Kat

Hi Stewart. Welcome to OL. Thanks for the update on your program. I have added it to our online calendar and you can feel free to add events as they come up. I wish you success with the program. Kat

Penn in drag as Dagny?.... yes, I would pay to see that one. LOL

I get approached by these clipboard people all the time trying to rope me into their causes whether it be greenies, sponsoring starving kids in Africa or whatever. I'm not sure if they are volunteers or get paid, but I usually just shake my head and keep walking. Sometimes if they are trying to get me to sponsor a child I will tell them I have my own special needs child at home and that's enough for me thank you. But then they say God bless you which is also irritating. Maybe next time I'm approached by a green activist I'll tell them my environment is just dandy and giving them money won't make it an dandier... I dunno. Need a good wisecrack. Kat

Joel will be appearing on the Hannity show next Thursday on the Great Great Great American Panel. Go Joel!

One of the cool things about being filthy stinking rich is that you can spend and give money away freely.... and giving money away does feel good....But if the rich give nearly all their money away, who will be around to pay the taxes to support the health care plan and support the poor here? I think a good portion of their philanthropy goes to Africa and developing countries and a lot of good causes here are struggling to stay afloat. I guess I'm just wondering if they would still feel the same about giving if they could only write off domestic charity or if there were no tax incentives. I'm sure the pledge thing is to boost the public perception of them so it may be in their self-interest to do this. After all most people love altruists.... but is it still altruism if you have so much that it is not a sacrifice to give it away? Personally, I think this type of thing should be done privately, but I've never been a proponent of social responsibility either. Kat

Sometimes I add friends from work... but only if they'll milk my cows or work in my kitchen. B) btw - it is easy to hide the games so you don't see all the game stuff. Hover over the post until a hide button comes up and then you can stop seeing farmville or whatever. I've blocked the sorority and mob games and others I don't care to see. kat

Hi Stephen and welcome to Objectivist Living. Thanks for the compliment; I'm glad you like our little online home. We do try to keep the food fights to a minimum but sometimes they pop up and can be quite colorful... or not. I pretty much stay away from Comrade Sonia and other nasty vicious people with big pointy teeth and I don't know what HPO is. Feel free to pop in and post every now and again. Kat

Hi Sarah. Welcome to Objectivist Living. I hope you enjoy it here. I'm reading Anne's book now too. Kat

I actually ordered deep fried twinkies at a restaurant (Hamburger Mary's) today and they were pretty yummy. They served up 3 twinkies with raspberry sauce and lots of whipped cream. I shared with 2 friends and they also gave them a thumbs up. Kat

Just speculating here, but I think Phil read the evil book and is having difficulty resisting the seductive pull of the dark side.

Here is Joel's appearance on today's morning news. They show a clip of the Shorebank protest and I'm on TV for a fraction of a second. :-) Spread the word about this guy and support him if you can. <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="video" width="320" height="280" data="http://www.myfoxchicago.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=2046"><param'>http://www.myfoxchicago.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=2046"><param value="http://www.myfoxchicago.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=2046" name="movie"/><param value="&skin=MP1ExternalAll-MFL.swf&embed=true&adSrc=http%3A%2F%2Fad%2Edoubleclick%2Enet%2Fadx%2Ftsg%2Ewfld%2Fwildcard%5F8%2Fwildcard%5F89%2Fdetail%3Bdcmt%3Dtext%2Fxml%3Bpos%3D%3Btile%3D2%3Bfname%3Dfox%2Dchicago%2Dsunday%2Djoel%2Dpollak%2D20100611%3Bloc%3Dsite%3Bsz%3D320x240%3Bord%3D160523666014421150%3Frand%3D0%2E7202657702821306&flv=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emyfoxchicago%2Ecom%2Ffeeds%2FoutboundFeed%3FobfType%3DVIDEO%5FPLAYER%5FSMIL%5FFEED%26componentId%3D132582941&img=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2%2Emyfoxchicago%2Ecom%2F%2Fphoto%2F2010%2F06%2F11%2F0611%2Dfcs%2Dpollak%5Ftmb0000%5F20100611164444%5F640%5F480%2EJPG&story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emyfoxchicago%2Ecom%2Fdpp%2Fwildcard%5F8%2Ffoxchicagosunday%2Ffox%2Dchicago%2Dsunday%2Djoel%2Dpollak%2D20100611" name="FlashVars"/><param value="all" name="allowNetworking"/><param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"/></object>

