Objectivist Round Up

It's over at The Playful Spirit.  Go check it out!

Chicago Objectivist Society - Conference!

From their website:

 

The Chicago Objectivist Society is pleased to announce the presenters and presentations planned for our inaugural Chicago Objectivist convention, which will take place over Labor Day weekend (September 3rd & 4th). If you can join us, please preregister here.

I wish we were able to go, but we already have other travel plans this summer.  That being said, I was fortunate enough to go to OCON last summer and SnowCon in January, and these Objectivist conferences are a great way to mingle with other like-minded people, learn new ideas and learn how to apply Rand's philosophy to your daily life.  If you aren't able to make it to AtlosCon or OCON, try it make it out to one of these other mini-conferences that are popping up all over the place.  It's an exciting time to be an Objectivist! =)  

Peace Corp Volunteers Raped

File this under, "And you expected…what?!"

 

Today, Ms. Smochek is among a growing group of former Peace Corps volunteers who are speaking out about their sexual assaults, prompting scrutiny from Congress and a pledge from the agency for reform. In going public, they are exposing an ugly sliver of life in the Peace Corps: the dangers that volunteers face in far-flung corners of the world and the inconsistent — and, some say, callous — treatment they receive when they become crime victims.

John Lewis Dinner Lecture

Front Range Objectivism (FRO) is pleased to announce supper talk with historian John Lewis on "Government Medicine: The Metaphysical Attack on a Profession" on Saturday, May 14th. If you'd like to attend, you must register by this Monday, May 9th!

• When: Saturday, May 14th, 2011, 5 pm cash bar and social, 6-7 pm dinner buffet, 7:15 lecture with Q&A and more socializing afterward, wrap up by 10 pm
• Where: Landry's Seafood, 7209 South Clinton Street, Englewood
• Cost: $65 for regular attendees; $35 for students
• RSVP by Monday, May 9th using the form on this page. Payment is due upon registration. We cannot accept payment at the door for this event.

About the lecture:

Many people agree that government control of medicine is a vicious attack on individual rights, and that the use of force against doctors is immoral as well as unconstitutional. But, this talk will maintain, the attack is far deeper: it is directed at the very nature of man as a thinking, goal-directed being. Government control of medicine undercuts the ability of doctors to use their minds in a first-handed way, and makes it impossible to project long-range goals on every level. This hard-hitting talk, motivated by first-hand personal experiences in medicine, will ask every thinking person to consider whether they want the United States to stay on a path leading to government control of their own personal health care.
Dr. Lewis is visiting associate professor in the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program at Duke University. He is an Anthem Fellow for Objectivist Scholarship, and adjunct associate professor of business at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His recent book is Nothing Less than Victory: Decisive Wars and the Lessons of History (Princeton University Press, 2010).

Space is limited, so register now! The deadline for registration is Monday, May 9th. After that, we may or may not be able to squeeze you in!