Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, by Jennifer Burns

Why Ayn Rand Is Hot Again
The unconservative Ayn Rand and
her relationship to the American right
Brian Doherty | October 10, 2009

Why is Rand, dead since 1982, so hot again today? Ironically, big government, one of Rand's betes noires, is stimulating her sales. Her more than 1,000-page 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged, sold 25 percent more copies in the first half of this year than it sold in all of last year, shipping a total of 300,000 copies so far this year—tremendous success for a 52-year-old novel.

Readers and pundits alike look at America and see a world scarily reminiscent of Rand's government-choked dystopia in Atlas. It's a world with a struggling economy where political pull matters more than success in the free market, where the government blithely takes over huge transportation industries.

Read the full article here.

Barack Obama Tattoos

With Barack Obama's approval ratings still at a solid 62%, I became suddenly curious to know how popular the 44th U.S. President really is. Are people so enamoured with President Obama that I could do a quick Google search and turn up some photos of people with permanent tattoos of Obama inked into their very skin? Oh yeah. It's that bad. Below are ten examples of Barack Obama tattoos (some decent, some pretty awful). PS: As a control, I decided to Google "bush tattoos." I found only two examples in the first couple pages, and they were decidedly anti-Bush. I also learned to never, ever Google "bush tattoos" again. Seriously. Don't. There are some gross tattoos out there. In the interests of full disclosure, I must admit that I am not a fan of President Obama . But I've got to say that the tattoos above aren't nearly as bad as this: Editor's note: The pictures are linked to their respective sources. To view the source pages, simply click

Legal Marijuana On The Michigan Ballot for 2018

A Michigan ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana received enough valid signatures to qualify for a vote in November. When the required number of ballot signatures was certified by the State Board of Canvassers, the 4-0 decision of the board was met by cheers from supporters of the initiative who were present, the Detroit Free Press reports . Rick Thompson, a board member of the Michigan National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), put this ballot initiative in perspective as a matter of the State of Michigan safeguarding its own sovereignty and protecting its own citizens from an intrusive federal policy: "The people of Michigan deserve this. They earned it. We've faced many trials and tribulations. We've had so many stop and go signs from the federal government. That's why states have to take the reins on the issue and really be the crucibles of democracy that they've always been intended to be." Indeed the last time

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