Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

This is the fourth time I've read this book (!) and I enjoyed it this time as much as the other three.  However, this time around I read it mostly for literary tips and tricks that Ayn Rand used.  Here's what I picked up (there are spoilers below so if you haven't read it, leave now and start reading!):

• She spends a lot of time inside the character's heads and we go deep into their thoughts, especially for Dagney, Rearden and James Taggart.  Conversely, much of the action takes place as exposition and we learn about it as the characters are reacting to it.  This seems difficult to pull off, but Ayn does it.
• The plotting is complex with all the major mysteries and conflicts ending up with Galt.  Even though he doesn't appear until about two-thirds of the way through, he is omnipresent as the destroyer taking away the men of ability, the inventor of the motor that Dagney seeks, the track worker that Eddie Willers confides in, and the man who represents Dagny's ideal who may not even exist.
• The purpose of the speech isn't to introduce Objectivism to the world, but rather to tell the people in the story why Galt went on strike.  It is much more narrow than I realized and I think it is perfectly appropriate for the story.  When I first read it, I was interested in it as an introduction and therefore thought that Rand had included it as such, but it was really put in as a necessary part of the story.
• I think the most difficult job in plotting was to pit the heroes against each other and make it believable, both in the valley and afterwards.  
• She used the same settings repeatedly through the novel, so when we returned we felt at home in some of them, like Dagny's office or Rearden's house.
• The lengthy introductions for Dagny, Rearden and Francisco were time well spent because I learned to love the characters in those scenes and it made my keep reading to see what would happen to them.

Bing Sucks Because It's Not Google

I love my new Kindle Paperwhite--the backlight is great, the text is clear and the touch screen works well (except sometimes at the gym when I'm not holding the back of it).  The other day I found a new feature:  Translate!  I had highlighted "cherchez la femme" hoping it was in the built in dictionary but it wasn't.  Then I saw the option "Translate."  I clicked on it and waited to be illuminated by the wonderful technology of the internet.  And then the translation came back that cherchez la femme in French translates to English as:  cherchez la femme.  What?!  And then I saw the problem:  Translation provided by Bing.  Why Amazon went with Microsoft's Bing instead of Google, I don't know.  But they should know better.  Amazon is one of the best companies out there, along with Google.  And Microsoft has become a joke with the likes of Zune, Vista and Clippy.

Of course, Google Translate gives the proper translation:

More examples: 

wie gehts = how are you (Google) or as gehts (Bing)

caveat emptor = buyer beware (Google) or caveat emptor (Bing)

Feliz Pascuas = Happy Easter (Google) or Happy Pascuas (Bing)

Good work, Bing!  Keep it up.  If you need me, I'll be over at Google.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I read this book in high school and really liked it then.  Unfortunately, my memory of it was better than my view of it today.  It still had it's funny moments, but that's all I came away with this time around.  The plot is very thin and has very little tension.  The characters are thin and are never really developed.

The best parts were entries from the Hitchhiker's Guide, and remembering back, those were my favorite parts the first time I read it.

Oh well, at least it was short.

The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Solution, by John Allison

This is a great book!  Allison steps the reader through all the government interventions into the economy that resulted in the financial crisis of 2008.  Even though I lived through the crisis and paid attention to the news, many of the events were new to me.  Allison puts them in context and demonstrates that the crisis was government caused.  He goes on to show that the solution to our problems is a free market and the elimination of government intervention in the economy.

As CEO of BB&T Bank at the time of the crisis, then the 6th largest bank in the country, Allison is uniquely qualified to explain the financial crisis.  As a student of Ayn Rand, he is also uniquely qualified to present the solution of free markets.

At the end, Allison gives some interesting perspectives on ethics in the workplace.  I enjoyed his insight about experiential learners--people who learn from their mistakes rather than school--and how those people tended to rise to the top within his organization.  He also pointed out that these people were better than most at avoiding evasion, a practice that stops many people from being effective experiential learners.

Lies the Government Told You, by Andrew P. Napolitano

I found this book while I was researching the 17th Amendment, which elects Senators by popular vote rather than by the state legislatures.  I think the 17th Amendment is one of the most damaging Amendments (along with the 16th on income tax) because it has allowed America to become a democracy where the majority can vote away the rights of the minorities (e.g. voting to increase taxes on the rich so the money can be redistributed to the poor).  The Founding Fathers purposely created a system where one house (the House of Representatives) was elected by the people and the other (the Senate) was elected by the states.  This system was to ensure that neither faction (people or states) would gain the upper hand and lead to tyranny.  The 17th Amendment passed the congress in 1912, and it took exactly 100 years for a majority of the people wishing to violate the property rights of the minority to vote into power a President and a majority of Senators committed to carrying out their wishes.

While researching the 17th Amendment on the web, the only author I found with this same view was Judge Andrew P. Napolitano.  I figured that if he got this right, he must have other useful things to say and I was not disappointed.  This book is a long list of ways the government has lied to the American people as a cover for its own increasing power.  It discusses many Supreme Court cases which set the precedent for increasing the power of the federal government and which have changed the course of America for the worse.

The most useful insight from this book is that politicians were no better one hundred years ago than they are today.  It make Obama look like just more of the same rather than a radical departure from previous politicians.  I was especially interested in the duplicity and arrogant power grabs of FDR who probably did more to damage this country than any other president.

After America, by Mark Steyn

After the election of Barack Obama in 2012, I was depressed.  I believe his economic policies are destroying this country and so I've started reading books with the same belief to get a better idea of how the collapse may occur, if it comes to that.  The first book was After America by Mark Steyn.

I enjoyed this book, not only for the information but also because it made me laugh out loud in many instances.  Steyn is an entertaining writer, but also very knowledgeable and honest in his opinions.  One of the best insights from the book is that America took over as superpower status from England in a peaceful manner.  England was in debt to America for about 50 years from the lend-lease program and never really recovered.  America is currently in debt to China and will be for at least 50 years, but if China becomes the new superpower, the transition is likely to be much less peaceful.

I was disappointed that Steyn didn't have any specific details on how an economic collapse might occur from our current policy of printing money, increasing debt and redistribution from producers to loafers.  But as I've continued reading, no one else has very clear ideas on what could happen because the world financial system is simply too big and complex to accurately predict the future.  So I'll give Steyn a pass on not predicting the unpredictable.

The Watchmen, by Alan Moore

I don't normally read comic books, but The Watchmen was supposed to have a great plot so I took a chance on it.  Having finished it, now I'm thinking I missed the qualifier:  a great plot for a comic book.  The book started with an interesting mystery--who killed a former super hero--but then went on and on about other former super heroes and their lives.  There was a lot of filler in the middle and I didn't even know what the story was about until almost the end.  The conclusion did have a master plan with a villain, but it wasn't set up with the plot building up to it in steps.

Even with a lot of back-story, I never cared much about any of the characters.  Perhaps it's because I didn't really know what they were fighting for.

If this is the best that comic books can deliver, I'll stick with regular fiction.