Upcoming Speakers [see more → ]

Events around the area and movie news

by Iris Bell on April 23, 2012

Contents
* Junto meeting May 3rd
* NEW  Upcoming Junto speakers, through November
* NEW  Capitalism without guilt, NYU, Apr. 26
* NEW  Economic Tyranny Interstate Commerce Clause, Apr. 27
* NEW  Fundraiser, Dan O'Connor, for Congress, Apr. 29
* NEW  Dan O'Connor for Congress interview in NY Press
* NEW  New York City Ayn Rand Meetup, Apr. 29
* NEW  Movie set "Atlas Shrugged Part 2," from Reason.com
* NEW  Alex Epstein, Center for Industrial Progress: Facebook
* NEW  Junto introduced to Bill Kirksey and his ReadSpeak
* NEW  NY Obj. Society Atlas Shrugged reading group, May 20
* NEW  Laissez Faire, a new blog defends capitalism
* NEW  "Understanding Objectivism" by Peikoff, new book
* NEW  Chris Sciabarra on Ditko's art with Rand influences
* NEW  Ayn Rand walking tours, 2012
* NYCjunto-discuss list
* About this newsletter
**************************************************
Junto is a group that shares information
and discusses current issues...
plus presents speakers to talk with us:

Ilana Mercer:
Natural Rights in "Into the Cannibal's Pot":
Abstractions or Facts of Life?

Thursday, May 3rd

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

Ilana Mercer is a U.S.-based, classical liberal writer. She writes
WorldNetDaily.com's longest-standing, exclusive, libertarian
weekly column, "Return to Reason."
    She's featured on RT with her Paleolibertarian Column and
Police State USA column.
    RT was previously Russia Today. It's a government-funded
global TV news network based in the Russian Federation. It's
news broadcasts are in English, Spanish and Arabic.
    She contributes to London's "Quarterly Review." She's
a fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, an
independent, non-profit economic policy think tank.
    She's written for many publications including The Financial
Post, London's Jewish Chronicle and Quarterly Review, The
American Spectator and The New Individualist which is David
Kelley's Atlas Society magazine. Her writing has been in
Freedom Communications newspapers across the U.S.
    She's been published in The Journal of Social, Political and
Economic Studies, Free Life: a Journal of Classical Liberal
and Libertarian Thought, FEE's Ideas on Liberty and
Insight On the News, affiliate of Washington Times. She'd
written weekly columns for Taki's Magazine, once the premier
paleoconservative/libertarian webzine.
    When she supported Ron Paul for president in 2008,
she was asked by his campaign for a written endorsement:
    "Ron Paul stands alone among the presidential contenders
for a solvent, sovereign America -- he has the will to stop the
squandering of men and matériel in Iraq and the intellectual
wherewithal to salvage an ailing currency, fortify forsaken
borders, and restore individual liberties."
    She's proprietor of the blog, Barely a Blog:
barelyablog.com
Among its contributors are Tibor Machan, George Reisman
and Thomas Szasz. The first two have spoken at Junto.
    Ilana's been on Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio
and on radio across the U.S. including Sean Hannity's national
show, on which she defended NFL quarterback, Michael Vick.
    She was born in South Africa, which her father, Rabbi Ben
Isaacson, left after harassment by South African security police
because of his anti-apartheid preaching and activism. Ilana
fought petty apartheid tirelessly.
    The family left for Israel in the 1960s where she spent her
formative years. She returned to South Africa in the 1980s,
married and had a daughter. The family emigrated to Canada
in 1995, then went on to live in the U.S.
    Her latest book, June 2011, is "Into the Cannibal's Pot:
Lessons for America from post-Apartheid South Africa." It's
a polemic  anchored in history, reality, fact and the political
philosophy of classical liberalism.
    It's a manifesto against mass society, arguing against raw,
ripe democracy, in the U.S., in South Africa and everywhere.
It's intended as a reminder that, however imperfect, civilized
societies are fragile. They can, and will, crumble in culturally
inhospitable climes. The tyranny of political correctness, so
unique to the West -- plays a role in their near-collapse.
    Advanced societies don't just die; they either wither from
within, or, like South Africa, are finished off by other
western societies.
    All isn't grim. She pauses to turn the arrows in her epistolary
quiver away from the state. She covers popular culture,
mainstream media, Hollywood and pseudo-science. From sex
to music, it's all here, minus the unpalatable pabulum served
by the mummified media.
    When she is not expatiating upon the issues of the day, Ilana
enjoys running outdoors. Music is another passion. Chamber
music and Bach -- any Bach -- are her first loves, but she finds
the hard core, intricate and masterful brilliance of progressive
rock outfits like Symphony X, Dream Theater, Magnitude Nine
and Kamelot as alluring, to say nothing of neoclassical wizards
such as Sean Mercer and Tony MacAlpine.
    Her full bio is at:
tiny.cc/MercerBio
    Reviews of her book:
IlanaMercer.com
    Her articles on World Net Daily and on RT (Russia Today):
bit.ly/MercerColumns
    Her Facebook page is at:
on.fb.me/MercerFacebook 

