Contents
* NEW Junto meeting Dec. 1
* NEW Upcoming Junto speakers, through August 2012
* NEW Richard Epstein on the benefits of income inequality
* NEW "Atlas" film producer Kaslow on Parts 1 and 2
* NEW Cato's Libertarianism.org for history and theory
* NEW "Female Force: Ayn Rand" the 32-page comic book
* NEW " 'It Shines for All': Gold Standard Editorials NY Sun"
* NEW More news about "Atlas Shrugged Part 2" on Politico
* NEW Rare booklet: "A Letter from Ayn Rand"
* NEW Junto's Oleg on his book "Shakedown Socialism"
* NEW Yaron Brook: "Rand's Moral Defense of Capitalism"
* NEW Docu.: "Ayn Rand & The Prophecy of 'Atlas Shrugged' "
* NEW Yoga wear shop with John Galt shopping bags
* NEW "Apollo and Dionysius meet again" by Mike Razar
* NEW New York City Ayn Rand Meetup Nov. 27
* NEW Brook: "Gov't: What's It Good For?" Nov. 30
* NEW Report on "Architectural Vision of Rand"
* Memorial for Junto regular Alan Ladne
* Ayn Rand walking tours
* NYCjunto-discuss list
* About this newsletter
**************************************************
Junto is a group that shares information
and discusses current issues...
plus presents speakers to talk with us:
David Friedman
"Legal Systems Very Different from Ours"
Thursday, Dec. 1
Admission Free -- No reservation necessary
* We'll socialize from 7:00pm.
* The meeting begins at ABOUT 7:30pm
with a discussion of current issues and events.
* The featured speaker is introduced at ABOUT 8:00pm.
* The meeting will continue to ABOUT 10:00pm.
General Society Library,
20 West 44 St., between 5th and 6th Aves., NYC
near the Grand Central Terminal
Subway: 4, 5, 6, S to Grand Central -- 42nd St.
or
B, D, F, 7 to 42nd Street -- Sixth Ave. at Bryant Park
or
A, C, E, N, Q, R, S, 1, 2, 3 to Times Square -- 42nd St.
Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M42, M98, M101, M102, M104, Q32
Train: MTA Metro-North Railroad to Grand Central
Car: Some private parking facilities in the area. Parking on
side streets is metered, limited to specific days and times.
Please note:
* Junto is not the usual sort of meeting with a long speech
followed by Q & A. Junto's invited speakers give a short
presentation and are challenged to defend their assertions.
* Discussions are intense, but polite. Participation by all
attendees is highly encouraged.
* Junto meets on the first Thursday of every month, at the
General Society Library, 20 West 44 St., NYC, between
5th and 6th Aves., near Grand Central Terminal
**************************************************
David Friedman will speak on
"Legal Systems Very Different from Ours."
He's studied the legal systems of modern gypsies, imperial
China, Periclean Athens, the Cheyenne Indians, Saga period
Iceland and more.
On his site you can read his chapter notes on legal systems
different from ours. He's writing a book on them, has taught
about them for years at Santa Clara U. and he's doing a
workshop on them, Nov. 23, 2011, at George Mason.
These are his current chapters:
Icelandic Law
18th century English Criminal Law
Gypsy Law
Chinese Law
Athenian Law: The Work of a Mad Economist
Jewish Law
Islamic Law
Plains Indian Law
Puzzles of Irish Law
Amish Law [recently updated]
Somali Law [recently updated]
Commanche, Kiowa and Cheyenne: The Plains Indians
and
he has these thread chapters:
* Enforcement Mechanisms: Civil, Criminal, and Lots More
* The Incentive to Enforce: What and How Much
* Embedded and Polylegal Systems
* God as Legislator
You can read any or all of this at:
tiny.cc/LawDifferent
(Note from Iris: If you've ever enjoyed history, fiction or
particularly, science fiction, for the view of a world like yours
but different, this site is for you.
I have to keep writing this newsletter, but I wish I could
stop everything I'm doing and just read David's notes on these
different systems of law.
One thing you might want to try is reading the first
paragraph or two of each chapter, which gives you an overview
of that unique system of law.)
David's an academic economist who teaches in a law school,
Santa Clara U. He's never taken a course for credit in
economics or law.
