Oct 20, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From an AP report at NJ News Flash:
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that terrorists are aiming to derail President Bush's chances at re-election through their attacks in Iraq. [...] "International terrorism has as its goal to prevent the election of President Bush to a second term," he said. "If they achieve that goal, then that will give international terrorism a new impulse and extra power." Still, Putin didn't say which candidate he favored in the Nov. 2 election. "We unconditionally respect any choice of the American people," he said. ["Putin: Terrorist aiming to derail Bush bid", October 18, 2004]
Oct 19, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum: 
From the New York Post: Democrat Primer: Play Phony Race Card By Charging Vote 'Intimidation'. (Via Rodger Morrow)Republicans ripped into John Kerry yesterday over a stunning new internal manual that advises Democrats to launch "pre-emptive" strikes charging the GOP with voter intimidation -- even if none exists.
The "Election Day Manual" -- written for Kerry's Colorado campaign workers -- includes a menu of options Democrats can follow next month to claim Republican intimidation, ranging from issuing press releases to organizing minority leaders to denounce the practice.
It was unclear last night whether the manual had been penned by the Kerry campaign or the Democratic National Committee, although questions about it were fielded by the DNC.
Democratic leaders dismissed the charge, insisting the manual was aimed at providing guidance for "preventing and combating" voter intimidation from happening in the first place.
Oct 18, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
AFP reports: Kerry comment about Cheney daughter may have backfired. (Via Little Green Footballs)John Kerry has come under renewed criticism for raising the case of Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, during a presidential debate.
Five days after making the comment, Kerry remained at the centre of a media controversy for highlighting Cheney's sexual orientation.
Political talk shows, newspaper commentators and an opinion poll have all kept the gay comment in the public. Democrats have bravely called it a storm in a political teacup and Kerry's campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill has said Cheney's daughter is "fair game".
This cartoon was inspired by comments today from James Taranto: "Blogger Rodger Morrow suggests that [Kerry] is being forced to resort to a "Hail Mary" approach..."
And in today's TIA Daily, Robert Tracinski wrote of the incident (The Washington Conundrum): "Kerry's gratuitous violation of a simple rule of campaign etiquette reveals an unacceptable lust for power."The motive [for the drafting of Mary Cheney into the Kerry campaign] seems to be the vaguely cynical hope that Kerry could pit Cheney's own daughter against her father's ticket, that the controversy over the coming days would be: what does Mary Cheney think about her father's campaign? How has he treated her? And so on. A group of leftist "gay rights" activists have been trying to do this for a long time, demanding that Mary Cheney state her own views publicly -- demanding, in effect, that she denounce her father in public. Last Wednesday's comment seems to be Kerry's attempt to pick up on that somewhat disreputable far-left campaign.(This is not the first time that Kerry has picked up a loony-left rallying cry and given it a respectable, mainstream spokesman -- from the Winter Soldier smear in 1971, to the Howard Dean anti-American foreign policy, to the more recent claim that Bush secretly wants to bring back the draft.)
Oct 18, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Monday, October 18, 2004
"The Moral Case for Supporting Israel"
by Dr. Yaron Brook, president and Executive Director of Ayn Rand Institute
Since its founding in 1948 Israel has been under siege--courageously fending off hostile neighbors while defending itself against Arab terrorists. In a Mideast dominated by Arab monarchies, theocracies and dictatorships--Israel is a free country standing as the lone bastion of Western civilization in that region. Yet for decades Israel has faced growing international pressure--often led by the United States--to compromise with its enemies, and act against its self-interest. In this talk, Dr. Brook argues that the United States should unequivocally support Israel's effort at self-defense; that allowing Israel to rid itself of terrorist and foreign military threats is in America's best interests. Israel is our only true ally in the Mideast, and supporting it is the only moral thing for the United States to do.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 5:00pm, 150 Animal Sciences Lab. Free of charge and open to the public.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
"Religion vs. Morality"
by Dr. Andrew Bernstein, professor of philosphy at SUNY Purchase and Concordia College
Conventionally, most people believe that morality can only be based in religious faith - that in a world without God no principles of right and wrong could exist. Related to this, philosophers have long held that no objective, fact-based, rational code of values is possible. Regarding both points, Dr. Andrew Bernstein argues that the exact opposite is true. The purpose of morality is to guide human life on earth - and religion is utterly incapable of it. Flourishing life requires a code of secularism, rationality, egoism and freedom. Religious faith clashes with every principle of a proper moral code, and, as such, has led, and can only lead to, hell on earth.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 7:30pm, 314 Altgeld Hall. Free of charge and open to the public.Oct 18, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Monday, October 18th
Why Businessmen Should Be More Selfish by Alex Epstein
In this lecture, Alex Epstein, junior fellow at The Ayn Rand Institute, will argue that Ayn Rand's ethics of rational self-interest is the moral, practical alternative to conventional "business ethics." We invite you to come judge for yourself which alternative leads to business success.
8:00PM-10:00PM (Doors open at 7:30PM), The Kimmel Center - Room 914, 60 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012
All Non-NYU attendees must make a reservation by emailing their names and the names of any non-NYU guests they plan on bringing to objectivist.club@nyu.edu. In addition, to be admitted to the building on the day of the speech, those non-NYU attendees with reservations must bring government identification (drivers license, passport, etc...). For more information visit: www.nyu.edu/clubs/objectivistOct 18, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Dr. Ellen Kenner's site deals with "The rational basis of happiness and ways to learn about the scientific nature of genuine long term happiness." Best feature: the archives of her past shows.
AFP reports: