I have finally recovered enough to continue work on the engine. Unfortunately, I fear I have encountered a problem that cannot be solved (for cheaper than it would be to just buy a brand new lawn mower). The Flywheel (from what I understand) is the bit of the engine that is in charge of generating the electrical charge needed for the spark plug to spark. When the starter rope is pulled, it spins the flywheel which rubs against a magnet which generates a current that is pushed through the solenoid which increases the voltage of the current, which then finally sends the current to the spark plug to spark. The problem with my engine is that the flywheel has been sitting unmoved for so long that the part that was touching the magnet became magnetized. This means that every time the this portion of the flywheel gets near the magnet, it slows down making it impossible for the engine to continue to rotate.
I have no idea how to demagnetize a flywheel (if that’s possible). If any readers do know how this is done, please let me know. For now, I will move onto one of the remaining two lawn mower engines.

As for Atlas Shrugged, progress is slow.This book is giant. But from what I understand so far, it seems to be about a pair of adulterous industrialists searching for the plans for an engine that uses the static electricity of the air. I understand how this book can often be referred to as the conservative manifesto. The antagonists within the book are people who are continually passing laws that obstruct this couple from finding their engine. Essentially the message of the book so far has been that overzealous public regulation makes technological progress impossible which is true to some extent I suppose. I feel a happy medium between completely unfettered markets where one man or company can essentially own everything and business being constricted to the point that it can no longer operate is probably the best for everyone. Ayn Rand also seems to despise is the idea of the greater good. Rather, she despises that argument for social policy. The discovery of this engine would, in fact, benefit the greater good yet, these industrialists are constantly hindered by lawmakers and unions touting their quests for the greater good in their policy making.

Another argument that I find interesting within Atlas Shrugged is feminine equality which is completely against the conservative ideology at the current time as Romney campaigns to reduce women’s rights. Atlas Shrugged’s main protagonist is a woman who makes countless smart business decisions for which her brother takes the credit. Though her brother is the head of the company, it is almost entirely run by her.
At any rate, I’ll finish the book and, at that point, state whether or not I liked it. I will say it definitely asks some interesting questions regarding who should be affected by someone else’s actions.