I finished two chapters last night, because I had a long period trapped under a sleeping baby and they were short chapters. I will keep this commentary restricted to chapter 17. Chapter summary: Francisco shows up in Woodstock, apparently to convince Dagny to come to Atlantis. His conversation is interrupted by radio news of the…
Author: Clio
Atlas Shrugged Chapter 17: The Moratorium on Brains
Braaaaaaaaaaaains…. Chapter summary: The chapter begins with another monologue featuring Eddie and the workman, the third so far. There are then two primary episodes: First, Hank meets Ragnar on a country road, during which Ragnar offers him a bar of gold of his own money. Ragnar then gives a long speech during which, among other…
Atlas Shrugged Chapter 16: Miracle Metal
In honor of the Silliest Chapter Yet, I think this is the time to confess that I cannot see the author’s name without my mind mentally singing, “And Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand she wrote a bo-o-ok” (to the tune of “I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls). Chapter summary: In an alleged attempt to minimize…
Marketing food to children
Apparently, a government interagency group is developing non-binding guidelines for foods which are marketed to minors. If food producers were to follow these guidelines, either the food itself would need to be changed or the marketing thereof. Read more on CNN, HuffPo, and BNet. I’m of two minds on this topic. On the one hand,…
Movie review: Fired Up! (2009)
We’ve gotten far enough into the summer TV season that our DVR is persistently empty and we’ve used up most of the VOD choices available to us. This leaves us with having to wander the movie channels more emphatically than we do in the winter months. Tonight’s discovery was Fired Up!, a typical summer guy…
Atlas Shrugged Chapter 15: Account Overdrawn
I believe I’m getting to the portion of the experience of reading this book that I was dreading, the part that marathon runners call “The Wall” (NB: My knowledge of marathon running comes exclusively from Run Fat Boy Run, despite my brother’s engagement in them… I should ask him sometime about The Wall, assuming he…
Atlas Shrugged Chapter 14: The Sanction of the Victim
There’s a governor’s race going on right now in Michigan. One of the leading candidates, Rick Snyder, is running as a Republican but presents himself as a non-politician. Today, I saw an ad for his that talked about cutting taxes and ending “silly regulations” in a tone that made it unclear whether “silly” was restrictive…
Wisdom of the Dalai Lama
Overview: I have a German language “Wisdom of the Dalai Lama” page-a-day calendar. Each day, I plan to translate the German into English, and discuss. Juli 4: Wir müssen durch unser eigenes Handeln ein Beispiel geben, denn wir können nicht hoffen, andere nur durch Worte zu überzeugen. We must provide example through our deeds, because…
Atlas Shrugged Chapter 13: White Blackmail
I find myself being tempted by Rand’s philosophy. I do think her obsession specifically with money, though, is too simplistic. Also, anyone who claims to love Atlas Shrugged and then proceeds to praise Bush over Obama has read a different book than I. More after the summary. Chapter summary: Hank’s wife discovers his affair, although…
Scream
A slow keening spread out across the landscape like a nuclear blast, slow at first and then enveloping everything in its wake. It was several moments before he realized that the noise was silent but within his own head. He looked around, deafened by the cacophony, at the faces of the people on the street…