The other day I walked into my local grocery store, The White Market, and I saw the oranges pictured above. Just the day before I was in the store and there were strawberries for $2.50 a pound. Because I am on the lookout for positive values, I had to stop and marvel at the modern miracle, capitalism, these two things represent. I live in northern Vermont and we are just getting into a bit warmer weather, the temperature this weekend might be in
Drug Addiction – Quote of the Day
Up in my part of the country, northern Vermont, drug addiction has been getting a lot of attention of late. In 2014 Governor Shumlin dedicated his state-of-the-state address largely to heroin addition. More recently, Governor Hassan of New Hampshire testified before the legislature in support of a bill to provide more resources to fight the “heroin and opioid crisis.”
By and large the measures advocated for do not address the fundamental issue: why do people begin taking
Science Education – Real Reform [Video]
I was very pleased yesterday when I saw a link for a new talk from one of my favorite speakers, Eric Daniels. In this video of a talk from OCON 2015, he discusses the problems he sees in science education today, the historical roots of those problems, and potential solutions to them.
He gives a quote from an historian that summarizes one way in which science education has gone wrong.
In the relatively short time between 1893 and 1920, the justification for science in the curriculum had shifted
Minimum Wage, Panama Papers, Selfishness and More – Podcasts Roundup April 10
As I was preparing to write this week’s roundup, I realized another benefit for me in doing them. In taking notes on the key issues being discussed in each of the podcasts, I am more able to make connections and integrate what the hosts are talking about into what I already know. This integration is something we all should try to do more of, and is at times difficult. (I found I can embed the Blogtalkradio shows, so I have done that as well as link to them in the headings.)
PEIKOFF.COM EPISODE 405
Michelangelo’s The Dying Slave Image (c) Britanica.com
The scheduling
Success! SpaceX Stage 1 Landing
Success!
Congratulations to everyone involved in the success of today’s landing of SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 first stage rocket! Amazing, amazing achievement to send a full laden rocket, payload headed to the International Space Station, into space and bring its first stage back down to a perfect landing a small barge floating in the Atlantic Ocean. This is a fantastic tribute to the potential of what man’s mind can achieve when he is left
Business Strategy – Antitrust Laws Criminalize It [Video]
Ayn Rand often referred to antitrust as among the most immoral of laws and in this video from OCON 2015, Associate Professor of Strategy Ryan Krause discusses how antitrust laws destroy a businessman’s ability to plan for the long range success of his company by their effect on business strategy. He defines business strategy and summarizes the impact of antitrust laws in this quote:
Business strategy is the crux of high-level business decision making. Its what business should we be in, what
Preventing Concussions – Success and Positive Values
In the April 2nd episode of his Radical Capitalist show on Blogtalkradio, Yaron Brook answered a question about concussions in professional football. The concerns about the long-term brain damage stemming from concussions is an issue facing not just professional sports, but sports at all levels. The local television station, WCAX, has run stories about the issue for some time, including the fact that
Blue Origin – Success and Positive Values
On his April 2nd podcast Yaron Brook answered a question about what the Objectivist Movement 2.0 is about. Check out his complete answer starting at about the 68 minute mark, but in essence it is about creating a community where we “highlight success, highlight successful people, highlight successful values, highlight the positive.”
“A spirit, too, needs fuel. It can run dry.” – Ayn Rand, Ideal
This struck a chord for me as I have been thinking a lot lately about
Inequality, Property Rights and More – Podcast Roundup April 3, 2016
A round up of the podcasts I listen to is something that used to be a feature of the this blog but had fallen by the wayside, along with pretty much everything, over the last year or so. I am resuming this regular post for a couple of reasons. First, I think it is worthwhile to promote these podcasts and the ideas they feature to people who have not heard of them or do not follow them regularly. Second, and more personally, this type of post provides a relatively easy way for me to get writing
About this much….
Hundreds if not thousands of wonderful and informative talks and lectures are available at the Ayn Rand e-store.
TALKS AND LECTURES PURCHASED AT THE E-STORE
Lectures and talks purchased at the Ayn Rand e-store.