I attended a rally with Joel Pollak this week protesting the bailout of Shorebank, which is politically connected to his opponent Jan Schakowsky as well as Van Jones. I had the opportunity to meet Joel and I do hope he wins this one. Support him if you can... and if you have friends in the Chicago area, tell them about Joel. Joel's article "Why I'm Running as a Tea Party Republican" in the Wall Street Journal. Here is the article with an updated link that will allow you to read the article without subscribing: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704342604575222194271251722.html If you would like to attend Joel's fundraiser in Chicago, Lunch with Joel Pollak and Alan Dershowitz see info on his facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4113090&id=138358479184&ref=mf#!/PollakForCongress?v=app_2344061033&ref=ts

hmmmm. Looks like we have here a classic example of psychological invisibility. Stop fighting, guys.

We attended a lecture on Capitalism by Yaron Brook last night at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Here is a link to his appearance on our local CBS news earlier in the day http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=71894@wbbm.dayport.com The next talk in Chicago is on September 9, 2010 also at the Hyatt. "Using Ayn Rand's Values to Create Competitive Advantage in Business" Presented by John Allison, retired chairman and CEO of BT&T Corporation, the 10th largest financial-holidng company in the US. During Mr. Allison's tenure as CEO from 1989 to 2008, BB&T grew from $4.5 billion to $152 billion in assts. Check out Ayn Rand Center events for scheduled events.

Happy Birthday!

Joel's Note on Facebook today... Government and industry: the division of labor Last week, a university student challenged me: “You Republicans are against big government, but now you want big government to stop the oil spill!” My answer was simple: a government that tries to more than it should will fail to do the things that it must. It is a question of priority, and capacity--which means that there must be a more effective division of labor between the public and the private sectors in our nation. At the moment, confusion reigns. President Obama claims he is in charge of everything, but wants responsibility for nothing. One moment, we are blaming BP for the oil spill and for the damage along the Gulf coast. The next moment, we are blaming government for its poor regulation of drilling and slow response to local needs. This is no way to solve a crisis. Unfortunately, it is a pattern we are repeating in other areas of American life. We ought to begin by acknowledging the limits of each side, the public and the private. The government does not possess the technology to “plug the hole.” BP does not have the ability, on its own, to deploy the oil boom necessary to protect the coastline. That is where the division of labor must begin--with a recognition that only the private sector can stop the spill, and only the public sector can protect the coast as the oil advances. Likewise, we should recognize that each side has a different core function. The primary purpose of government is to protect our nation from all threats. The primary purpose of industry is to produce wealth. The two are mutually dependent: the private sector relies on the rule of law that the public sector guarantees; the public sector cannot function if there is no freedom for the private sector to innovate, grow, and create prosperity. At the moment, our government is growing rapidly in areas beyond its core function and competence. It controls significant portions of the banking, insurance, and automotive industries. It is spending wildly on new entitlement programs, yet cutting spending in key areas of national defense, like the Coast Guard. Big government is worse government. And a government that boasts of its “boot on the neck” of anyone is greatly to be feared. The oil spill presents a tremendous challenge. Yet we can overcome it if we restore the appropriate division of labor between the public and private sectors. I would like to see President Obama setting up a field headquarters in the Gulf, from which to oversee the protection and cleanup efforts. I would like to see BP working closely with industry and academia to solve the engineering problems at hand. There will be time for blame later.

