comments threaten to plunge him in controversy. Mark Drake, of the Republican party in Minnesota, said: "To compare the democratically elected leader of the United States of America to Hitler is an absolute moral outrage which trivialises the horrors of Nazi Germany." ------------ Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright[[/A>

Chris -- Yes, I'd go for 364 days of no taxes with one day of very, very low taxes to fund a very, very small government! Galt -- I usually use the short op-ed format to get people thinking rather than to present long policy or philosophical arguments, which wouldn't get published in most newspapers anyway. I was actually in a meeting and the chair was announcing that we wouldn't be meeting the next Wednesday, July 4, that we'd be "free that day." As a witty retort I said "It would be great to be free that day" meaning politically "free." The line got a laugh and I thought "That would make a good op-ed. Start with the premise that on the day we celebrate our 1776 revolution to establish individual liberty, maybe the government at minimum could free us from the tax burden for that day." Such an op-ed would get people thinking. I did mention in the piece not only income taxes but capital gain and many others that make up that tax burden that Ron Paul rightly damns. I didn't mention in detail the regulatory burden, which is probably about $1 trillion at the federal level alone because, since this was supposed to be a short, thought-provoking op-ed, not a policy paper. So let's hope lots of readers get the point! By the way, if you go to our website, www.atlassociety.org, you'll find a lot of pieces addressing the moral aspects of the tax system. Here's one on "April 15: A Day of Moral Shame." Here's one on "Tax Policy is Moral Policy." In most cases I made presentations of these pieces at an annual April 15th anti-tax events at the National Press Club in Washington which were broadcast on CSPAN.

Let's Declare the Fourth of July a Tax-Free Day! [This op-ed was published in The Washington Times, The Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), The Orangeburg Times and Democrat (Orangeburg, South Carolina), and The Pueblo Chieftain (Pueblo, Colorado); it was the subject of a commentary and quoted extensively in The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pennsylvania). Enjoy the op-ed and the holiday!] July 4, 2007 -- On July 4, 1776, America's Founders declared the country's independence from Britain, largely as a revolt against excessive and unfair taxation. So in our nation, which is much more overtaxed than it was over two centuries ago, it would be fitting if, in recognition of our Founding principles, federal, state and local governments made July Fourth a totally tax-free day. Many cities already suspend sales taxes for a few days a year on items such as clothing and school supplies, usually to garner the favor of overtaxed parents struggling to raise kids and to give mom and pop an incentive to frequent overtaxed downtown enterprises struggling to make profits. So wouldn't it be appropriate for all of us who struggle every day to be allowed to keep our money on that day on which we celebrate our freedom? The total direct tax burden on Americans — not counting the indirect taxes of regulations — is estimated at about 35 percent of our $13 trillion gross domestic product, or $4.5 trillion. That works out to more than $12 billion we would keep in our own pockets if we were truly independent on Independence Day. We wouldn't have to pay taxes on the hotdogs, beer and barbecue we purchase for Fourth of July picnics. And since for most of us this is a paid holiday, for that day we would receive our paychecks without income tax, Social Security taxes, unemployment insurance taxes and the like taken out. Such a tax-free day would be the time to fill up large SUVs and save $10 a tank in various fuel taxes. Malls would soon see Christmas-season sized crowds as shoppers seek to stretch their dollars. "Cute idea" you might say, "but since July Fourth is a holiday, many enterprises would be closed and therefore many individuals would not reap the full benefits of such a policy." But no doubt many individuals and enterprises would seek ways around other taxes. Eventually Wall Street, brokerage houses, banks and the like would stay open to avoid, for example, capital-gains taxes. Everyone could end up working that day but, hey, most of us would get overtime pay that would not be taxed. The Fourth of July could become the most commercially active day of the year. Picnics would be pushed aside for pension plans. Fireworks would give way to long work days. Time with the family would be replaced by time with financial facilitators. But won't this defeat the spirit of Independence Day? No. Taxes defeat the spirit of Independence Day. The Founding principle of this country is the right of each individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which all of our Founders acknowledged includes the right to acquire and own property. Millions of individuals came to these shores not to have their income redistributed by politicians but to work producing goods and services to make a prosperous life for themselves and their families. They wanted to realize their dreams of personal autonomy and independence, to run their own lives without the interference of masters, whether feudal lords or local bureaucrats. So what better way to celebrate Independence Day than through economic activity independent of government? Still, it would be better to retain traditional celebrations of the Fourth of July by returning to the antitax traditions we celebrate. Excessive taxes and government regulations rob us of our money and our autonomy and thus undermine that spirit of individualism by which each of us creates our own flourishing lives and spirits and that constitutes the spirit of America. Yes, let's ask our elected officials as a start to declare July Fourth a tax holiday. And let's insist they build on that day by cutting back taxes and thus expanding individual independence, which is the essence of America's political and moral revolution. ------- Edward Hudgins is the executive director of the Atlas Society — the center for Objectivism that celebrates human achievement.

