Washington Metro Objectivism Discussion (WMOD)

                 Wednesday, May 21, 2003
 
            Space: The Free-Market Frontier

                    By Ed Hudgins

Edward Hudgins, Washington director of the Objectivist Center and
editor of a new Cato Institute book, “Space: The Free-Market Frontier,”
will discuss the cultural, economic and political reasons for
privatizing space activities and establishing property rights off
the Earth’s surface. In her essay “Apollo 11,” Ayn Rand celebrated
the first lunar landing as a great human achievement. But only
private companies are able to commercialize space transportation
and enterprise -- if the government will get out of the way. In the
long run it could be private parties who settle the Moon and
terraform Mars into a new habitat for humanity that could be a
model libertarian world.

Hudgins is the Objectivist Center’s Washington director and a
Cato Institute adjunct scholar. He has served as director of regulatory
studies at Cato, as a senior economist at the Joint Economic Committee
of Congress, as a trade and economic development expert at the Heritage
Foundation.

Hudgins is widely published and his books include “The Last Monopoly:
Privatizing the Postal Service for the Information Age,” 
“Mail @ the Millennium,”  “Freedom to Trade: Refuting the New Protectionism.”

Links to some of Hudgins’ space commentaries:

On Astronomy:
http://www.objectivistcenter.org/mediacenter/articles/ehudgins_why-watch-skies.asp

On the Columbia tragedy:
http://www.objectivistcenter.org/mediacenter/articles/ehudgins_reach-stars.asp

On private cosmonauts:
http://www.cato.org/dailys/04-05-01.html

On the Moon landing:
http://www.cato.org/dailys/07-20-99.html

        WHEN AND WHERE IS THE WMOD MEETING?

Please join WMOD on Wednesday, May 21.  Anyone who is
interested in rational discussion of Ayn Rand's ideas is welcome.
There will be a $2 charge for the talk if you are not having 
dinner. Note that our meeting location is Metro accessible.  You can
either join us for drinks at 5:30 or for dinner at 6:00 PM or for
the talk at 7:00 PM at the Hunan Palace in Rosslyn, VA
just across the Key Bridge from Georgetown.  The street address is
1812 North Moore Street.  If you come by Metro, get off at the
Rosslyn Metro Exit and the Hunan Palace is only a few feet away.
Take the street exit on N. Moore Street (across street from Roy
Rogers/Burger King), go out of Metro and take a left, and the
Palace is a few feet down N. Moore Street.  If you drive, there is
a parking garage (Allstate) next door to the Palace that is free
weekends, or weekdays after 6:00 PM.  There will be a $15 fixed price
dinner (including tax and tip), or you can order from the menu. 
 
Please RSVP to WMOD at (703) 820-7696 before noon on the day of
the meeting so that we can tell the restaurant how many tables to
set up and how many to expect for dinner.  For more information,
call the Hunan Palace at (703) 528-8188, or call David Saum
at (703) 820-7696 (W) or (703) 671-5119 (H).  

                  FUTURE MEETINGS

WMOD meetings are generally held on the third Wednesday of each
month.  We are always looking for new stimulating meeting topics
related to Objectivism.  Please contact WMOD if you have
suggestions for meeting topics and locations, or if you can
volunteer some time to arrange meetings.

                       NEWS     

Film Company to Bring "Atlas Shrugged" to the Screen
The Objectivist Center is pleased to announce that a new project to 
film Atlas Shrugged has just been launched. Crusader Entertainment, 
LLC, a Beverly Hills-based production company, announced on May 12 
that it had acquired the film rights to Ayn Rand's great novel. The 
company also announced that it has signed veteran screenwriter James 
V. Hart, whose film credits include the ambitious adaptation of Carl 
Sagan's science fiction novel Contact, to write the screenplay.

For more information:
http://www.objectivistcenter.org/articles/annc_atlas-shrugged-film.asp
or 
http://www.atlassociety.org/news_atlas-shrugged-film.asp



                   CALENDAR

The Objectivist Center will hold its fourteenth annual summer seminar at
Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts, from Saturday June 28 to Saturday
July 5. The details are all in the brochure, which can be found at
http://www.objectivistcenter.org/events/sem2003/seminars-sem03.asp

Weekly on Thursdays: Objectivist discussion group meeting  at
7:00PM at La Madelaine Restaurant - Baileys Crossroads,  at the
corner of Route # 7 and Columbia Pike next to Borders Books.
Contact Jan Helfeld: JanHelfeld@aol.com

Every Monday: Socrates Cafe philosophic discussion group meeting,
at 7:00PM at Borders Books, second floor, at Bailey's Crossroads, 
VA. Contact Jan Helfeld: JanHelfeld@aol.com

        The Objectivist Center (formerly IOS) events
http://www.objectivistcenter.org

         GMU Objectivist Club Events
http://www.gmu.edu/org/objectivist/upevnts.htm

        Cato Institute Events
http://www.cato.org/events/calendar.html

        Free-Market.Net Calendar
http://www.free-market.org/directory/events/

       Future of Freedom Foundation Events
http://www.fff.org/events/events.htm
         
       Institute for Humane Studies
http://www.theIHS.org/
  
(please let WMOD know about other events that we should list) 
                
               WMOD Contact Information

Contact:
  Dave Saum
  WMOD
  PO Box 8007
  Falls Church, VA 22041
    Email: DSaum AT infiltec DOT com
    Phone: (703) 820-7696
    Fax: (703) 671-9350
    Web: http://www.infiltec.com/wmod.htm

--------------email list information
To subscribe to the WMOD email meeting 
announcement list, just send an email to 
WMOD-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 
or visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WMOD/.
-------------------