April 14, 2005 -- As we rush to meet the April 15 deadline to file our tax returns, many fail to realize that those 1040 forms do more than just make us all personally poorer. The tax code is a principal instrument that creates and sustains the politicized, partisan, uncivil, contentious conflict society that so many bemoan.
President Barack Obama took office promoting the need for the country in general—and policy-makers in particular—to overcome petty
December 10, 2003 -- Rarely has the moral decadence of the philosophy that places "society" above the individual been better illustrated...
March 3, 2004 -- The controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ reflects a deep divide concerning the moral
One year, I gave my elementary-school-age nephew a rock for Christmas. Not just any old rock, but a piece of sandstone from a science store.
The position of The Atlas Society (TAS) on the September 11 terrorist attack is outlined below. As a philosophical research organization....
May 28, 2003 -- Moral principles are at the heart of life and art. Choosing the right ones leads to happiness and beauty. Choosing the
Now that Secretary of State Colin Powell’s mission to break the Israeli-Palestinian impasse has failed, the only peace plan that remains on
The tragic results of collectivism in a culture are seen in a recent wave of suicides in Japan, especially among young people. A Washington
The news and the night sky are dominated by Mars. At a distance of only 34.6 million miles, the Red Planet is now closer to Earth than it...
Halloween has its origins in superstition, and, sadly, it invokes old and new superstitions still. Halloween, from "All Hallows Eve," was...
Myths often manipulate our understanding of current events. Thus it is appropriate to comment on mythmaker George Lucas's latest Star Wars..
Most Americans know peaceful and prosperous Switzerland—America’s “sister republic”—for its beautiful mountains, tangy cheese, decentralized
As a child, I was fascinated by astronomy and space, and I hoped to live to see the day when men would travel to the Moon. In 1969, I manage
Among the world's great novelists, Ayn Rand stands almost alone in providing stirring portraits of entrepreneurs, industrialists, and banker
Few parents or children are likely to visit their local bookstore in search of stories concerning ancient Greek scientists. And that is
My dear friend, 1. Beyond the tragedy and the immense suffering brought about by the evil attack on America of September 11, 2001, this crisis should lead to a paradigm shift in the war against terrorism. Terrorism must be resisted now with unshakeable resolve—not one feckless act of this for that, not a series of half-measures that serves only to provoke further acts of destruction, but an implacable and unceasing campaign against terrorism until it is utterly and completely vanquished. 2. During the 20th century, the world has had a condescending attitude toward the use of violence to change public policies. In my country, Chile, there is a consensus now that it was a decade of political violence that led, on another Tuesday, September 11, to the breakdown of our democracy and social fabric. Suffice it to say that Lenin, the man who not only advocated terror as a legitimate weapon to obtain political ends but also practiced it with horrifying determination, still rests in a mausoleum in front of the Kremlin and gives its first name to people all over Europe and the Third World (including a specially shadowy character in nearby Peru).
April 15, 2001 -- On April 22, millions will dutifully engage in the now-familiar rituals and incantations of America’s fastest-growing religion. In public places, they will gather to listen to sermons…about the sins of human selfishness, about redemption through self-abasement, about the duty to exercise stewardship of the earth. In schools, they will indoctrinate their children in the gospel according to John…John Muir, that is.
return to orbit. A "space tourist," originally scheduled to visit Mir earlier this year, has been included with a Russian crew that will join residing astronauts at the International Space Station in late April. This transfer from Mir to the ISS represents a misguided attempt to transfer the responsibilities of a private contract to the other members of the international space program. California investment executive Dennis Tito made news last year by paying MirCorp and RKK Energia (Mir's operating company) roughly $20 million for the privilege of accompanying two Russian astronauts to Mir, at a time when the aging space station's future was still uncertain. Tito's high-profile purchase was the kickoff to MirCorp's strategy to transform Mir into a commercial venture open to wealthy travelers and for-profit scientific research.
October 6, 2004 -- When Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, they shot for the stars and succeeded. More recently, Allen shot for the stars again. The two successful launches of his SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X Prize competition for private, manned space flights. This feat may ultimately do for private space ventures what Charles Lindbergh's crossing the Atlantic did for commercial aviation. The success of these enterprises obviously depended on such factors as genius, guts, and foresight. It also depended on the less obvious absenceof something—government regulation.
