Adam Bellow Launches "Liberty Island' Website for Creative Conservative Writers

Adam Bellow is shaking up the market for smart conservative fiction and speculative writing with his just-launched website, Liberty Island. As the publisher and CEO, Bellows brings to the project his eye for provocative literary projects that go against the prevailing cultural grain. He currently runs Broadside, the conservative imprint of Harper/Collins, which published Donald Rumsfeld '54's memoir, Rumsfeld Rules.

In an interview with the website PJ Media, Bellow explained the thinking behind the site, which has genres such as dystopia, alt-history, humor, mystery/thriller, horror and military. One cheeky article is, "Can You Write Better Than Maureen Dowd? A Liberty Island Contest." Bellow explains the site's goals and approach:

We started Liberty Island to help the new wave of conservative storytellers connect with their natural audience. Even before launching the site we’ve discovered dozens of new voices on the right that you won’t find anywhere else. These are talented and creative people who have previously been excluded from mainstream culture because they hold the wrong views and didn’t go to the right schools or attend the approved writing programs. This just confirms our hunch that something like Liberty Island is desperately needed. . . 

Liberty Island combines a magazine, a free range self-publishing platform, and a community of readers and writers who share a commitment to the values of freedom, individualism, and American exceptionalism. It also has a unique mission: to serve as the platform and gathering-place for the new right-of-center counterculture.

Join Doug McGrath in a Post-Show Q&A for His Play "Beautiful"

Princeton Alumni in the Arts and the Class of 1980 have organized an event for the April 26 matinee performance of the Broadway play "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," written by Doug McGrath. The performance will be followed by a post-show Q&A session with book writer Douglas McGrath '80 and performer Jarrod Spector '03 plus mingling afterwards. Celebrate these two Tigers on Broadway, at 2:00 pm, followed by the post-show Talk-Back session with drinks and appetizers near the theater from 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm.

For $110, you get an all-inclusive ticket for a rear orchestra ticket to the matinee performance plus admission to the Q&A session, 1 drink and appetizers.

Amy Myers Jaffe Examines Ukraine Crisis with Energy Focus

In a column for the Fuel Fix website, Amy Myers Jaffe looked at the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis from the perspective of how reveals Russia's challenges in the energy sphere, and how the crisis could benefit U.S. energy companies. In "Russia and Ukraine -- the Energy Angle," she writes,

Russia relies heavily on oil and gas for its national budget and has been under pressure from the prospects of increased competition. So far, that competitive pressure is limited to the natural gas side but prospects that either Iraq or shale oil could uptick in the coming years pose a long term threat as well. When Putin analyzes who to back in the Middle East, he most certainly needs conflict to stifle oil and gas production expansion there. Mideast conflict is also good for Moscow’s budget woes.

 Jaffe is the Executive Director for Energy and Sustainability at the University of California, Davis, with affiliation at the Graduate School of Management and the Institute of Transportation Studies. 

Yadin Kaufmann Speaks on Social Venture Funds at TEDx Roma

Yadin Kaufmann, the founding partner Veritas Ventures Partners, spoke at the recent TEDx Roma conference on the topic of "Can Business Make the World a Better Place?" The presentation focused on his involvement in two social-venture funds focused on Israel and Palestine. In a column in the Times of Israel on March 18, Kaufmann wrote,

In my recent TEDx Roma talk, I discussed two initiatives that are trying to make a difference through business. The first, Tmura – TheIsraeli Public Service Venture Fund, translates start-up company stock options into cash grants to education and youth non-profits in Israel.  

The second initiative, which I co-founded with Palestinian entrepreneur Saed Nashef, is Sadara – The Middle East Venture Capital Fund. Sadara aims to help build a Palestinian technology ecosystem by providing financing and support to Palestinian tech entrepreneurs who are starting companies. 

Both of these initiatives originate within the business community but have significant social impact.

 

Kaufmann has been involved in venture capital since 1987, when he joined the management of Athena Venture Partners, a US/Israel venture fund. He has managed Veritas's funds since 1990. He has served on the boards of numerous high-technology companies, including Gilat Satellite Networks, Class Data Systems, Mercury Interactive, and Escape Rescue Systems, among others.

Kaufmann is a native of New York and a member of both the New York and Israel bars. He has experience in commercial law and served as a law clerk to a justice of the Supreme Court of Israel. He received his A.B. from Princeton University, M.A. from Harvard University, and J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review.