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In many contexts today, under federal and state laws, people legally must register with the government and file reports with the government in order to speak their minds about political issues. Such laws flagrantly violate people’s rights to freedom of speech.

I just received the sad news that Burgess Laughlin has died. I had the pleasure of working with him on a couple of reviews he wrote for The Objective Standard. He was a good, thoughtful, benevolent man, who took ideas seriously, practiced the principles he recognized as true, and lived his life with purpose and verve. —Craig Biddle

Krugman looks to problems that can arise in a free market and largely ignores the solutions to such problems made possible by free markets—not to mention all of the life-serving goods and services provided by private businesses when they are free to produce and trade in accordance with their judgment.

If scientists rationally judge that they can make headway against ALS and other devastating diseases by engaging in embryonic stem cell research, that is what they should do—and those who voluntarily (and non-sacrificially) fund such research are morally virtuous in doing so.

Sex among responsible individuals—including among responsible older teens (the precise appropriate age depends on individual maturity)—is a healthy and moral part of life and one of its great joys. People who are mature and responsible enough to have sex should pursue it passionately and enthusiastically, and not let mystical dogmas stand in their way.

Individuals’ lives and bodies belong to them, not to the government. Individuals have a moral right to seek out and use the drugs of their choice for pain management (and for any other purpose), and politicians and bureaucrats are morally wrong—indeed, they are detestable—when they violate those rights.

In this episode of Reason at Large, Craig Biddle answers a question from Robert: "Why do you and other Objectivists advocate selfishness when that word disturbs so many people? Why not just use the word self-interest or, better yet, rational self-interest?"

These days various journalists and pundits routinely misrepresent Ayn Rand’s ideas in order to smear her. The latest smear comes from an article by Bijan Stephen in Time magazine about a coffee shop that uses a voluntary honor system for payments.

"What are the relationships of and differences between altruism and second-handedness?" In answering this question, Craig Biddle clarifies the respective meaning of each concept, identifying one as a theory of morality and the other as a psychological malady, discussing their essential differences and similarities, and contrasting these concepts and relationships with those of egoism and first-handedness or independent thinking.

The print edition of the Fall issue of The Objective Standard is at press and will be mailed shortly; and the online (html), ebook, and Kindle editions have been published. The issue features a debate between Craig Biddle and Max Borders on "Moral Diversity: Asset or Liability for Liberty?," and much more. Enjoy the issue, and be sure to let your friends know about the journal for people of reason.

Star Trek: First Contact, directed by Jonathan Frakes. Written By Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, And Ronald D. Moore. Starring Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Levar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates Mcfadden, Marina Sirtis, Alfre Woodard, James Cromwell, And Alice Krige. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, 1996. Rated PG-13 for some sci-fi…

Edge of Tomorrow, directed by Doug Liman. Written by Christopher Mcquarrie, Jez Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth, based on the novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, and Brendan Gleeson. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, 2014. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of…

The Martian, by Andy Weir. New York: Crown, 2014. 384 pp. $24 (hardcover). Reviewed by Ari Armstrong Imagine you’re on a mission on Mars. Your space suit, not to mention your body, was punctured by an antenna blown loose by a raging sandstorm. Luckily, although the blow knocked you unconscious,…

The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art, by Roger Kimball. New York: Encounter Books, 2005. 200 pp. $17.95 (paperback). Reviewed by Daniel Wahl Roger Kimball begins The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art by asking why we teach and study art history. “It is…

The Dictionary of Human Form, by Ted Seth Jacobs. Santa Fe: Mariposa Press, 2011. 819 pp. $150. Reviewed by Daniel Wahl Ted Seth Jacobs painted The Open Window—one of the most beautiful paintings of the twentieth century. He taught Jacob Collins and Tony Ryder—two of the realist movement’s most influential…