—————————————————————————
Visit Junto's site for information on current and past speakers,
read previous newsletters, to sign up for the Junto e-newsletter:
NYCjunto.com
    Visit Junto on Facebook:
on.fb.me/JuntoNYC
—————————————————————————
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 these upcoming speakers:

* June 7, Gene Epstein, economics editor Barrons
magazine. He writes cover and feature stories on economic
and social trends, and book reviews. Read his articles at:
tiny.cc/GeneEpstein

* July 5, 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, 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  

* September 1, Richard Kostelanetz is a writer and artist. He
often attends Junto. He's been a contributing/advisory editor
of many arts journals, the author of many books, among them
"Political Essays" and "More On Innovative Music(ian)s"
    Visit his site:
tiny.cc/rKosti

* October 4, Gary Hoover, read his bio:
tiny.cc/HooverBio

* Nov. 1, Greg Rehmke, program director Economic Thinking,
programs for high school, homeschool and college. Visit his site:
tiny.cc/gRehmke

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Capitalism without guilt: Ayn Rand Inst. speaker NYU, Apr. 26
    Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director, the Ayn Rand Institute
will give the talk: Capitalism Without Guilt: The Moral Case
for Freedom.
    In it he examines why the free market has erroneously been
blamed for the financial crisis.
    NYU Kimmel Center for U. Life,
60 Washington Square South, Room 808, NYC
Thur., April 26 at 6:00pm,
    FREE, register by e-mail with Corina Cappabianca at:
cfc284[at]nyu.edu
    Brook argues today's crisis is a failure of the un-free market.
Massive government intervention, from DC's affordable
housing crusade, via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to the
Federal Reserve's easy money policies, laid the groundwork for
the crisis. He evaluates the government's response to the crisis
and suggest alternatives.
    He explains why the free market has taken the blame for a
crisis caused by government intervention. While most people
are quick to blame capitalism for any evil because it encourages
selfishness and rewards the profit motive, he argues these traits
are precisely what make capitalism a moral system.
    Brook's next book, due out this Sept., "Free Market
Revolution: How Ayn Rand's Ideas Can End Big Government,"
co-author Don Watkins, fellow Ayn Rand Inst.
    Organized, hosted, sponsored by NYU College Republicans. 

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Economic Tyranny of Interstate Commerce Clause, Apr. 27
    Tibor R. Machan will speak in NYC on Fri., April 27
His announcment of this talk: Supreme Court Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg during the recent oral arguments presented
about ObamaCare commented: "People who don't participate
in this market are making it much more expensive for the
people who do; that is, they will get, a good number of them
will get services that they can't afford at the point where they
need them, and the result is that everybody else's premiums
get raised? It's not your free choice just to do something for
yourself. What you do is going to affect others, affect them
in a major way."
    Tibor will valuate this reasoning and discuss its implications
for liberty.
    He's the R. C. Hoiles Professor of Business Ethics and
Free Enterprise Chapman U., CA. He's spoken at Junto many
times, most recently Jan. 2012.
    As a boy in the 1950's Tibor fled communist Hungary with
the help of a smuggler and later immigrated to the USA,
serving in the United States Air Force.
    He's the single author of over thirty books in philosophy
and over one hundred articles in philosophy journals. He's
generally regarded as one of the leading libertarian theorists
in political philosophy.
    Among his recent books are "The Morality of Business:
A Profession for Wealthcare" and "Revisiting Marxism:
A Bourgeois Reassessment".
    Fri., April 27, 8:00pm
St. John's University, D'Angelo Center, Room 207
8000 Utopia Pky, Queens, New York 