He's a contributing editor to the online magazine Liberty,
formerly the paper magazine Liberty.
He refers to himself as an anarchist-anachronist. (Definition
of anachronist: preferring things or values of the past.)
His first book, "The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a
Radical Capitalism" was published in 1971. It includes a
description of how a society with property rights and without
government might function.
There as elsewhere, he offers a consequentialist defense
of libertarianism. You can read this book at:
tiny.cc/FriedmanMachinery
His most recent non-fiction book, "Future Imperfect:
Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World," examines
the implications of a variety of technological revolutions which
might happen over the next few decades.
He's also the author of two novels, one commercially
published and one self-published as a Kindle file on Amazon.
He and his wife have self-published a medieval and
renaissance cookbook.
Much of his published work, including journal articles,
essays and the full text of several books, can be read on his
web site:
davidDFriedman.com
The link to full texts:
tiny.cc/FriedmanTexts
His blog with comments on everything from SLR cameras
to earthquakes is at:
davidDFriedman.blogspot.com
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Visit Junto's site for information on current and past speakers,
read previous newsletters, to sign up to get the Junto e-newsletter:
NYCjunto.com
Visit Junto on Facebook:
on.fb.me/JuntoNYC
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Junto focuses on libertarianism, Objectivism and investing.
Our founder and host is Victor Niederhoffer.
Visit his site at:
DailySpeculations.com
**************************************************
Please email the above text to your freedom loving friends
who might be interested in Junto.
Feel free to use the above text to promote Junto among
libertarians, Objectivists and investors.
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Come to Junto, meet the upcoming speakers:
* Jan. 5, 2012, Tibor Machan, teaches business ethics and
philosophy at Chapman U. His Junto talk will be "Liberty vs.
Stimulus" He's a libertarian. He's the author of "The Morality
of Business". Visit his site for his essays on political liberty:
tiny.cc/Tibor
* Feb. 2, 2012, Ayn Rand's 107th birthday celebration.
Speaker Donald Luskin market commentator.
His subject will be announced later. His blog is:
iAmJohnGalt.com
He co-wrote "I am John Galt: Today's Heroic Innovators
Building the World and the Villainous Parasites Destroying It."
It introduces you to real-life titans who've lived their lives
like Rand's fictional heroes and the malefactors who've lived
like her fictional villains:
Steve Jobs as Howard Roark,
Paul Krugman as Ellsworth Toohey,
John Allison as John Galt,
Bill Gates as Henry Rearden and
Barney Frank as Wesley Mouch, etc.
Watch Donald's short video on Amazon:
tiny.cc/LuskinVideo
* March 1, 2012, to be announced
* April 5, 2012, Robert Higgs, sr. fellow political economy,
author "Leviathan" and many other books. He's the editor of
the Independent Institute's quarterly magazine Independent
Review. Visit his site:
tiny.cc/Higgs
* May 3, 2012, Ilana Mercer, author "Into the Cannibal's Pot:
Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa."
This will also be the subject of her talk. Her classical liberal
columns are at
bit.ly/MercerWorldNet
and
IlanaMercer.com
* June 7, 2012 Gene Epstein, economics editor Barrons
magazine. He writes cover and feature stories on economic
and social trends, and book reviews. Read his articles:
tiny.cc/GeneEpstein
* July 5, 2012 Tyler Cowen, prof. economics George Mason
U. and the Center for the Study of Public Choice.
Visit his very active blog:
MarginalRevolution.com
There are many articles about and by him on his site:
tiny.cc/TylerC
* August 2, 2012 Gary Jason, businessman, philosophy teacher
and writer. Senior editor of online magazine Liberty, formerly
the paper magazine Liberty:
LibertyUnbound.com
He's author of the forthcoming book "Dangerous Thoughts."
Read more by and about him at:
ProfGaryJason.com
**************************************************
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Epstein on the benefits of income inequality
The title of this video is "Does U.S. Economic Inequality
Have a Good Side?" The recent Junto speaker offers a good,
as well as an easily understandable, positive explanation.
This is NYU law professor Richard Epstein in an Oct. 26,
2011 PBS interview.
Thank you to Walter Greenspan for telling us about this.
