Saturday, November 22, 2008

Tasty Tome - Saturday? or, In Which I Make Excuses

So, I know. I promised book reviews. I said I read a lot. And I do. And I wish I had something to review. But my problem is the book I'm currently reading, so perhaps I should make this sort of a quasi-review from the trenches, as it were.

My mother sent me a copy of The Shack, by William P. Young. She was terribly excited about it, and apparently has given a copy to just about everyone she knows.

The basic premise: Guy's daughter gets killed by a serial child-murderer. They find evidence of her death in a shack in the woods. Years later (wait, maybe just one year? See, we'll get to why I can't remember.), Guy gets a note from someone signing himself "Papa" requesting that Guy come back to the shack. "Papa" turns out to be God.

I'll put aside the apparent doctrinal issues with the book, and the fact that several bishops have urged their parishioners not to read it, because that's not the point of this post (though it may be the point of a future one.). But I have to admit that I gave the whole idea of this book the side-eye because of that, and because it seems to be a hit with Fundamentalists (with whom I disagree on just about everything.). (To be fair, I also give the side-eye to Oprah's para-spiritual endorsements, as well, so I spread my disapproval pretty wide.)

In any case, Mom wanted me to read it, and hey, I'll give it a shot for her.

The writing is excruciating. Bland, basic, boring, bad. I'm editing the thing as I'm reading it, so that every few words I'm thinking, "No, use this instead", or "Wow, that was awkward. Didn't this guy have an editor?" And thus, the details of the story are slipping away as quickly as they came. Did he receive the note one year or several years later? How many kids does he have again? What's the dead one's name? Where do they live? What's going on?

I'm not helped by the fact that I'm also reading The Beauty Myth at the same time, though usually, concurrent reading doesn't confuse me. But I put off returning to this stupid thing for too long, and then I've lost the thread again, and have to go back pages to figure it out.

My mother sent me this book in - October? No, September, I think. The thing is 256 pages long.

I'm on page 79.

I may just try to sit and read it all in one sitting. I'm sure Mom will ask about it soon - even with her horrid memory, she'll remember eventually that she gave me a book, and I'll be up the creek if I can't discuss it with her. I'd also like to know what William P. Young is saying about God that makes bishops ban him.

So if I ever finish it, I'll tell you everything, so as to spare you the experience of reading this gem. Seriously, you'll thank me. Maybe.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Enemy of the State

This article from Yahoo News is simultaneously hilarious and frightening.

Hilarious because it ends with this assertion from Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: "The one thing that they agree strongly with us on is that it's too easy for dangerous people to get guns in this country," ... "I guess if you're a dangerous person you might want to run out there and buy some more, but otherwise you should be OK."

Frightening because no one interviewed, and certainly not author Dena Potter, mention the real reason American citizens need to be armed. It's not for self-defense. It's not to hunt for sport. It's not to hunt for food.

It's to be an enemy of the state.

The Founders knew that an armed populace who were ready and able to overturn the government was essential for guaranteeing liberty. The reason we have the second amendment is to protect all the rest. As Michael Badnarik (Libertarian candidate for president in 2004) put it: "If the First Amendment doesn't work, the Second Amendment will."

Second amendment supporters are, indeed, "dangerous people". We're dangerous to the government. We're prepared to be considered enemies of the state as soon as the state endangers the liberty of the people. And we'll be armed enough to take on the state in order to protect the people.

I'm fairly certain my husband's Christmas gift to me will be a handgun. As will mine to him be.

We're "dangerous people."

We, and thousands like us, are Enemies of the State.

Friday, November 7, 2008

496,954

While all the ballots have technically not yet been counted, it looks like we'll hover around 500,000. Which, while not a million votes, is halfway there - and far more than we've gotten in the past.

So now it's time to gear up for the local elections in 2010, and another big one in 2012. My Barr 2008 sign is tucked away inside, and my bumper is bare. Time to take a moment to reflect on such an historic election, and then to move forward for the sake of liberty.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Almost to 300,000!

And I'm off for the night. I'll post the final results once they're in - come on one million!

We broke 200,000!

We may hit a million votes yet! Keep 'em coming, America!

Another Map

C-Span has the AP map up, and it shows Barr's number of votes and his percentage, as well as Nader and McKinney, the Green Party candidate.

Barr on BarrTV RIGHTTHISMINUTE!

Wayne Root just gave a great speech, too. This is so exciting for me - this could be an historic election for more than just Obama fans, you know.

117,012!

W00t!

Oh, Thank God.

87,ooo+ votes - and the Fox map is back up. Go, Bob, go!

I Object!

To the Objectivists! What the heck is that about? Did you see the jump from, um, nowhere to 4.7%?! And suddenly, Barr's votes went from 60,000+ to 6,ooo?

Come on, FoxNews! Get your shit together! You're the only ones reporting on more than two parties!

Let The Games Begin!

Polls have closed in several eastern states, and the results are rolling in. I'm consulting this map from FoxNews, because it was the best I found listing Barr's results (as well as Nader and the Constitution Party's candidate, Chuck Baldwin).

So far, we're at 52,063 votes! Since we all knew it was never a battle for the White House, I take every vote as an excellent sign. Every vote is one more person who voted FOR liberty, FOR principle, FOR Bob Barr - and not AGAINST anything.

Colorado's polls don't close for another half-hour, so I'll be checking back in then.

No Tasty Tome Tuesday Today

It's Election Day! I'll be working this afternoon, but I will attempt a little live-blogging of the election coverage later this evening. Obviously, there will be much ranting about how many votes Bob Barr didn't get, but if you'd like a fresh perspective on election night, I'll be watching Barr's end-of-campaign celebration on BarrTV and commenting here.

My husband and I voted two weeks ago by mail-in (or drop-off, as we did) ballot. It took about half an hour to sort out who would best represent us on a local level, which judges to retain, and which ballot initiatives we wanted to vote for/against, right at our own kitchen table.

Now, if you haven't already, GO VOTE!