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fundraiser, Junto attendee Dan O'Connor, for Congress, Apr. 29
    Dan's been speaking at most Junto's over the past months.
He's running to become the Democratic candidate for U.S.
House of Representatives for New York's 7th district.
    The event will include a piano recital by Sebastian Forster
and a silent auction of artist Hisako Kobayashi's works.
* Signature cocktails
* Passed hors d’oeuvres by Harry’s Italian of 2 Gold St.
    Sun., April 29.2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Private enclosed roof deck, 1 Wall St., Manhattan
$200 per ticket
$500 per VIP ticket, includes a 1 on 1 lunch with Dan at
Harry's to be scheduled at the event.
    Only 60 tickets are available
RSVP and order your tickets by calling 516-659-0689
or visit:
Eventbrite.com/event/3372078979
    Schedule of events
2:00pm Introduction of event
2:30pm Sebastian Forster:
    Beethovan Piano Sonata N23, Op. 57: Appassionata
    Beethoven Piano Sonata N14, p 27 N2: Moonlight
3:15pm Candidate Dan O’Connor will address the guests
3:30pm Kobayashi showcase and completion of silent auction
5:00pm Conclusion
    You may also contribute via check to "Dan O’Connor for
Congress". Mail to: PO Box 697, New York, NY 10002
    Or visit:
bit.ly/DanFundraise
    To learn more about his campaign:
DanOConnor2012.com

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan O'Connor for Congress interview in NY Press:
bit.ly/DanNYpress

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
New York City Ayn Rand Meetup April 29
    Come join us on 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---------------------------------------------------------------------
On the movie set of "Atlas Shrugged Part 2," from Reason.com
    Production is now underway on the second installment of
the movie adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel.
    By Brian Doherty, April 20
Here are some highlights of the article:
    ...[in] January, buoyed by what he calls encouraging DVD
and video-on-demand sales, and the partnership of four other
Rand-inspired financiers to help bear the production and
marketing costs, Aglialoro and his production partner...Part I,
Harmon Kaslow, decided they were ready to finish
what they started....
    The movie is now shooting (digitally, with Arri Alexa
cameras) around the LA area. On Wed. I visited...day 10 of a
planned 31 day shoot (slightly longer than Part I's 27 days, but
with a far more leisurely couple of months of pre-production).
    ...bright and perspicacious production intern, Justin
Lesniewski...is an aspiring novelist and Rand fan who won
his job through an essay contest....
    In a move that might prove controversial to fans of Part I,
this new movie has been entirely recast -- not a single actor
reprises their role.
    Director Paul Johansson, meanwhile, has been replaced by
John Putch (a TV veteran with many episodes of Scrubs and
Cougar Town behind him)....
    The new Rearden, Jason Beghe (most recently of
Californication), plays Hank with far more gruff menace than
his predecessor, the suave Grant Bowler. Beghe goes with an
intensity that draws you in to him rather than projects flashily,
and delivers his lines with a deep growl....
    ...I watched the shooting of another scene that is, in a way,
the lynchpin of the entire novel: the subtle attempt by
Francisco D’Anconia (played by Esai Morales, most recently
seen as Caprica's Joseph Adama) to convince Rearden to
abandon this world of statist control...
    Morales does the scene, delivers the line, more than five
times while I watch, running a range from intense near-menace
to ironic lightness...
   Part II's new Dagny Taggart -- the railroad magnate heroine
struggling to keep the motors of the world running while
mysterious forces try to shut them down -- is Samantha Mathis
(perhaps most famously of Pump Up the Volume opposite
Christian Slater)....
    Read all of this article at:
bit.ly/ReasonAtlas2
    The Official Atlas Shrugged Movie Blog -- Part 2,
with photos of the leading actors and more information:
bit.ly/AtlasTwo
    For the complete cast of Part 2 with photos:
imdb.to/AtlasCast
    See some Part 2 Rearden Steel sets on the official Facebook:
on.fb.me/Atlas2face
    David Kelley of the Atlas Society writes a synopsis of the
Part 2 movie:
bit.ly/Atlas2Kelley

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex Epstein, founder, Center for Industrial Progress: Facebook
    Alex was Junto's March 2012 speaker. The slogan on his
Facebook page is: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of energy.
    For Earth Day he says it: "...should be Transform-the-Earth
Day. What part of the human environment are you most
grateful for? Let's see if we can get 100 inspiring answers."
He got hundreds.
    Visit his Facebook page at:
on.fb.me/AlexEarth 

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Junto was introduced to Bill Kirksey and his ReadSpeak
    Junto begins with people introducing themselves. Bill
came to Junto for the first time and told us of his creation,
ReadSpeak, which presents even the youngest children with
written language as they watch TV. Read about it and see it
for yourself here:
www.ReadSpeak.com 

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
NY Objectivist Society Atlas Shrugged reading group, May 20
    Each month, study the novel one chapter at a time. They're
into the second section of the book, "Either-Or," the part which
will be the subject of  the movie "Atlas Shrugged Part 2", due
this fall.
    May 20, 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Sony Bldg., 550 Madison, corner of 56th St.
$5 donation to the Ayn Rand Institute
    Visit the site in May to find out what chapter
to read in preparation:
bit.ly/NYobjRead

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Laissez Faire, a new blog defends capitalism
    The Ayn Rand Institute has created this blog to offer
"The Uncompromising Case for Capitalism":
Capitalism.AynRand.org

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Understanding Objectivism" by Leonard Peikoff, new book
    This lecture series from 1983, "Understanding Objectivism:
A Guide to Learning Ayn Rand's Philosophy," is now
a paperback. It's by Leonard Peikoff and editor Michael
S. Berliner. It was published in March 2012.
Amazon cost $11.98
    The internet course is $150.00.