Judith -- Yes, if you can get down to Philadephia to see Mahler's 8th, do so! While it's not my favorite Mahler symphony, all of his works are impressive and, as I say earlier in this post, it's a true experience, so do it! Peter, I saw Temirkanov do the Mahler 2nd when he joined as conductor at Baltimore and when he played his final concert there last year. Most impressive indeed! MSK and Baal -- I think when dealing with music we can acknowledge objective standards -- see Rand's essays in The Romantic Manifesto. And I think we can distinquish better from worse music within genres. But the function of music is personal, giving us joy, accompanying a contemplative mood, etc. Thus, while classical music and opera are my favorites, sometimes I'll listen to classic rock. And within that genre, while the Beatles are my favorite and I think objectively their work is more inventive, sophisticated and beautiful than most others, I can listen to works that I acknowledge as not up to that standard but works that I still enjoy. So guys--and gals in the case of Judith!--enjoy!

[Just a reminder!] More Speakers Not to Miss at Our Summer Seminar! If you haven't signed up yet for The Atlas Society's 2007 Summer Seminar on the theory and practice of Objectivism, held starting Sunday, July 8 and ending Saturday, July 15 in Towson Maryland, we want to remind you of more exciting and insightful speakers who you'll be able to hear at that event: *Walter Donway will follow up his much-acclaimed talk of last year on "Neuroscience and the Measure of Man" with the topic "Brain Science Discovers the Self." Walter, a founding and current trustee of The Atlas Society, started and edited the journal Cerebrum. His diverse talents will also be on display with his other Seminar talk, on "Poetry: The Supreme Romantic Art Form." *Jay Friedenberg, who last year gave us a two-part "Introduction to Cognitive Science" series, this year will discuss of "Emergent Order and the Free Society." The concept of emergent order is becoming an important tool to explain such diverse phenomena as the operation of the physical universe, human consciousness and economic systems. Jay chairs the Psychology Department at Manhattan College. *Douglas Rasmussen will discuss "Liberalism and Human Capacities." He will dispute those who appeal to the goal of promoting human capacities to justify a welfare and forced egalitarian state. Such an approach ignores the importance of the self-directed individual and the role of freedom in human flourishing. Doug is a philosophy professor at St. John's University and was co-editor of the book The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand. *David Mayer will speak about "Judicial Activism, Real and Imagined." He'll argue that complaints from both Left and Right about judges who overstep their bounds fail to appreciate the more basic principles about the separation of powers and rule of law. David is a professor of law and history at Capital University, an expert on Thomas Jefferson and popular Summer Seminar speaker. *William Klein will give a three-part series on "Business Ethics and Objectivism." Bill is president of The Center for Liberty Studies and a former assistant professor at Molloy College and at Central Michigan University. We'll also have talks on the application of Objectivist principles to one's own life; a three part series by TAS founder David Kelley looking "Inside Objectivism;" and a six-part series by William Thomas, our director of programs, treating various topics in Objectivism. You can see the full program details at on our website at The Atlas Society. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand's classic that was the fount of a new philosophy and an inspiration for millions of readers. The Summer Seminar offers the perfect opportunity to reflect upon the achievements of that philosophy and advance your knowledge of it in theory and practice. Towson is located just outside Baltimore and its Inner Harbor, where there are numerous restaurants, shops, and attractions to visit. Towson University is also just an hour's drive from Washington DC where you can visit the National Mall, the Smithsonian, and all the sites of interest in the Capital of the Republic. To see the full program and register online, either for the full week or for a few days, please visit us at http://www.atlasevents.org/ . To mail in your registration, please download and print the form found here. Students may attend at a special, highly discounted rate. At the Seminar you will meet many fascinating people, and the lectures and events are beyond compare. Please come join us for a week in "Atlantis," where the vision of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead is brought to life by people who know it and breathe it! Hope to see you there!

