This from the man who wrote 1984:

I've just finished reading Nigel Lawson's An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming.

I saw this refreshing quote today:

http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=10277230

'According to figures compiled by the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), almost 30m people claimed "no religion" in 2001, a doubling from 1991.

In this article, James Bowman gores the 'liberals', who seem to resent heroes, and who believe that good intentions are all that matter.

Three beneficiaries have died in three years in the Japanese city of Kitakyushu.

Jasmine and I are moving to Florence, Italy, at the end of this year.

From: Marla Singer
Date: 28-Aug-2007 08:42
Subject: Ayn Rand Web Cast
To: webmaster@solopassion.com

Philosophy Live, a radio/webcast talk show in Austin,
TX, is looking for guests and material for their
upcoming special show: "Ayn Rand: The Final
Authority?" on Wednesday, September 12th.

A friend sent me a link to this hilarious cartoon:

http://catandgirl.com/view.php?loc=484

At the Libertarianz conference last weekend, Mitch delivered this great speech.

Apple CEO and co-founder, Steve Jobs, has fired a shot across the bows of teacher unions. In a speech at the Texas Public Education Reform Foundation, he took the unions to task for crippling the minds of American children:Statesman article

Linz is going to be on Radio Live, tomorrow, standing in for Michael Laws.

Listen on-line here:
www.radiolive.co.nz

He'll be on Thursday, 15 Feb, 8pm to 11pm GMT.

The same person who uploaded the Donahue interview with Ayn Rand to YouTube, just added the 1959 Mike Wallace interview as well:

Ayn Rand - Mike Wallace Interview Part 1

So, apparently the scientists at the UN have reassessed the impact humans have on global warming:

The Telegraph: UN downgrades man's impact on the climate

SOLOC5 is on the way!

You can find out more by clicking on the SOLOC5 link in the navigation bar, or here.

We have now added payment options so you can pay your deposit, and secure your place in the conference. There are also still spaces left in the conference house, but you'll have to be fast.

After watching Ayn Rand's Donahue interview, Right Thinking Girl asks whether beauty is a virtue:

"Still, after watching the videos of Rand, I took a bath and while looking at the shape of my calves, a question formed: is beauty a virtue? An hour later, I was googling like mad, trying to find out if Ayn Rand ever said anything about physical beauty and what emphasis she put on it."

For your viewing pleasure, via YouTube:

From Slashdot:
Report Blasts "Peak Oil" Theory

"Today, the Cambridge Energy Research Associates released a report dismissing the Peak Oil theory, suggesting that world oil production will continue to increase for the next 24 years, and then only level into a plateau. The report, which suggests that world reserves are enough to last 122 years at our current rate of consumption, also blasts Peak Oil theorists for repeatedly making unscientific predictions and then shifting them whenever their predictions fail to materialize."

Update - PC got there first:
http://pc.blogspot.com/2006/11/peak-oil-not-yet.html

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Law and Order

Gun Dealer Should be Applauded, Not Charged

"Auckland Gun Dealer Greg Carvell should be applauded for his actions in defending himself from a machete wielding aggressor in his shop last July," says Peter Linton, Libertarianz Firearms Spokesman. "It's disgusting that the police are charging Carvell with 'possessing a firearm without lawful, proper or sufficient purposes'."

http://www.kcet.org/lifeandtimes/blog/?p=122

Summary:
Ayn Rand is well-known as a novelist and intellectual and philosopher. But like so many in Hollywood, she really wanted to be a screenwriter. Vicki Curry talks with Michael Berliner, former director of the Ayn Rand Institute, about Rand's years as an extra and screenwriter. He also shares rare film and photographs of Rand. (TRT: 7:52)

According to the NZ Herald:

Health officials target workplace vending machines
Thursday October 26, 2006
By Errol Kiong

A university nutritionist has welcomed the idea, but says it would be impossible to enforce.

This is a call to all the SOLOists who are eligible to vote in New Zealand. Could you please have a look at this petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/nzgg

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Justice

Libz Declares Banana Republic Day

Libertarianz members including Leader Bernard Darnton will be at Parliament today from 12.00 pm handing out bananas to celebrate New Zealand's first Banana Republic Day. "In a breathtakingly arrogant move, Clark has shown that she thinks she can get away with anything. Her actions are that of a banana republic dictator. We're marking this inauspicious occasion by handing out bananas," Darnton explained.

This striking quote from The Press today:

"Kokshoorn yesterday likened the SNA policy to a Robert Mugabe-style land grab that created huge uncertainty for farmers."

Absolutely. It is property rights violation on a grand scale.

Opposite poles attract
Radio review by Clarke Isaacs

They're as alike as chalk and cheese, and, boy, did it show in their animated discussions on the subject of Maori and Pakeha relationships.

From Deutsche Welle: German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble called the decision "crazy" and producer Hans Neuenfels protested, but Mozart's "Idomeneo" will not be performed at the Deutsche Oper because it could upset Muslims.

Linz was on TV on Saturday, on Willie Jackson's Eye to Eye show. The topic of the debate was Can Maori be Racist? It was a brilliant show, and Linz stood his own against Tariana Turia and Mike Smith.

Peter Linton, Libertarianz Firearms Deregulation Spokesman, was interviewed by NRA News this morning about the state of NZ firearms regulations, and specifically about Greg Carvell. NRA News is the NRA's nationally broadcast radio show.

Tax cuts good. So says Lawrence Kudlow in a RealClearPolitics article:

The Big-Bang Story of U.S. Private Business

Did you know that just over the past 11 quarters, dating back to the June 2003 Bush tax cuts, America has increased the size of its entire economy by 20 percent? In less than three years, the U.S. economic pie has expanded by $2.2 trillion, an output add-on that is roughly the same size as the total Chinese economy, and much larger than the total economic size of nations like India, Mexico, Ireland, and Belgium.

Alan Duff, author of 'Once Were Warriors', rips into the touchy-feely and wrong-headed culture of welfarism in a brilliant interview with bFM's Simon Pound.

He also eviscerates John Tamihere's proposal for another level of nanny-ing bureaucracy when it comes to handing out the dole.

His solution is just to get rid of the dole completely. He says that other people are not entitled to your money, just "for existing". Right on Alan!

There are so many good parts, I don't even know where to start. Just listen.

http://www.95bfm.com/default,13050,simon_pound_and_alan_duff.sm

Score one for common sense!