The Politically Incorrect Show - 25/09/2001

[Music - Die Fledermaus]

Good afternoon, Kaya Oraaaa & welcome to the Politically Incorrect Show for Tuesday September 25, proudly sponsored by Neanderton Nicotine Ltd, the show that says bugger the politicians & bureaucrats & all the other bossyboot busybodies who try to run our lives with our money; that stands tall for free enterprise, achievement, profit & excellence against the state-worshippers in our midst; that stands above all for the most sacred thing in the universe, the liberty of the human individual.

[Music up, music down!]

Early this morning I signed off on the 49th issue of my magazine, The Free Radical. The only people who have seen it in its entirety at this point are myself, my assistant-editor Peter Cresswell, my personal assistant Cameron Pritchard, & my designer, Graham Clark of Kale Print. We all had the same thought: What a shame this isn't the milestone 50th issue. We are so darn proud of it.

International terrorism saw to it that this ended up being a significantly different product from the one we had cosily prepared pre-September 11. We were obliged to re-think the issue hastily, expanding it, dropping the more "timeless" articles (they will appear in the next issue), & devising a new cover that would do justice to this monstrous INjustice. I believe the cover we eventually settled on will serve as one more moving symbol of America's founding values & Americans' defiant reassertion of them for a long time to come.

Coincidentally, the longest article this time round is about ... architecture, as Mr Cresswell, himself an architect, tackles the question: What IS architecture? This was prompted by a discussion on the SOLO Forum as to whether architecture can be classified as "art." Mr Cresswell argues resoundingly in the affirmative! His article, unlike the book whose title he has paraphrased, What Art Is, is amply illustrated.

And there is so much more. Joe Rowlands, whose one-page homilies, happily, have become a regular fixture of the magazine, offers a timely reminder to Objectivists that they should resist their tendencies to be misanthropic & focus on the essential decency of most people they deal with. Chris Sciabarra continues his series on Objectivism & homosexuality with a profile of the Rattigan Society. There is an interview with Australian internet radio host Prodos which must surely rank as the most colourful & quirky feature ever to appear in an Objectivist publication. Prodos is the driving force behind the forthcoming global Walk for Capitalism, an event that will take on enormous poignance in the light of the terrorist attacks on capitalism's citadels.

"Colourful & quirky" is the way we like it. We do not subscribe to the view that a commitment to reason & freedom requires us to become po-faced, robotic & funless - we leave THAT to Muslim fanatics - & we strive to avoid any entertainment/information dichotomy in our pages! Issue 49 captures the spirit of its writers & editors surpassingly well.

Readers who have not subscribed to what has been called "the best libertarian publication in the world" & would like to sign up in time for this issue can do so via the Subscribe button on its web site - www.freeradical.co.nz - or through Helen Miller at Gordon & Gotch.

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