Read a good book lately?

[R650R]

Those of you who watch Ward Carroll’s naval aviation based YouTube will prob have seen Mike interviewed about is path from pilot to carrier command to admiral.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-How-Lea...dp/B0BRYWHZPY/

This book is a heavy read with lots of waffle packing it full but interspersed are some very interesting stories/experiences and leadership lessons

[R650R]

Red Star Rogue 10/10 read cover to cover in several days

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001N...=UTF8&qid=&sr=

In March 1968 a Russian Nuke armed sub K129 sunk less than 400 miles from Pearl Harbour.
The authors premise is that rogue KGB agents sought to launch a nuke attack on Hawaii and blame it on China and get USA to take out China who were threatening Russia.
The world was saved from WW3 by a good captain he reckons who gave the KGB false codes triggering a failsafe that detonated warhead inside launcher.
The author provides great researched detail on protocols, political happenings and subsequent events that make his scenario sound highly plausible.
USA went on to spend half a billion dollars (serious money in 60Â’s) to secretly salvage the sub.
On a side note the actions taken by CIA and military that were later exposed along with Russian actions illustrates well how small rogue elements within a govt can get things done that anti conspiracy people say are not possible.
Will take too long to properly explain here how it all knits together but highly recommended reading. Also provides a great insight into the Soviet mentality.

[R650R]

Scapegoat by Emilio Corsetti

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01H4...=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Another true story airline disaster this time the pilot saves the plane... just. Those of you a bit older than me prob would have seen it in news for considerable time as legal battles ensued, TWA flight 841.
Book goes into great detail so it’s a long read over a few weeks as a narrow minded investigation alleges flight crew did a cowboy procedure to save time but lost control. Along the way the cockpit voice recorder is partially deleted and just like any scary event witness statements conflict.
The pilot Hoot Gibson was an amazing guy packing a lot of interesting stuff into his life

[Black Knight]

Scattershot-Bernie Taupins autobiography-what a life-a really good read.

[Black Knight]

My mistake,its his memoir.

[pritch]

It seems that Marjorie Taylor Green and Kyle Rittenhouse claim to have written books. MTG and Acquitted respectively. Why they have "written" books is a mystery as I think most people who would be interested in their stories are not big on reading.

I checked Amazon to read the reviews of MTG as there was a potential for amusement, it seems more time is needed. That might have been a mistake though because now Amazon recommends I might be interested in books by Tucker Carlson, Alex jones, Jeanine Pirro, kari Lake and Kash Patel among others. Thanks but no thanks.

[R650R]

The Volunteer - A former IRA man’s true story.

https://www.amazon.com/Volunteer-For...ast_author_mpb

10/10 Compelling well written story of how idealism turned a 15y/o towards terrorism. Some interesting turns and twists along the way involving internal ira politics and his own internal moral and religious struggles.
An eventual 14 year prison lag gives him time to come to terms with his killings and carnage and seek some kind of redemption.
A good insight to how despite that we want to treat crims like trash there has to be some kind of support inside prison to incorporate people back into society instead of creating future reoffenders.

[HenryDorsetCase]

my only new years resolution this year is: read more, less screen time.

I have started the year with this:

"Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead" by Jim Mattis and Bing West.

So Mattis is the real deal. USMC and rose to become a four star General. You heard his name because he was at the pointy end of US policy in the Middle East for thirty plus years - including the War on Terror and Iraq/Kuwait/Afghanistan. Absolutely fascinating for students of military history. He also served as Drumpf's Secretary of Defence for two years. He is quite guarded about that (though you will recall he was one of the signatories of the open letter to Drumpf from the then surviving ex SecDefs saying "Dont be a fuckwit, dumbarse". Anyway, recommended. Not gung ho - I dont care for gung ho. The man is a thinker and a philosopher. He also has a book list recommendation in his book - i.e. these are books people should read. My next book is the first one on his list: Marcus Aurelius "Meditations" - yes THAT Marcus Aurelius.

Also fun fact: He was never, ever called "Mad Dog" Mattis by anyone until Drumpf or one of his lackeys started it. I will let you look up how and why he got the callsign "CHAOS".

[HenryDorsetCase]

It seems that Marjorie Taylor Green and Kyle Rittenhouse claim to have written books. MTG and Acquitted respectively. Why they have "written" books is a mystery as I think most people who would be interested in their stories are not big on reading.

I checked Amazon to read the reviews of MTG as there was a potential for amusement, it seems more time is needed. That might have been a mistake though because now Amazon recommends I might be interested in books by Tucker Carlson, Alex jones, Jeanine Pirro, kari Lake and Kash Patel among others. Thanks but no thanks.

Yep - I've been watching/listening to interviews with ex SAS, Navy SEALS, Delta, fighter pilots etc etc and there is kind of a type: calm, matter of fact, get shit done. I am not like that. But now Youchoob thinks I want to watch crap like Joe Rogan and all sorts of right wing MAGA shit. Nooooope.

[R650R]

For those interested in investing you will have heard of Alex Karp and his company Palantir which is rapidly becoming hugely successful.

https://www.amazon.com/Technological.../dp/0593798694

But his book is a great disappointment 4/10. There’s not much to be learnt that you won’t already know from his many interviews online.Tambles on repeating many of same ideas over and over with a million examples from history.
Quite the peculiar chap, rapidly become insanely wealthy, left leaning donated money to Kamala and Democrats but strongly believes in a society based on meritocracy rather than equality and that violence should not be shyed away from in terms of America being dominant world nation.
Will be interesting to see if he ever gets into politics. Recently sold over a billion dollars of shares in his own company.

[R650R]

Punks Force by Ward Carroll

6/10

Latest in his series based around main character of an F14 Pilot. First couple books were good but this one has been rushed out to capitalise on timely current events and it kinda shows.
The plot centres around the Navy being forced in to an exercise to prove a carrier is safe from hypersonic missile attack. However foreign actors have hacked and infiltrated the military and supplier networks to try and sink carrier for real during test.
Last half of book ok but some of the timelines just don’t gel with your brain when you understand how fast a hypersonic is coming in at on a short range attack.

[R650R]

https://www.amazon.com.au/Far-Shore-...llsberg-ebook/

The Far Shore by Edward Ellsberg

We’ve all heard and seen much about D day invasion of Normandy but few prob understand how much any possible chances of success rested on the Mulberry artificial landing pontoons/platforms to get tanks ashore.

Detailed factual account of all the heavy engineering problems of the whole project from start to keeping them secret then implementing the final project. It’s amazing things went as well as they did in the end.

All this guys books are full of magnificent factual knowledge around problem solving and sadly I think this is last of his books I could find. 10/10 recommended reading although it’s a bit slower going than the other books.