Does anyone remember the Field of the Blackbirds? It was in the news quite frequently about a year ago, back when people were still paying attention to the mess in Kosovo. The Field of the Blackbirds is the battlefield where a Serbian army was defeated by the Ottoman...
Robert W Tracinski
Robert Tracinski was a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute from 2000 to 2004. The Institute promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.
Mr. Tracinski is editor and publisher of The Intellectual Activist and TIADaily, which offer daily news and analysis from a pro-reason, pro-individualist perspective. To receive a free 30-day trial of the TIA Daily and a FREE pdf issue of the Intellectual Activist please go to TIADaily.com and enter your email address.
Where is the Future?
Where are the flying cars?It is now 2001, and for those of us who insist on technicalities, this is the real, official beginning of the 21st century. So I want to know: Where is the future predicted for us by science fiction writers -- you know, the future of flying...
How the Greenspan Stole Christmas
A cloud is hanging over this year's Christmas season: the cloud of recession. You can see it in weak Christmas shopping sales and the desperate deals being offered by car makers. You can see it in the words of a shopper interviewed on television, who explained her...
Back to the Land of the Bromide
While the election crisis was still upon us, I hated it as much as anyone else. As a columnist, I probably hated it more. How do you write about politics when the news reverses direction every two hours? But now that it's all over, I'm getting downright nostalgic...
The Return of the Spotted Owl: Earth First, Means Humans Last
My friend Jack predicted this. When the first flurry of lawsuits was filed in Florida, he told me: keep an eye on the other news. Some government agency, he warned, will spring a new regulation on us -- and they will get away with it, because everyone's attention is...
Where are the Bloodhounds?
Is the media coverage of the election fiasco biased in favor of Gore? Many small instances of bias show up in reporters' choice of words. When Democrats take to the streets, for example, they are always described as "demonstrators" or "protesters" -- but Republican...
The Democrats “World of Non-A”
Two thousand years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle named one of the basic rules of reality: "A is A." Reality is what it is. Contradictions cannot exist. This rule came to be known as the Law of Identity. Early in the 20th century, another philosopher tried to...
It Depends On What The Meaning Of The Word “Vote” Is
There used to be a half-joking, half-cynical saying on Capitol Hill: "reality is negotiable." It stood for the idea that there is no fact that can't be spun out of existence, and no number so absolute that you can't doctor it off the books. That phrase has since...
Children of the Damned: How We Are ‘Saving’ Our Children by Raising Them to Become Serfs
For almost a century the Soviet Union preached the doctrine of service to "the people." Toil, sacrifice, and suffer, the Soviet propagandists told their subjects; it is all being done for the good of "the people." As time went on, of course, the people found that they...
The Two Americas
The vote last Tuesday wasn't even close. I know what you're thinking. If you look at the national totals, the electoral college count, and the chaos in Florida, this election is probably the closest in history. But look at it again, state by state, precinct by...
What is America’s Real Choice in the Upcoming Presidential Elections?
The voters face a clear choice in tomorrow's election -- it's just too bad the candidates don't want to admit that fact. Underneath all the muddled rhetoric on the campaign trail, everybody senses what this election is really about. It's not fundamentally about...
Gore’s Disastrous Green Agenda
On Friday, Al Gore declared that "prosperity is on the ballot" and described himself as "the right ... choice to keep it going." But those who are watching his campaign more closely just got a reminder of who the real Al Gore is: an environmental zealot out to shut...
Why Justice Will Not Prevail
At a memorial service for the sailors killed in the terrorist attack on the USS Cole, President Clinton declared, in the tone of intense emotional sincerity he is so practiced at faking, that "justice will prevail." It was a cruel lie to tell to the sailors' mourning...
Bush Abdicates Leadership on Prescription Drugs
If you want to know why the Bush campaign is foundering, you don't need to look any farther than last week's battle (week of September 4th, 2000) over prescription drugs. Proving that the era of big government is far from over, Al Gore has proposed a $253 billion...
The Peace Process War in Israel/Palestine
After seven years of tireless negotiations, we can finally see the hard-won result of the Middle Eastern "peace process": war. Make no mistake about it. The current orgy of killing in Israel/Palestine is not due to a failure or breakdown in negotiations, or even a...
The Censorship Smokescreen
For the past week, our politicians have been busy constructing the foundations of censorship in America. And worse: They have been doing so unanimously. Censorship is being promoted across the political and cultural spectrum, from Al Gore and Joe Lieberman to John...
A Season of Trivialities
What an exciting election season. Just think of the campaign issues everyone's talking about. Al Gore gave his wife a long smooch at the Democratic convention; will this endear him to suburban women? George W. got in trouble when he called a reporter an unpleasant...
Al Gore’s Money Grab
Whose money is it?In a muddled political contest, where there is no basic disagreement on prescription drugs, education, or even foreign policy, the biggest issue might be: Which candidate, if any, thinks you have a right to your own money?Al Gore's answer is clear:...
China’s Gymnastic Gulag
I always enjoy watching the Olympic games. I enjoy the stories of the athletes' determination, the hard work and mental focus they devote to reaching their goals. But this year, that enjoyment has been marred by a disturbing note. During the first week of coverage...
Fully Privatize Social Security: The Looting of Our Retirement Savings Is the Product of Altruism
Presidential candidate George W. Bush recently announced that he would campaign for the partial privatization of Social Security. Under Bush's proposal, taxpayers would be allowed to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in the stock market.This plan has...
Microsoft Breakup Is a Throwback to Socialism
Only a month ago, the Justice Department filed its motion that the Microsoft Corporation be broken into pieces as a "remedy" under the antitrust laws. The government wants to split the company into two pieces, one to make the Windows operating system, the other to...
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