The Republican candidate Mitt Romney has picked the Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate for this year's presidential election. The 42-year-old chair of the House Budget Committee is a darling of the popular right-wing Tea Party movement and, we're told, a devotee of the Russian-American novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand.
Indeed, commentators in the US have said that the 2012 election can best be seen as a battle between Obama's essentially Rooseveltian vision of America's future, and Romney/Ryan's Randian vision. So just who was Ayn Rand and how have her ideas - never especially popular in her own lifetime - come to be so influential?
Rand was born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum, the daughter of a St Petersberg pharmacist, in 1905. Go to Ayn Rand and the World She Made by Anne C Heller (Anchor, Dh104) to see how the 1917 Bolshevik revolution - in which her father's pharmacy was confiscated - forged a deep-rooted anti-state, libertarian worldview in the young Rosenbaum.
Rand - she adopted the pen name in her early 20s - arrived in New York in 1925, reportedly crying "tears of splendour" when she first saw the Manhattan skyline. Early work as a Hollywood screenwriter was not successful. But in 1943 Rand published The Fountainhead (Penguin, Dh58), a philosophical novel about a young architect who struggles against tradition.
That book became a worldwide success, and was followed in 1957 by Atlas Shrugged (Penguin, Dh58), the book that Rand's followers call her masterpiece. The novel set out what Rand called her Objectivist philosophy: fierce individualism, an aversion of government and an insistence on the primacy of reason above faith.
Rand's novels were not received well by critics. But slowly - aided by a circle of acolytes that included the future chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, - her ideas seeped into the American consciousness. But read Goddess of the Market (OUP USA, Dh98), by Jennifer Burns, to learn how in 1991, when the American Library of Congress conducted a survey to find the most influential book, Atlas Shrugged came second, after the Bible.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
'Spies in Disguise'
Director: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
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Tips%20for%20holiday%20homeowners
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
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NEW%20PRICING%20SCHEME%20FOR%20APPLE%20MUSIC%2C%20TV%2B%20AND%20ONE
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