An interview with Evva Pryror, a social worker and consultant to Miss Rand’s law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick verified that on Miss Rand’s behalf she secured Rand’s Social Security and Medicare payments which Ayn received under the name of Ann O’Connor (husband Frank O’Connor).

As Pryor said, “Doctors cost a lot more money than books earn and she could be totally wiped out” without the aid of these two government programs. Ayn took the bail out even though Ayn “despised government interference and felt that people should and could live independently… She didn’t feel that an individual should take help.”

Nothing so embodies the philosophy of self reliance like her novel Atlas Shrugged — which according to the Survey of Lifetime Reading Habits (conducted by the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book) was #2 in the list of books that had most influenced the lives of the survey takers. The top spot belonged to The Bible. I can’t help but think that those two books would be further down the list if more people spent time with another important book — The Dictionary.

Haha! Who am I kidding? We’re talking about people that must hate reading. Also, it’s so much harder to be confused about the definitions of words like rape — or to tangentially link anything and everything with the “evils” of Socialism — when your brain is all filled with knowledge.

Of course, all the knowledge in the world will not stop you from being a massive hypocrite. But that’s not the point, right? Ol’ Ayn’s use of government assistance is not surprising. She’s in good company with the conservatives who whine about big government spending while supporting fiscal policies that drive up the debt, or the ones who champion family values before stopping by the local airport bathroom for a man-on-man servicing, or every Tea Party asshole that complains about anything ever.

No, the reality is this — it’s about talking the talk not walking the walk. The latter is for the fucking birds.

“Maybe there are some out there that do walk the walk,” you say earnestly.

Perhaps, dear reader, but they are rare. They share the company of elusive beasts whose balls are hairier than yours truly. And they are only caught on film by those of unsteady hands.

Jason: Do you know the principle of emergence?
Jason: Local vs. global rules.
Jason: Bottom up vs. top down.
Me: Ass to ass.
Me: Wait…
Jason: lol.
Jason: Fuck dude.
Jason. I’m trying to think here.

And the stories are fun too:

The Moon looks down upon the Earth and is neutral in this conflict and yet the secrets she hides fuels this Great War that rages across the heavens. They say that he who has the gold also makes the rules, but now it is the rule-makers on both sides who are paying me gold to rewrite their inept rules.

You cannot have war without weapons, just as you cannot have love without pain. I am your friend and worst enemy combined, softs call me Rothchild, robots call me Papa.

(Excerpt from “Someone Had To Do It,” The Memoirs of Darwin Rothchild.)

How awesome.

I’d love to find a few poster-size prints of these paintings. And I’d really love to be able to paint like this. Maybe one day!

(* Note: One must gallivant on one’s birthday. It’s a rule or law, possibly related to Thermodynamics.)

• Filed under: “Artistic Nerdgasm” – One man takes Star Wars legos and uses an ingenious method of photography to create Lego on Hoth. These photos are fantastic. There are a few photos using Indiana Jones legos as well.
• Meanwhile, in a galaxy not so far away, scientists were taking photos of astronomical bodies and events. Phil, from Bad Astronomy, picked his top ten favorites from 2009. They’re damn cool too.

• I bought a new digital camera (a Canon G10) this year but I’ve only used it a few times. Shameful, I know. There are some absolutely beautiful photos in the Your Best Shoot 2009 Flickr pool and Life’s 2009 Photos of the Year though. If you’re looking for some photography tips and tricks, check out some of these.
• Lifehacker also has a list of some of their favorite DIY projects of 2009. Who doesn’t want to build a pizza oven or hide a room with a bookcase? Want more than that? Check out Instructables and Make.

• Buy a new computer on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?  Check out this article about a few great cross-platform apps. I use the majority of these everyday. I also highly recommend the extension Adblock Plus for Firefox.
• Google announced and rolled out Google Public DNS this week. PC Mag takes a closer look at it. I use OpenDNS currently but I’ll probably give Google’s DNS a try.
• Youtube launched Feather, an opt-in beta for a slimmer version of its player. It’s worth checking out if you’re surfing on an older machine or have a slow connection. There’s a lite version of Facebook as well.

• The Onion A.V. Club selects the best comics of the ’00s as well as the best books of the ’00s. There are more picks in their the best of the decade section.
• Last week, Google unveiled its operating system Chrome OS. It won’t be ready for users until sometime next year but the code is open source and available to those who want to take a peak.
• While you’re peaking, check out Flowing Data. This site has mad graphs, son. Who doesn’t like info-graphics? Occasionally, they can even be funny.

• A while ago, a friend recommended a BBC documentary called The Atheism Tapes. It’s a series of interviews with several philosophers and scientists. The first interview is with the philosopher Colin McGinn. The second interview is with the physicist Steven Weinberg. The third is with the playwright Arthur Miller. The fourth is with the biologist Richard Dawkins. The fifth is with the theologian Denys Turner. The final interview is with the philosopher Daniel Dennett.
• In a similar vein, check out the first three episodes of The Power of Myth, an interview by Bill Moyers with the comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell.  The first part is The Hero’s Adventure. The second part is The Message of Myth. The third is The First Storytellers.

• The Catholic Church gives D.C. an ultimatum: we’ll shutdown our social service programs if the big, mean politicians won’t let us discriminate against gays and lesbians. Here’s a joke. The set-up: “How do we help people?” The punchline: “Faith-based initiatives.” Queue everyone laughing. Especially the homeless.
• Filed under: “Wait. What?” Rupert Murdoch whines about Google indexing NewsCorp content in its search results. He owns multiple newspapers and a cable news channel. Wonder why they’re such rancid turd-piles? Now you know.
• Kirk Cameron plans to subvert Darwin. He will save us from science one stupid person at a time.

• Our [digital] rights continue to erode thanks to the ACTA. Sad times. Stay frosty, stay informed.
• I finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point. Great read though I wish it was longer. I read it in conjunction with Freakonomics. It’s also a great read.
• I spent some time as a web developer.  Apparently there’s a merit badge for those of us who are full stack. Who’s cool now, boy-scouts? That’s what I thought!
• I filed this under ‘I Love This Man’ – Jon Stewart’s Perfect-Pitch Glenn Beck Impression.