You can watch it at:
tiny.cc/incomeEpstein
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Atlas Shrugged" film producer Kaslow on Parts 1 and 2
In an interview Harmon Kaslow said: "Our aspiration is
to produce Part 2 and get it into theatres for distribution in
Oct. 2012.
We definitely believe there will be a lot of discussion
about the issues that are covered in the book during the
presidential election.
"Our hope and aspiration is that the people will see the
movie, will ask questions about it, seek out the candidates
and have agendas that parallel what their beliefs are.
"We know there has been a lot of speculation as to whether
or not we continue...But I can tell you now beyond a shadow
of a doubt that we are fully committed on every front to getting
Part 2 done. It’s all systems go.
..."One of the things [co-director] John [Aglialoro] and I did
discuss...working at other titles that Ayn Rand has written. I did
a little research, and the rights are a little more complicated and
convoluted at this point. So [we're] completing parts two and
three of "Atlas Shrugged"....
You can read the whole article at:
tiny.cc/Part2Atlas
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Cato's Libertarianism.org for the history and theory of liberty
Most of what Cato does is public policy. But this new site
focuses on the history and theory of liberty. It's to help people
learn about, or more about, libertarianism.
The site's publications will bring people up to speed
on basics, deep foundations and history of libertarianism.
The streaming and downloadable videos include
never-before-available ones of Hayek, Milton Friedman,
Murray Rothbard and others. You'll find all this at:
Libertarianism.org
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Female Force: Ayn Rand" the 32-page comic book
An entertaining yet scholarly look at the author of "The
Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged." Bluewater, the publisher,
worked with the Ayn Rand Institute.
The author John Blundell also wrote the comic book of
Margaret Thatcher. He's formerly the Director General of the
Institute of Economic Affairs in London.
You can see the cover and an inside page on Amazon:
tiny.cc/RandComic
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
" 'It Shines for All': Gold Standard Editorials of NY Sun"
"This brilliant book is The Federalist Papers for a gold
standard. It succinctly, dazzlingly -- and convincingly -- makes
the irrefutable case for re-linking the battered dollar to gold."
-- Steve Forbes
"The editorials are beautifully crafted and designed to make
the point that, as one of them puts it, the gold standard 'is not
a flakey idea. On the contrary, it is fiat money that is the
flakey idea'." -- Ira E. Stoll, managing editor, part-owner of
The Sun newspaper
It has four dozen editorials on the gold standard. Read more
about this book:
tiny.cc/GoldSun
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
More news about "Atlas Shrugged Part 2" on Politico
Harmon Kaslow, who produced "Part 1" with John Aglialoro,
hopes that Part 2 will be bigger and better. First, it'll be longer.
He say: "...it'll probably be 30 to 40 minutes longer than
the first movie. The first one was about an hour and a half…
We're going to slow things down a little bit and let people enjoy
what they experienced in the book, in the theater."
About the cast....Kaslow's realistic about what he can afford,
but said, "We're going to aspire to get the biggest names that
we possibly can" while also being faithful to the book's
characters and who's best for those roles. Some of the new
actors will step into roles played by others in Part 1.
"We're going to spend more money on it than we did the first
one...with a substantially greater budget for advertising." He
thinks the first movie could have done "significantly better" but
also has a glass half-full perspective on things.
"Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts do a film in the $4,900 per
theater range and nobody batted an eye. But 'Atlas Shrugged'
did over $5,000 and it's a 'failure'....We probably spent less than
1 percent of what a studio spends on marketing a film....our
assessment is that it was very successful."
He hopes to start production in early 2012, "with hopes of
previewing it around the time of the nominating conventions."
You can read the whole interview at:
politi.co/Part2Atlas
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Rare booklet: "A Letter from Ayn Rand"
This eight page booklet is circa 1944. It's stapled, is on
cream paper and for sale for $3,200.
It's Rand's explanation of the ideas underpinning her novel,
"The Fountainhead", signed on the front: "Ayn Rand 7/12/73."
The seller calls it "Scarce". I've never heard of it. I'd enjoy
knowing what Rand wrote.
Rand explained her choices in writing the book, told about
her life and her approach to her career. She also announced the
upcoming film of it.
This was advertised on the back page of the Nov. 20, 2011,
Sunday, NY Times Book Section. Learn more about it and see
the cover here, on the Bauman Rare Books site:
tiny.cc/RandRare
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Junto's Oleg Atbashian on his book "Shakedown Socialism"
Oleg, Junto's site designer, was interviewed by Brian Sack.