I remember too well talking with Objectivists in Boston or New York who were there, like me, attending events at which Rand was speaking and finding them twisting their own aesthetic tastes to fit what they thought Rand liked. I always stuck to my guns or, more accurately, my Wagner, Beethoven and Mahler!

I just saw Slatkin do Mahler's 1st with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. I had seen him do it at Wolf Trap a few years ago but this time I was in a stage box seat overlooking the orchestra, the best seat in the house! That blur in the photo is the ever-in-motion Slatkin who just about danced through the performance. The National Symphony kicked ass in this performance. The brass were excellent, especially good the lead French horn. Just say "Yes" to Mahler!

FYI -- In the latest episode of Penn and Teller BS they debunk a lot of anger management programs and at the end give examples of how people do positive things in the face of anger to empower themselves. One of the examples from Penn is “Ayn Rand was enraged by communists and people who tried to tear down heroes so she wrote Atlas Shrugged” as Teller throws a book with a hammer and sickle on the cover in the trashcan.

[Guys, here's my latest media appearance, different from the usual public policy stuff!] Edward Hudgins, executive director of The Atlas Society, is one of the interviewees featured on the History Channel special Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed[/i]. The show will air Monday, May 28 at 9:00pm Eastern Time, with repeats later. This special marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the first film in the successful sci-fi series. It also features interviews with news announcer Tom Brokaw, writer Camille Paglia, politico Newt Gingrich, and director Peter Jackson. Hudgins came to the show's attention through his articles on the politics and philosophy behind the latest installments of George Lucas's epic. In a piece posted on National Review Hudgins observed that in "Attack of the Clones," Lucas treats the question of how republics become tyrannies. The writer-director is right to show the dangers of concentrated political power and government corruption, although he is confused about the role of commerce in a republic. In his piece on "Are the Sith Selfish?" Hudgins says that Lucas's final film in the series is like a Greek tragedy and, as in the Iliad, we see the dangers of unchecked emotions. But Hudgins does criticize the confused moral message about how too deep an attachment to what one values most in life can lead to the "dark side." Hudgins You can read Hudgins's reviews at the URLs below. "Star Wars and Falling Republics": http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment- hudgins052002.asp "Star Wars: Are The Sith Selfish?": http://www.objectivistcenter.org/cth--1610- Star_Wars_Are_the_Sith_Selfish.aspx

Happy Birthday Barbara! Isn't it interesting that you seem to have one of these every year arouind this time? Best, Ed

For you Penn and Teller fans you can read about P&T in my article etitled "Skeptics and Humanists: Allies or Enemies of Individualism?" in The New Individualist, April, 2006 (By the way, when Penn Jillette had a radio show, he listed on the "books to read" part of his website Atlas Shrugged!) Finally, Penn and I at the James Randi conference in 2006:

