Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most cherished principles and beliefs questioned and in some cases mocked. That psychic discomfort is the price we pay for basic civic peace. It's worth it. It's a pragmatic principle. Defend everyone else's rights, because if you don't there is no one to defend yours. -- MaxedOutMama

I don't just want gun rights... I want individual liberty, a culture of self-reliance....I want the whole bloody thing. -- Kim du Toit

The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them.-- Moshe Ben-David

The cult of the left believes that it is engaged in a great apocalyptic battle with corporations and industrialists for the ownership of the unthinking masses. Its acolytes see themselves as the individuals who have been "liberated" to think for themselves. They make choices. You however are just a member of the unthinking masses. You are not really a person, but only respond to the agendas of your corporate overlords. If you eat too much, it's because corporations make you eat. If you kill, it's because corporations encourage you to buy guns. You are not an individual. You are a social problem. -- Sultan Knish

All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war. -- Billy Beck

Monday, May 30, 2005

Book Meme.

David Codrea of the blog War on Guns just tagged me for another blogmeme, this one on books. Who am I to refuse?

Total number of books I've owned: No way to tell. At least a few thousand. My current collection, mostly paperbacks, mostly science fiction, runs about 1,000. I try not to sell or give away anything I like, but it's difficult to provide enough room for them all.

Last book I bought: R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton. Not her best work.

Last book I read: On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, about which I hope to have a post up later today. Lots of food for thought.

Five books that mean a lot to me: I can't pick five specific books, but I think I can pick four specific authors, and one book.

Robert A. Heinlein (everything he wrote)

John D. MacDonald (his Travis McGee novels)

Robert B. Parker (his Spenser novels - even the poor ones)

- These three men molded my personal philosophy

Issac Asimov

- Asimov is in large part responsible for my fascination with science and technology. I still have his three-volume work on elementary physics, and his Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, among many others. I liked his work in SF, but it was his non-fiction writing that I found most interesting.

And the book; The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. I.

This is a collection of short stories from the "golden age" of SF that I stumbled across in a school library at about age 13. It contains such classics as "The Cold Equations," "Flowers for Algernon," "First Contact," "Microcosmic God," "The Weapon Shop," "Arena," and many, many others. This is stuff to make you think. Very subversive! Highly recommended.

Now I'm supposed to tag five others to do this. Don't feel obligated, but I am curious:

Kim du Toit

Connie du Toit (she now, occasionally, blogs on Kim's site, so she still counts!)

Bill Whittle (right, like he'll actually read this)

Rob Smith

Keith Thompson

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