The former Soviet propaganda artist discusses his new book
and his satirical site:
ThePeoplesCube.com
Oleg's a writer, graphic artist, and web designer from
Ukraine who now lives in Florida.
See this interview at:
tiny.cc/OlegBook
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yaron Brook on "Ayn Rand's Moral Defense of Capitalism"
You can see this talk by Yaron Brook, pres., exec. dir.,
Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights.
This is the most animated and happy I've seen Yaron. It's fun
seeing him use his iPhone and Steve Jobs as examples of the
cultures attitudes toward selfishness.
The Nov. 5, 2011 Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)
talk was sold out. It's part of their monthly series at Irvington,
NY. You can watch this talk at:
tiny.cc/BrookFEE
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Documentary: "Ayn Rand & The Prophecy of 'Atlas Shrugged' "
Theatrical release of this documentary is in the works.
Therefore the producers are postponeing the DVD release til
after the theatrical run. Learn more here:
tiny.cc/DocuAR
Watch it free here:
tiny.cc/FreeDocuAR
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yoga wear shop with John Galt shopping bags
Lululemon Athletica, which sells high end yoga wear, began
using shopping bags with the phrase, "Who is John Galt?" That
question is throughout Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged"
The first time I'd heard of Lululemon was an article saying
women loved carrying their bags, even more than Tiffany's.
Chip Wilson, company founder, says the company vision was
shaped by the novel: "The character John Galt encouraged all
of the world's innovators and intelligent minds to go on strike
from the increasingly controlling government in order to create
a vacuum of brilliance, proving that independent creativity and
free-will is critical for quality of life."
Wilson's a self-made billionaire. In 2005 he gave a speech
about the merits of outsourcing production to Asia and using
child labor.
The comments section in a trade publication had this:
"I LOVED the fountainhead, and didn't read the book Atlas
Shrugged - but loved the movie - Part 1. It's out on DVD. I
highly recommend it. A friend of mine actually starred in Atlas
Shrugged - Jsu Garcia as Francisco d'Anconia. He was brilliant".
You can see two photos of the bag here:
tiny.cc/YogaGalt
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Apollo and Dionysius meet again" by Mike Razar
In "American Thinker" Razar quotes from Rand as he
compares the Occupy movement with the Tea Party people:
"Her lecture 'Apollo and Dionysius' could have been
comparing the Tea Party gatherings to the occupying mobs but
for the fact that it preceded those gatherings by half a century.
Instead, she compares the enormous well-behaved crowds and
orderly traffic jams in or near Cape Kennedy for the Apollo
moon landing of Neil Armstrong, to the dirty and undisciplined
mob at Woodstock later that summer."
You can read Razar's whole article here, with it link to
Rand's speech "Apollo and Dionysius":
tiny.cc/RazarRand
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New York City Ayn Rand Meetup Nov. 27
Come join us this Sunday, 3:00pm.
As always, we'll talk about Ayn Rand, her works, Objectivist
life, challenges, options, associations and knowledge.
Give and take, open to all, no charge, no reservations.
It's at The Midtown Restaurant, 155 East 55 St, between
3rd and Lexington Avenues, in Manhattan, free.
Benny Pollack, Ayn Rand Meetup organizer says:"Join our
group of regular Objectivists for a lively discussion on topics
related to Ayn Rand and Objectivist philosophy in general.
"Please join us. If you are already versed in the topic, want
to learn or just want to spend an intellectually stimulating
afternoon, please come. I hope to see you all there."
The Ayn Rand Meetup is on the last Sunday of each month.
Learn more about it at: AynRand.meetup.com/8
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yaron Brook debate: "Gov't: What's It Good For?" Nov. 30
This debate will be livestreamed next week at 10:30pm
eastern time, through the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights
Facebook page:
tiny.cc/BrookDemos
You don't need to be a registered user of Facebook to watch.
It's presented by Demos, the Ayn Rand Center and the Town
Hall Center for Civic Life, Washington state.
Brook, exec. dir. Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights will
debate David Callahan, co-founder Demos. It's moderated by
John McKay, former U.S. attorney.
