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 Friday, July 03, 2009

Tom Stevens' Blog Post Reveals Him to be First-Rate Louse
By Diana Hsieh @ 4:54 AM

Paul and I just finished four lovely days of hiking in Acadia, Maine. (I'll blog some about that later today, if I can.) We've had not-so-great internet access, however, so I'm a bit behind on some internet-dependent tasks, including blogging. However, tomorrow I'll start a daily (but short) blog post on OCON.

However, I want to mention that Dr. Tom Stevens -- of the so-called Objectivist Party has written the most absurdly offensive blog post possible: Farrah Fawcett's E-Mail Reveals Ayn Rand Thought Their Sharing The Same Birth Date Had Significance. I won't pain you by quoting the pompous blog post, but basically he accuses Ayn Rand of relying faith, superstition, and mysticism because she apparently made an offhand remark to Farrah Fawcett about them sharing a birthday.

Sheesh.

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 Comments

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 7:40:57 mst
Comment ID: #1
Name: Michael Gold
E-mail: micaelgold(at)aol.com
URL: http://www.mgtutoring.com/blog/

Yeah. I saw that. How can anyone with a modicum of understanding of Objectivism -- or common sense -- believe and state publicly such a thing? Stevens' claims are so off-the-wall and irrational, I have to wonder if the guy is engaging in a deliberate attack on Objectivism and Ayn Rand.

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 8:14:35 mst
Comment ID: #2
Name: Diana Hsieh
E-mail: diana(at)dianahsieh.com
URL: http://www.dianahsieh.com/blog

Here's more delighted from The Louse:

http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2009/07/objectivist-party-of-new-y ...

***

On July 1, 2009, Dr. Tom Stevens, President of the Objectivist Party of New York, announced the start of a "Have You Read Atlas Shrugged?" sign campaign.

The goal of the campaign is to have individual members of the Objectivist Party of New York purchase or make signs that say "Have You Read Atlas Shrugged?" and to strategically place those signs so they can be seen by the most people possible.

The first such sign in New York State was placed on a fence on a road crossing the Long Island Expressway in Nassau County, New York so it could be seen by all traffic heading westbound.

Dr. Stevens suggested that individuals making those signs do not place the party's name, website or phone number on it. He recommends that only the words "Have You Read Atlas Shrugged?" be placed on the signs to avoid possible legal liability for having placed them.

***

I couldn't stomach reading any more after that -- what a scumbag!

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 8:28:49 mst
Comment ID: #3
Name: Dave B
E-mail: Blankenstein0582(at)aol.com

I posted a reply on Dr.Steven' blog under the name '3rdparty'. If any of you would like to critique my response, please feel free to do so. Be gentle, I'm a newbie at this!! :-D

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 8:29:46 mst
Comment ID: #4
Name: Dave B
E-mail: Blankenstein0582(at)aol.com

I posted a reply on Dr.Steven' blog under the name '3rdparty'. If any of you would like to critique my response, please feel free to do so. Be gentle, I'm a newbie at this!! :-D

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 8:38:44 mst
Comment ID: #5
Name: Dave B
E-mail: Blankenstein0582(at)aol.com

Oops, sorry, didn't mean to post the same thing twice!

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 9:43:10 mst
Comment ID: #6
Name: Jennifer Snow
E-mail: Snowconic(at)hotmail.com
URL: http://literatrix.blogspot.com

I wholeheartedly second Diana's "Sheesh!"

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 11:03:41 mst
Comment ID: #7
Name: Mike
E-mail: atlas51184(at)comcast.net

I'll see your 'sheesh' and raise you a 'jeez.' How about his 4,800 word "quote" from Ayn Rand's Answers? http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2009/06/quotations-from-ayn-rand-a ...

And just for laughs, here's part of the NJ party's plan to save the state: "Cross out "God" on U.S. paper money and write "Galt" so it reads "In Galt We Trust""

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 14:15:46 mst
Comment ID: #8
Name: Fortitudine
E-mail: canadian.republic(at)hotmail.com
URL: http://www.thecanadianrepublic.blogspot.com

I see Diana's "sheesh" and Mike's "jeez" and offer the following portmanteau in response to this Stevens fellow's absurdity: "jeesh."

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 16:39:59 mst
Comment ID: #9
Name: anon

Judging solely from the transcript of Ms. Fawcett's words posted on Ms. Stevens' blog, it is in no way certain that it was Ms. Rand's feeling that because two women shared a birth day it had any significance. Contrary to Mr. Steven's plausible, but unreasonable, interpretation of it, it could have just as likely been Ms. Fawcett's own rationalization for why Ms. Rand liked her so much and contacted her. Ms. Rand may have mentioned it to her just because, upon discovering it, she found it endearing (and if they had become friends, had some future utility), but that in no way proves that she was the one attaching any deeper meaning to it. The fact that Ms. Fawcett spent her life outside of intellectual pursuits whereas Ms. Rand reveled in them, this, if anything, is the more likely explanation - making Mr. Stevens' conclusion completely unfair.

There really is nothing else to say.

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 18:01:29 mst
Comment ID: #10
Name: Dave B
E-mail: Blankenstein0582(at)aol.com

So the quotes from 'Ayn Rand Answers' do not necessarily reflect the views of Dr. Stevens or the Objectivist party? I guess they just pick and choose bits of Objectivism whenever it suits them. Double sheesh!!

Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 11:56:08 mst
Comment ID: #11
Name: Jeff Montgomery
E-mail: jamontgom(at)hotmail.com
URL: http://funwithgravity.blogspot.com

Wow, good thing Tom Stevens told me it's OK to still think Ayn Rand is great ;)

What I find interesting is Farrah talking about herself, and Rand speaking to her in admiration. I like that fact that Ayn saw more in the show than many others did (which of course she wrote about), and that Farrah was obviously affected by it.

Interesting also that Farrah stated "Aaron Spelling was probably the only other person to see Angels that way"... if true, it's probably an indication of why he was a highly successful producer.

BTW, I thought the recent Charlie's Angels remake was enjoyable (the first one from 2000, not the second). It's campy, but that didn't undercut the fact that the Angels were also there to karate chop and blow up the bad guys. Good fun.

Sunday, July 5, 2009 at 7:47:17 mst
Comment ID: #12
Name: Richard

You know, I don't think any other distinguished intellectual gets as much timid qualification when it comes to their approval as Rand does. I never encounter Ludwig Von Mises enthusiasts or James Randi fans who feel the need to fall over themselves assuring others they don't wholly endorse everything they ever said or did. But with Rand it's very common and in cases like this their motivation is blatantly obvious. Pathetic.

Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 17:44:32 mst
Comment ID: #13
Name: Doug A.
URL: http://darkwatersblogs.blogspot.com

I am not surprised at Tom Stevens' ignorance. I still remember him asking his newly created "Objectivist Party" Facebook group what the difference between Objectivism and Libertarianism is. He probably should have looked into this before naming his stillborn political party.

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