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Sciabarra discussed Ditko's art with Rand influences
    His essay "The Illustrated Rand," is online in pdf form:
bit.ly/DitkoRand
    The section on Ditko begins: "No comic artist has been
better known for incorporating Randian themes in his work
than Steve Ditko, co-creator, with Stan Lee, of "Spider-Man."
Among Ditko's comic book heroes, one will find Static, The
Creeper, The Blue Beetle, and Mr. A (as in "A is A"), as well
as the faceless crime fighter known as The Question, whom
Lawrence (2001) has characterized as the quintessential Ditko
character reflecting "the artist's Objectivist beliefs."...

NEW---------------------------------------------------------------------
Ayn Rand walking tours, 2012
    Fred Cookinham has five different Ayn Rand walking tours:
tiny.cc/RandTour
    Some dates are scheduled in advance but all are available
on request. 

Ayn Rand's Park Avenue, EVERY Wed., plus other dates
    Where Rand lived and held her salons.
Scenes from "Atlas Shrugged."
    Where Rand learned about architecture from Ely Jacques
Kahn, in his own masterpiece Art Deco building.
    Meet on NE corner on east 42nd St. at Vanderbilt Ave.
Grand Central Terminal's SW entrance.
    Subway stops: Grand Central
1-1/2 hour tour
    EVERY Wednesday through September 26 at 6:15pm
    November 4, Sunday at 11:00am
    November 24, Saturday at 11:00am
Tour also available on request.

Skyscrapers of "The Fountainhead," starting in May
    The changing styles in architecture -- from Beaux Arts to
Art Deco to International Style -- that form the background
to the story of Roark's struggle.
    Was Roark Wright? -- the real-life models for Rand's
characters.
     Meet at Number 1 Broadway, at Battery Place.
Subway stops: Bowling Green
    2-1/2 hour tour, starts at 11:00am
    May 26, Saturday
    May 27, Sunday
    July 7, Saturday
Tour also available on request.

"Atlas Shrugged" starting in Nov. and on request
    See places Rand researched and fictionalized in her novel,
around and in Grand Central Terminal.
    Meet on the SE corner of Park Ave. at E. 50th St.
Outside the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel.
    Subway stops: Number 6 to E. 51st St. or Grand Central.
1-1/2 hour tour, starts at 11:00am
    November 17, Saturday
    November 18, Sunday
Tour also available on request.

Ayn Rand Fifth Avenue, on request only
    Art and architecture in the glamour shopping district of the
Twentieth Century world. Central Park South, Rockefeller
Center, the Stork Club, and where Random House published
"Atlas Shrugged."
    Where Rand bought her paintings, clothes, and fancy
dinners.
    Meet at the Columbus statue in Columbus Circle.
Subway stop: Columbus Circle.
    2-1/2 hour tour, starts at 11:00am
Tour available on request only.

Ayn Rand on Broadway, on request only
    Skyscrapers, newspapers, Broadway and books.
DeMille, Hellman, and where Alan Greenspan played sax.
Where "The Night of January 16th," "The Unconquered,"
and "Think Twice" were produced.
    Isabel Paterson at the Herald Tribune.  Patricia Neal, the
Shuberts, the Gershwins, and of course more Art Deco.
    Meet on the NE corner of Broadway and W. 49th St.
    2-1/2 hour tour, starts at 11:00am
Tour available on request only.

All scheduled tours are $20, $15 for those over 65, except
where noted. Private tours are available for $30 a person.
    To request a private tour or more information, phone Fred
at home: 718-397-9019 or on his cell: 917-607-9019 or
email him: fcookinham [at] juno.com
    "Fred is a kind of poet and street professor...."  Anne Heller,
"New York Observer" 2/9/04, author of "Ayn Rand and the
World She Made."
    "Fred's a valuable asset in NYC. I encourage those who live
here or who visit, to take advantage of his research, knowledge
and ability to communicate. His perspectives on American
history, libertarianism, and Objectivism as well as his
appreciation of the arts integrate many interesting facts
and influences on our culture." Lee Clifford, Junto attendee
    Fred Cookinham's walking tours keep getting better,
because he never stops researching.
    He's often at Junto and Ayn Rand Meetups. At least once
a year he does a reading from Rand at Junto.

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 Junto 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

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