I’m not sure how I found this profile of Victor Davis Hanson from the Boston Globe (perhaps through Bill Quick), but it’s well worth reading.

Sheesh, I’m glad I’m already married… given my Soulmate Calculator results:

Your probability coefficient: 1.95839045518104E-08.

You have to meet 51,062,340 American single males who are between 27 and 45 years old.

You might have to move.

Uh, yeah, if you’re dating by random sample… maybe. I was pretty generous with my criteria… And stupidly, none of the criteria concerned sex drive, which strikes me as quite important in any long-term relationship. (Via Spy in the House of Bling.)

Hanah Metchis’ article on Super-DCMA laws just landed in my inbox thanks to CEI’s “C:\SPIN.” She writes:

Despite the moniker, the super-DMCA bills are not much like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which became federal law in 1998. They do deal with the same issue–the protection of copyright in an age when digital devices make piracy an easy task–but the state bills use much broader language. (The state bills differ in their details, but are all based on the same model legislation.) They outlaw any “communications device” used “without the express consent or express authorization of the communication service provider.” That means your phone company, cable company, and ISP get to decide what’s legal and what’s not. This is not a good idea for the future of tech competition.

…

The problem of protecting copyrights is a real one, and it is difficult to solve. But the super-DMCA bills, in their attempt to counter vague threats with vague language, create more problems than they solve. Theft, fraud, and copyright violation are already illegal. Making every “communications device” suspect and every consumer a possible criminal is not the way to prevent piracy.

Thankfully, Colorado’s governor Bill Owens, who recently vetoed one of these stupid super-DCMA laws, seems to agree with Hanah. According to Linda Seebach of the Rocky Mountain News (via Instapundit), Bill Owens warned the legislature “to be more careful in drafting a bill that adds protections that are rightfully needed, but does not paint a broad brush stroke where only a tight line is needed.”

The much-hailed George de Feis has parted company with The Objectivist Center — after only six months as chief operating officer. According to the announcement Paul and I (and other sponors) received, the staff reductions due to budget constraints this year “reduced the need for a fulltime manager at his level.” More interestingly, the announcement notes that “it had also become clear that his particular skills and experience were not the best fit for our mission.” I wonder what that means… and whether it has anything to do with the allegations that he seriously mismanaged the US Chess Federation as its executive director.

TOC seems lost to me these days. From my (admittedly very much outside) perspective, they don’t seem to be doing much except Navigator and the Summer Seminar. And that’s just not enough.

Update: Due to serious philosophic and moral objections, I am no longer associated with The Objectivist Center in any way, shape, or form. My reasons why can be found on my web page on The Many False Friends of Objectivism.

Whew! The abstract and outline of my six-lecture “Objectivism 101″ course for TOC’s summer seminar is done too! Given that I only just started revising these lectures, some of it is likely to be not-entirely-accurate by the time the seminar rolls around. But since the outline covers six hours of lecturing, it’s pretty short on detail anyway.

Objectivism 101 Abstract

Ayn Rand’s novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged offer a unique and inspiring moral vision, but translating those ideals into daily life can be a challenge. In these lectures, we will survey the basic principles of Objectivism, from metaphysics to aesthetics. We will focus on both the theory and practice of the philosophy, contrasting it with common religious and cultural views. Although no familiarity with the philosophy of Objectivism is presumed for this course, acquaintance with Ayn Rand’s two major novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged will be helpful. Each session will draw upon ideas and themes from the earlier lectures, so attendance of all the lectures is recommended.

Objectivism 101 Outline

I. Ayn Rand and Philosophy

  Ayn Rand's life and work

  Philosophy

          The questions of philosophy

          Philosophy as universal, inescapable, and influential

          Philosophy in everyday life

  Objectivism in brief



II. Reality and Reason

  Metaphysics

          Primacy of existence

          Primacy of consciousness

  Epistemology

          Perceptual and conceptual awareness

          Reason

                  The data of the senses

                  The method of logic

                  The effort of volition

          Emotions

  God and the supernatural



III. Life and Happiness

  Ethics

          The ethics of Western culture

          Why do we need ethics?

          Life and happiness

          Rational self-interest

          Moral principles

          Values and virtues

  Social ethics

          Sacrifice of self or others

          The Trader Principle

          Individualism

  Mind-body integration



IV. The Virtues

  Virtue

          Rationality

          Productiveness

          Independence

          Honesty

          Justice

          Benevolence

          Integrity

          Pride

  The self-made soul



V. Individual Rights and Capitalism

  Politics

          Individual rights

          Negative (and not positive) rights

          Coercion

          Government

  Economics

          Economic systems

          Capitalism

          The critiques of capitalism

          Defending capitalism



VI. Art as Spiritual Fuel

  Aesthetics

          Art as spiritual fuel

          Art and philosophy

          Sense of life

          Standards in art

  Objectivism

          Objectivism as a system

          Studying Objectivism

          The future of Objectivism

Now I have a week to revise and complete my Advanced Seminar paper on philosophy of mind. Oy.