Books I have read- A facebook list

Trevor Smith

September 2 at 1:22pm · Edited ·

So, time to take the book challenge! List the 10 books or more that have impacted your life. I am calling out 10 of u ( I lost count And the more the merrier)

More of my favorite books not just the ‘impact’ thing.

my thoughts- kbf

·        Books and Authors that provide knowledge

o   I have a degree in Economics and as described I am to the right of Attila the Hun [like Jefferson]. My favorites include Walter Williams “America a Minority View Point”, Thomas Sowell “Knowledge and Decisions” , Milton Freeman “Free to Choose”, Thomas Freeman “The World is Flat”, Alexis de Tocqueville “Democracy in America”, and way too many read 2-3 decades ago when I still thought this would all make since someday.

§  Bonus Book- at some point in the late 70’s I found a book in a shop in Memphis on Konrad Adenauer, don’t remember the title but I found it fascinating. How would you like to be the guy who had to clean up Hitler’s mess with the Russians and Americans in the middle of a power grab?

“Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.” ARTHUR C CLARKE

Radio is playing “Poke Salad Annie” Tony Joe White,,, gators got your granny… [jkf?]

·        Any list by me would be bit hollow if I didn’t mention Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and the “Fountainhead”. I am fanatical about some things and I own Hardcover, Kindle and audio versions of both… at least 5 times each. [I do the same with music I love- I have bought “The Last Waltz” The Band over the years LP, 8 track, Cassette, DVD and down loaded version.]

·        Move along, back to the list and books that I just really enjoy reading. These are mostly books I originally bought in hardcover or Kindle and then have purchased in the Audio version.

o   My current top 10 [these lists are only applicable in a moment in time.]

§  Jim Butcher – Dresden Files series- I read and listen to each book at least 3 times, the first time I try to go slow because I don’t  want to finish due to the time it takes to put out a new one. I have tried to read his other books and I hated them.

§  Tom Clancy “Red Storm Rising” and then the Jack Ryan and Jack Clark books. Toward the end too much was written by others. But I have read them all at least twice.

§  Michael Crichton “State of Fear” another book that I have read a half dozen times. Great book, read the notes at the end. Most of his other stuff as well.

§  Jeff Sharra and his father [who wrote a book called “The Killer Angels”]. Sharra is writing what I consider the most important series on America and our wars. He covers the American Revolution, the Spanish American War “Gone for solders” imagine Grant and Lee before they were Generals fighting in Mexico. WWI and II. His research is amazing and his characters fantastic. I have stood on the battlefields of Europe with a young Lieutenant named Patton during WW1. These books should be in every library in America.

§  Lee Childs’ Jack Reacher series- working on book 19 right now, a great character who could swallow Cruise whole.

§  Stieg Larson’s “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series.  I started it 3 times before it hooked me and now I have read all 3 at least 3 times each, love Lisbeth.

§  Robert Galbraith, or is it JK Rowling books- I love the Harry Potter books. My wife read them to our kids, voices and all and I listened from my chair and I became hooked. A wonderful world. I have enjoyed the Galbraith books so far, she can write.

A side note- Carol and I had been married a short time and I didn’t know she could read, never saw her read anything at all. I would lay in bed and read and I would talk about the book I was reading. One night it was “Presumed Innocent” by Scott Turow and I noticed she was reading over my shoulder, then she took the book away from me. From that moment she has read 10 books to my every one. Sometimes her book consumption amazes me. My daughters Jessica and April picked up on that and have a great love of books. I think Carol was like a lot of kids, burned out on books from high school reading lists and it just needed to be rekindled. [My son embraces my love of Dresden] Reading those books may have been the best parenting I ever did, besides loving their Mother.

·        Robert B Parker, most of his books are a fun read and just great lite reading.

·        Sir Arthur Conan Doyle- “Sherlock Holmes”, perhaps IMHO the greatest character ever put to pen.

·        #10 the book I find tomorrow.

Read to your kids, if you enjoy it they will put the TV and video games aside for a bit.

Enough of my pompous ramblings.

Anything by:

“There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.” P.J. O’Rourk

One of the greatest speeches ever.
Jeane Kirkpatrick

Blame America First' - Jeane Kirkpatrick's 1984 GOP Convention Speech

I, Pencil

another item that any Blog controlled by me that must be included.
The current reminder came to me from:
Why Capitalism is Awesome| by By Chris Berg| Cato Institute

I, Pencil

By Leonard E. Read

I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write.

Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s all I do.

You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery —more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitude relegates me to the level of the commonplace. This is a species of the grievous error in which mankind cannot too long persist without peril. For, the wise G. K. Chesterton observed, “We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.”

I, Pencil, simple though I appear to be, merit your wonder and awe, a claim I shall attempt to prove. In fact, if you can understand me—no, that’s too much to ask of anyone—if you can become aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize, you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing. I have a profound lesson to teach. And I can teach this lesson better than can an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical dishwasher because—well, because I am seemingly so simple.

Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me. This sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Especially when it is realized that there are about one and one-half billion of my kind produced in the U.S.A. each year.

Pick me up and look me over. What do you see? Not much meets the eye—there’s some wood, lacquer, the printed labeling, graphite lead, a bit of metal, and an eraser.

Read the rest:
http://www.fee.org/library/detail/i-pencil-audio-pdf-and-html#ixzz2afgoPvmm

The Emperor Has No Clothes: Guess What, the NSA is Reading This Blog!

First a couple of notes:

·         This is a Blog post from a harmless American citizen that doesn’t have a clue what my Government is up to… so keep that in mind before sending the ninjas.

·         I suspect Edward Snowden deserves to be punished to the full extent of the law. It is hard for me to imagine that he could work for a Federal Agency like the NSA without signing agreements that required him to not speak openly of what he learned while in their employ.  

Now on to the entertainment portion of my Blog.

Which do you think the average American fears more?

·         Having the NSA or some other agency listen to their phone calls, read their e-mail, Texts, web posts, Facebook page or Twitter account finding out that;

o   Mary J gave her Mud Cookie recipe to a few select friends

o   Jim is meeting Bob for drinks.

o    Ray put out some info- Well, it was a secret meeting in the dead of the night With mysterious sanctimony In accordance with prescribed Rituals of time honored ceremony

o   Mr Davis18 likes boobs and is giving a shoutout to his boyz at Brookland High!

o   A lady in Mississippi just told all her friends on Facebook that she will be out of town for a week.

Or?

·         While on vacation in Chicago somebody screams out Allahu Akbar “God is Greatest” right before the L blows Aunt Martha and a few other folks into tiny little bits.

My guess is that most Americans would find the Terrorist issue scarier.

note: There is a small percentage that includes concerned patriots, tax cheats, drug dealers, pedophiles, members of the 4th^h estate, one guy who lives in a bunker in Montana and a bunch of pot smokers in California.

And that brings me to today’s Blog title:

The Emperor Has No Clothes: Guess What, the NSA is Reading This Blog!

Time for a poll, we will have to go with a show of hands…

·         Russia’ Oprichnik [current version led by Putin]

·         Leaders of various Terrorist states that include, but are not limited to- Iran, Anything with a ‘Stan’, Paris, North Korea, China, Venezuela, New York City- including the entire membership of the UN, Mexico and most of Africa

·         President Barrack Obama, and staff

·         Republicans

·         Libertarians

·         Leon

·         Hollywood

·         The 4^th estate again

·         My wife

·         Me

·         You

·         Anybody I missed

Poll question [everybody raise that hand].

Before I ever heard of a guy named Snowden… I knew the Feds monitored phone calls, e-mails and all forms of electronic communications... Well except for Morse Code as the NSA lost the key pad.

Ok let’s see those hands… 1, 2,3………4,472,388 [hmm not as many hands on the left coast as one would think, perhaps a translator was needed and more Doritos]

For those of you who doubt my poll numbers, let me state my case.

·         Tom Clancy- ever read one of his books, how about W.E.B. Griffin or Vince Flynn… they have been writing about it for years. They find out all sorts of information by getting information from the NSA, often this leads to the killing of the bad guys.

·         Movies have featured NSA and Federal information gathering for quite some time- Conspiracy Theory, Enemy of the State, Eagle Eye, the list goes on and on. My favorites are Mercury Rising  and Red. A whole lot of movies cover the subject and the world doesn’t seem to get to upset while enjoying the films.

·         TV- Ever notice that many detective based series rely on the ability of cameras to track everybody’s movement? That they often call up some geek that works in some Government office to reposition a satellite to take pictures, or to playback a phone call from Tuesday at 12:15 outside of a bar in Georgetown? Watch a season of NCIS?

Okay that is the fun stuff, let me give you a couple of other examples.

·         Carnivore was a FBI plan to monitor-   Terrorism, Child pornography/exploitation, Espionage, Information warfare, Fraud.  1997 was the start-up date and on the surface [like all aspects of the Nanny State] the plan sounded like something that could be used for goodness and not badness.

·         NarusInsight  and the company NARUS should give everyone a little more history. Be sure and check out EFF.

·         Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
 

Back to my point- The Emperor Has no Clothes, but he has one heck of a history of reading our mail and listening to us.

Snowden?

Obama, The Russians, The Chinese, The European Union and the rest of the world just want him to get past his 15 minutes of fame before the 'public' opens their eyes and collectively yells "But he hasn't got anything on!" 
Then we can move onto more important issues like buying cell phones that can record every movement we make and take pictures of our neighbors every action… who needs the NSA?

"Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason."
Samuel Adams 

I know…. Blah, Blah, Blah!

[some editing required.. goes without saying]