now reading

Voyage of the Fox Rider — Dennis L. McKiernan

A good read. Basic fantasy adventure with a few twists; including an ongoing debate about the nature of evil and the interaction between the gods and their creations.

this I think lies at the heart of evil and defines its nature:  Each of us should be free to control our own destiny. Only under very special circumstances should we yield limited control of our individual destinies to others, circumstances such as, say, defending one another against a common foe, circumstances where someone must lead and others follow. In the absence of those special circumstances, no one should be allowed to willfully interfere with the life of another, unless that other seeks in some fashion without our permission to exert control over one or more of us. Then and only then should steps be taken to stop this interference, and then in a minimal manner to do so. Evil is when a person or persons or thing for its own staisfaction seeks to wrench our destiny from our own hands, seeks to take away freedom of choice, to take away our physical, emotional, spiritual, or intellectual life, seeks to force us into a mold of his choosing and not our own. – Jinnarin, Fox Rider

force us into a mold not of our own choosing …. hmmm food for thought

shrug

Well, I finally finished up Atlas Shrugged. I’ve seen quite a few people around the net who seem to really really like it, so I read it.

sigh

I don’t know exactly what the problem is but uh, omg, was it boring. imo.

Perhaps I didn’t enjoy it because I read fiction for entertainment, not for political theory.

Perhaps it’s a writing style thing. I tend to go for more snappy dialogue rather than drawn out self examination.

Perhaps its merely that I have only to look outside and SEE it. We’re pretty much living through that kind of political suicide right now. Maybe 50 years ago it was just fiction and not prophecy.

I think, even though I didn’t gain much from reading the book, I’ll recommend it to everyone I meet that thinks the .gov is doing a good job. Problem is I don’t think any of them can read ……….

Now reading

Barnes & Noble had a half dozen copies on the shelf for < 10 bucks. I figured I’d give it a go.

update: 200+ pages last night and I want to reach into the book and strangle them all