One more for the white-washing file.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/06/charge_the_real_war_criminals.html The organizers of the Gaza-bound flotilla that Israel intercepted last Monday morning accused Israel of "war crimes," blaming it for the deaths that occurred aboard one of the six ships. Yet Israel acted within international law. It may enforce international sanctions when Hamas continues to import weapons for use against civilians. It may board ships in international waters if they refuse to stop. Its soldiers may fire if met with deadly force. There were war crimes committed last Monday, however: They were committed by those who organized and sponsored the flotilla itself. International law forbids using civilians to achieve a military purpose. It prohibits using civilians as human shields. It outlaws launching an attack when it is clear that doing so will cause civilian casualties. And it denies protected status to civilians who choose to become combatants. The flotilla advertised itself as a humanitarian mission, but it is clear that at least some passengers set out to "break the blockade" as their primary goal. That is a military aim, not a civilian one. Indeed, when Israel made clear it would allow the flotilla to deliver humanitarian cargo at the nearby Israeli port of Ashdod, the organizers refused. They continued onward, with hundreds of civilians aboard, to provoke a military confrontation. It is likely, given that five of the six ships yielded to Israeli forces, that at least some of the civilians did not intend to start a fight. They may have believed their mission was truly a humanitarian one, with a strong political message. The organizers used these civilians as human shields, whose presence would either deter Israel or embarrass it. And they knowingly placed these civilians at risk when they attacked the boarding party. Some of the civilians knew very well their purpose was a military one. That is certainly true of the passengers who brought weapons on board and attacked the Israeli soldiers. It is also true of those who joined the flotilla to break the blockade rather than to deliver aid. Those passengers -- some of whom have ties to terrorist groups -- became illegal combatants who broke international law by disguising themselves among civilians. International treaties like the Fourth Geneva Convention were crafted to prevent exactly the kind of clash the leaders of the Gaza flotilla sought. Though the terror groups who sponsored the flotilla, and the activists who joined it, are not parties to these treaties, they are bound by their provisions as customary international law. And Turkey, which supported the flotilla, bears indirect responsibility for war crimes the flotilla committed. The question is why no one -- not the U.S., not even Israel -- has accused the organizers and patrons of the flotilla of war crimes. Perhaps there is little chance such charges would be taken up by the U.N. Security Council, which rushed into action against Israel, though it still has not condemned North Korea for killing 46 South Korean sailors in an unprovoked attack at sea last month. Yet the case is very strong, and it ought to be made. Israel seems to have prepared a legal defense, but not a legal attack. One of the first videos available on the Israel Defense Force's YouTube channel after the event, for example, was a justification of the use of force to stop ships from reaching Hamas-controlled Gaza. That is where the debate remains -- whether Israel was right or wrong. The Obama administration, regrettably, supports international calls for an investigation. Instead, the U.S. and Israel ought to go on the legal offensive. We should accuse the Gaza flotilla and its sponsors -- certainly Hamas, and perhaps Turkey -- of war crimes. We should lay out the case, clearly and concisely, that the Gaza flotilla used civilians for a military purpose, and that at least some passengers forfeited their protected status as non-combatants. We should demand that the world's leaders condemn these violations. Addressing the war crimes committed by the Gaza flotilla and its supporters would put them on the defensive and shift the debate. It would also restore the critical distinction between soldier and civilian that world leaders have labored for more than a century to enforce, and which terrorists are determined to destroy. For the good of the U.S., Israel, and the entire free world, we must point accusations of war crimes where they belong. * * * Joel B. Pollak is graduate of Harvard Law School and the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress in the 9th district of Illinois.

Charities and non-profit organizations are funded mainly by donations. If you believe in the organization and its work, there is nothing wrong with giving generously to the charity. (May I recommend giving to the Atlas Society) Most people give to charities and there is nothing wrong with it. As an Objectivist though, I probably focus more on organizations based on my own self interest and causes I can relate to. For example, my son is autistic and every year we donate and raise money by walking for Autism Speaks. I, in turn, regularly sponsor friends raising money for their causes. I also do other volunteer work such as tax preparation that helps me look good to my employer and gives them bragging rights about caring about the communities. Giving feels really good when it comes from one's own values. The problem comes when giving feels like a sacrifice or redistribution of wealth... such that emotional blackmail BS you described about a cup-o-joe or saving a starving child in Africa. Oh Puleeeeeze. I have no problem saying no to those people who would like to lay a guilt trip on me for not being poor. I decide where to spend my hard earned dollars. I have no obligation or moral duty to give. I do it freely and voluntarily... keeping in mind that one's need is not a claim on another's personal resources. Kat

Thanks Robert. Joel has quite an uphill climb in this very liberal district running against Jan Shit-kowsky. Now I hear that the infamous Helen ("Jews, get the hell out") Thomas is campaigning for the evil Jan. What's a sweet little Jewish dude from Skokie to do. I really hope he can win this thing. Please help. This is a very important election. Here's another video. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Kat

Welcome to Objectivist Living. Always good to see Rush fans. Kat

ditto me that.

Thanks, Dennis, for posting this up. It sounds like a great event and a lovely excuse to take a trip to Vegas. I've been wanting to see Penn & Teller and the Cirque Love show for ages... and I really need a vacation. Freedomfest here we come. The organizers at FreeMinds are graciously extending the discount until June 19 so sign up now. www.aynrandday.com If you plan to attend, please let us know. We will be having a drawing and giving away copies Jennifer Burns' book Goddess of the Market to some lucky OL members. Kat

Congratulations to the happy couple!