This debate is about the proper role of government. The size
and scope of government has become one of the most contested
issues in American politics. What's government's proper role?
Should it focus on protecting individual rights and free markets?
Or on promoting equality and solving society's problems?
It's at Seattle Town Hall, WA., Wed., Nov. 30, 2011, debate
begins 7:30pm Pacific time Tickets $5 at bit.ly/YaronTKT or
by phone: 800.838.3006. Tickets sold at door beginning 6:30pm.
For more information:
bit.ly/BrookDemos
NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Report on "Architectural Vision of Rand"
On Nov. 10th Anne C. Heller, author of "Ayn Rand and the
World She Made" spoke at the Museum of the City of NY.
Heller's perspective as a Rand historian is unique. She
linked Rand's love of the NY skyline, as a child in Russia, to
her novels "The Fountainhead" about the building of NY and
"Atlas Shrugged" about the deterioration of NY.
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Memorial for Junto regular Alan Ladne
At every Junto I can remember, Alan asked the speaker a
question or challenged the speaker's ideas or defended reason
or defended Ayn Rand's ideas. Alan usually sat in the front row,
at the speaker's left.
Since he died on October 3rd, I've exchanged some emails
with Alan's sister. She'd tried to get him to move to Washington
state, where she lives. Part of the reason he wouldn’t move
from is home in New Jersey was that he valued Junto highly.
Molly Hayes Sechrest, came to many Junto's before she
moved to Texas in 2005. She and Alan were good friends.
She's created a memorial page for him:
Molly writes: "...you may wish to pay tribute to him. Those
of you who enjoyed Alan's friendship or were simply acquainted
with his quiet but passionate intellectuality and love of the arts,
may wish to write of your memory of him. Perhaps you would
like to recount an anecdote, a personal impression, or an effect
he had on the way you view something.
"I have created a web site as a memorial to Alan and as a
way for you to express your thoughts and feelings. Just click
on the Guest Book tab -- it provides a place for comments --
whether to express humor or sadness, whimsy or seriousness,
whether brief or lengthy":
tiny.cc/AlanLadne
You may find it interesting to read what others have written
about Alan.
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Ayn Rand walking tours
For a private tour by Fred Cookinham, some Saturdays,
Sundays and evenings are open. Call the phone number at
the bottom of:
InDepthWalkingTours.com
Fred Cookinham's walking tours keep getting better,
because he never stops researching. He's often at Junto and
Ayn Rand Meetups.
$20 per person, $15 for people 65 and older. Schedule,
directions, other NYC tours: InDepthWalkingTours.com
Highlights of previous years * Fred gave special "Ayn Rand
and Free Market Tour" for Mont Pelerin Society. * Hear Fred
give "Ayn Rand's Park Ave". on BBC's Radio 4 "The Right
Stuff" on their site. * His interview on "Hardfire" Ayn Rand
Revealed, at Amazon and other places. Answers questions on
Rand's life, loves, philosophy, works and influence.
Differences between helping a person and sacrificing,
when's "volunteering" not voluntary? Fred's interviewer then
Chair Manhattan Libertarian Party, Joseph Dobrian.
Watch part: bit.ly/ARfred
—————————————————————————
NYCjunto-discuss list
Junto members can discuss Junto speakers, articles from
other places and other topics of interest.
You can read these posts at:
yhoo.it/JuntoP
To post to this list you need to be a member of it.
Become a member at: yhoo.it/JuntoD or send an email to:
NYCjunto-discuss-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
—————————————————————————
About this NYC Junto newsletter
* Iris Bell moderates and writes this e-newsletter
* Oleg Atbashian created NYCjunto.com. He also sends out
this e-newsletter and cares for its email list.
* Andy George helps with the sound system and supplies
the music.
* We're looking for volunteers to help with Junto publicity.
* Our founder and host is Victor Niederhoffer. Visit his site at:
DailySpeculations.com
* This e-newsletter comes out twice a month. You might get an
occasional extra email about a timely event.
* To subscribe to this newsletter put "Junto list" in the
subject line and email your name and preferred email
address to:
info@nycjunto.org
—————————————————————————
END
Junto news: Lots of info & events online & in print
by Iris Bell on November 22, 2011
Previous post: Junto news, speaker change, lots of news about films
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