One of the original seven Mercury Astronauts--only John Glenn and Scott Carpenter are left. He was the only one to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. ---- Thursday, May. 03, 2007 Astronaut Walter Schirra Dies at 84 By AP/THOMAS WATKINS (SAN DIEGO)—Astronaut Walter M. "Wally" Schirra Jr., one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts and the only man to fly on all three of NASA's early space missions, has died at the age of 84, NASA officials confirmed Thursday. Schirra, who commanded the first rendezvous of two spacecraft in orbit, died late Wednesday, said David Mould, NASA press secretary in Washington. Mould said Schirra had cancer, but he didn't know if that contributed to his death. In 1962, Schirra became the third American to orbit the Earth, encircling the globe six times in a flight that lasted more than nine hours. He returned to space three years later as commander of Gemini 6 and guided his two-man capsule toward Gemini 7, already in orbit. On Dec. 15, 1965, the two ships came within a few feet of each other as they shot through space, some 185 miles above the Earth. It was the first rendezvous of two spacecraft in orbit. His third and final space flight in 1968 inaugurated the Apollo program that sought to land a man on the moon. The former Navy test pilot said he initially had little interest when he heard of NASA's Mercury program. But he grew more intrigued over time and the space agency named him one of the Mercury Seven in April 1959. Supremely confident, he sailed through rigorous astronaut training with what one reporter called "the ease of preparing for a family picnic." He became the fifth American in space when he blasted off from Cape Canaveral on Oct. 3, 1962, aboard the Sigma 7 Mercury spacecraft. The first two American astronauts made suborbital space flights. "I'm having a ball up here drifting," Schirra said from space. At the end of his sixth orbit, Schirra piloted the capsule for a perfect splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. "No one has flown better than you," NASA Administrator James E. Webb told him a few days later. Mercury Seven astronauts who survive him are John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and Scott Carpenter. Although he never walked on the moon, Schirra laid some of the groundwork that made future missions possible. He liked to stress that NASA never planned to simply send a person to the moon. "Moon and back," Schirra would point out. "We did confirm a round trip from the very beginning. And `moonandback' is one word. No hyphens. No commas." His Gemini mission represented a major step forward in the nation's space race with the Soviet Union, proving that two ships could dock in space. Schirra's Apollo 7 mission in 1968 restored the nation's confidence in the space program, which had been shaken a year earlier when three astronauts were killed in a fire on the launch pad. His last space flight, aboard Apollo 7, shot into space in October 1968 atop a Saturn rocket, a version of which would later carry men to the moon. But Schirra and his two fellow crew members were grumpy for most of the 11-day trip. All three developed bad colds that proved to be a major nuisance in weightlessness. The following year, Schirra resigned from NASA and retired from the Navy with the rank of captain. He had logged 295 hours 154 minutes in space. "Mostly it's lousy out there," Schirra said in 1981 on the occasion of the first space shuttle flight. "It's a hostile environment, and it's trying to kill you. The outside temperature goes from a minus 450 degrees to a plus 300 degrees. You sit in a flying Thermos bottle." A native of Hackensack, N.J., Schirra developed an early interest in flight. His father was a fighter pilot during World War I and later barnstormed at county fairs with Schirra's mother, who sometimes stood of the wing of a biplane during flights. Wally, as he liked to be called, took his first flight with his father at age 13 and already knew how to fly when he left home for the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. After graduation in 1945, Schirra served in the Seventh Fleet and flew 90 combat missions during the Korean War. He was credited with shooting down one Soviet MiG-15 and possibly a second. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and two Air Medals. In 1984, he moved to the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe, serving on corporate boards and as an independent consultant. His favorite craft became the Windchime, a 36-foot sailboat. Schirra was inducted into the Naval Aviation Hall of Honor in 2000.

Chris -- We certainly will have any update at the Summer Seminar July 8-15; register before May 14th while the price is still low! Also we will be announcing soon our all-today October 6th celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Atlas Shrugged, to be held in D.C. We'll certainly have movie news at that event!

The planned Atlas movie is still progressing. I can't give details at this time but watch over the next few months for more news.

Perhaps reading this thread will inspire someone to start a metal band named "Techno-Valkyries and the Guitar Gods of Valhalla," though I suspect there probabaly already is one!

Victor -- Sounds like you've run into the problem many of us face: just not enough time to do all the things we want. I consider myself a part-timer on discussion boards because I'm doing all my TAS stuff and don't have time to read much less reply to all that is interesting and important on the boards. But I do keep an eye on them and throw in an occasional comment when I can. I've enjoyed your drawings, the posts of yours that I've read and seeing your joy in your romantic discovery. So I hope you'll stick around, even if on the sidelines, throwing in comments as occasions arise. Best regards, Ed Hudgins

Don't worry Judith, sheathe you weapon. I tend to love cute little things--new-born babies, tiny Polar Bears--and in any case I think Knut might have a little too much fat for my diet. However, spotted owl sautéd in a nice wine sauce...hmmm?

For Eskimos or the truly politically incorrect, check out this: http://www.itk.ca/environment/wildlife-polar-bear.php

Michael -- Maybe the environmentalist was sort of right. If Siegfried hadn't reforged his sword Notung in that famous scene in the opera bearing his name, he wouldn't have driven the dragon (formerly a giant) to extinction and those friendly creatures could be seen roaming the world rather than just fake ones in operas, Chinese New Year parades and big-budget special effects movies! It's too bad that in attempts to be "relevant," opera producers obscure the universal themes in the operas' stories.

Here's the scene at the 2007 Tax Day event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. You can catch it on repeats on CSPAN. (Check local listings.) I was the last speaker so that they could end with a ripping rhetorical jab at the current system. I also responded to a reporter's question on the Flat Tax by emphasizing the immorality of the current system, especially so-called "progressive" taxation, which should be referred to as punitive.