April 14, 2005 -- As we rush to meet the April 15 deadline to file our tax returns, many fail to realize that those 1040 forms do more than just make us all personally poorer. The tax code is a principal instrument that creates and sustains the politicized, partisan, uncivil, contentious conflict society that so many bemoan.
President Barack Obama took office promoting the need for the country in general—and policy-makers in particular—to overcome petty
December 10, 2003 -- Rarely has the moral decadence of the philosophy that places "society" above the individual been better illustrated...
March 3, 2004 -- The controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ reflects a deep divide concerning the moral
One year, I gave my elementary-school-age nephew a rock for Christmas. Not just any old rock, but a piece of sandstone from a science store.
The position of The Atlas Society (TAS) on the September 11 terrorist attack is outlined below. As a philosophical research organization....
May 28, 2003 -- Moral principles are at the heart of life and art. Choosing the right ones leads to happiness and beauty. Choosing the
Now that Secretary of State Colin Powell’s mission to break the Israeli-Palestinian impasse has failed, the only peace plan that remains on
The tragic results of collectivism in a culture are seen in a recent wave of suicides in Japan, especially among young people. A Washington
The news and the night sky are dominated by Mars. At a distance of only 34.6 million miles, the Red Planet is now closer to Earth than it...
Halloween has its origins in superstition, and, sadly, it invokes old and new superstitions still. Halloween, from "All Hallows Eve," was...
Myths often manipulate our understanding of current events. Thus it is appropriate to comment on mythmaker George Lucas's latest Star Wars..
Most Americans know peaceful and prosperous Switzerland—America’s “sister republic”—for its beautiful mountains, tangy cheese, decentralized
As a child, I was fascinated by astronomy and space, and I hoped to live to see the day when men would travel to the Moon. In 1969, I manage
Among the world's great novelists, Ayn Rand stands almost alone in providing stirring portraits of entrepreneurs, industrialists, and banker
Few parents or children are likely to visit their local bookstore in search of stories concerning ancient Greek scientists. And that is
My dear friend, 1. Beyond the tragedy and the immense suffering brought about by the evil attack on America of September 11, 2001, this crisis should lead to a paradigm shift in the war against terrorism. Terrorism must be resisted now with unshakeable resolve—not one feckless act of this for that, not a series of half-measures that serves only to provoke further acts of destruction, but an implacable and unceasing campaign against terrorism until it is utterly and completely vanquished. 2. During the 20th century, the world has had a condescending attitude toward the use of violence to change public policies. In my country, Chile, there is a consensus now that it was a decade of political violence that led, on another Tuesday, September 11, to the breakdown of our democracy and social fabric. Suffice it to say that Lenin, the man who not only advocated terror as a legitimate weapon to obtain political ends but also practiced it with horrifying determination, still rests in a mausoleum in front of the Kremlin and gives its first name to people all over Europe and the Third World (including a specially shadowy character in nearby Peru).
April 15, 2001 -- On April 22, millions will dutifully engage in the now-familiar rituals and incantations of America’s fastest-growing religion. In public places, they will gather to listen to sermons…about the sins of human selfishness, about redemption through self-abasement, about the duty to exercise stewardship of the earth. In schools, they will indoctrinate their children in the gospel according to John…John Muir, that is.
return to orbit. A "space tourist," originally scheduled to visit Mir earlier this year, has been included with a Russian crew that will join residing astronauts at the International Space Station in late April. This transfer from Mir to the ISS represents a misguided attempt to transfer the responsibilities of a private contract to the other members of the international space program. California investment executive Dennis Tito made news last year by paying MirCorp and RKK Energia (Mir's operating company) roughly $20 million for the privilege of accompanying two Russian astronauts to Mir, at a time when the aging space station's future was still uncertain. Tito's high-profile purchase was the kickoff to MirCorp's strategy to transform Mir into a commercial venture open to wealthy travelers and for-profit scientific research.
October 6, 2004 -- When Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, they shot for the stars and succeeded. More recently, Allen shot for the stars again. The two successful launches of his SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X Prize competition for private, manned space flights. This feat may ultimately do for private space ventures what Charles Lindbergh's crossing the Atlantic did for commercial aviation. The success of these enterprises obviously depended on such factors as genius, guts, and foresight. It also depended on the less obvious absenceof something—government regulation.