Notebook
Recent books read
Finished reading 3/11/13
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
Random House Digital, Inc., Apr 30, 2009 - Biography & Autobiography - 483 pages
Andrew Jackson, his intimate circle of friends, and his tumultuous times are at the heart of this remarkable book about the man who rose from nothing to create the modern presidency. Beloved and hated, venerated and reviled, Andrew Jackson was an orphan who fought his way to the pinnacle of power, bending the nation to his will in the cause of democracy. Jackson's election in 1828 ushered in a new and lasting era in which the people, not distant elites, were the guiding force in American politics. Democracy made its stand in the Jackson years, and he gave voice to the hopes and the fears of a restless, changing nation facing challenging times at home and threats abroad. To tell the saga of Jackson's presidency, acclaimed author Jon Meacham goes inside the Jackson White House. Drawing on newly discovered family letters and papers, he details the human drama–the family, the women, and the inner circle of advisers–that shaped Jackson's private world through years of storm and victory.
One of our most significant yet dimly recalled presidents, Jackson was a battle-hardened warrior, the founder of the Democratic Party, and the architect of the presidency as we know it. His story is one of violence, sex, courage, and tragedy. With his powerful persona, his evident bravery, and his mystical connection to the people, Jackson moved the White House from the periphery of government to the center of national action, articulating a vision of change that challenged entrenched interests to heed the popular will–or face his formidable wrath. The greatest of the presidents who have followed Jackson in the White House–from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to FDR to Truman–have found inspiration in his example, and virtue in his vision.
Jackson was the most contradictory of men. The architect of the removal of Indians from their native lands, he was warmly sentimental and risked everything to give more power to ordinary citizens. He was, in short, a lot like his country: alternately kind and vicious, brilliant and blind; and a man who fought a lifelong war to keep the republic safe–no matter what it took.
Jon Meacham in American Lion has delivered the definitive human portrait of a pivotal president who forever changed the American presidency–and America itself.
Finished 2/24/13
Warlord (Google eBook)
HarperCollins, Jun 23, 2009 - Biography & Autobiography - 880 pages
As riveting as the man it portrays, Warlord is a masterful, unsparing portrait of Winston Churchill, one of history’s most fascinating and influential leaders. Carlo D’Este’s definitive chronicle of Churchill’s crucial role in the major military campaigns of the 20th century, Warlord uses extensive, untapped archival materials to provide “a very human look at Churchill’s lifelong fascination with soldiering, war, and command.” (Washington Post)
Finshed 3/11/13
The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life
Grand Central Publishing, Feb 3, 2010 - 400 pages
Which is the safest seat on an airplane? Where is the best place to have a heart attack? Why does religious observance add years to your life? How can birthdays be hazardous to your health?
THE SURVIVORS CLUB
Each second of the day, someone in America faces a crisis, whether it's a car accident, violent crime, serious illness, or financial trouble. Given the inevitability of adversity, we all wonder: Who beats the odds and who surrenders? Why do some people bound back and others give up? How can I become the kind of person who survives and thrives?
The fascinating, hopeful answers to these questions are found in THE SURVIVORS CLUB. In the tradition of Freakonomics and The Tipping Point, this book reveals the hidden side of survival by combining astonishing true stories, gripping scientific research, and the author's adventures inside the U.S. military's elite survival schools and the government's airplane crash evacuation course.
With THE SURVIVORS CLUB, you can also discover your own Survivor IQ through a powerful Internet-based test called the Survivor Profiler. Developed exclusively for this book, the test analyzes your personality and generates a customized report on your top survivor strengths.
There is no escaping life's inevitable struggles. But THE SURVIVORS CLUB can give you an edge when adversity strikes.
Finished 1/13/13
How Do You Kill 11 Million People? (International Edition): Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think
Thomas Nelson Inc, Jan 3, 2012 - 96 pages
It all comes down to the truth.
Much like the character in one of his best-selling books, Andy Andrews is first and foremost a Noticer. Sometimes, all one needs is a little perspective and Andy has been providing that perspective to some of the world's most influential companies and organizations for the last 20 years. His ability to transform an individual by their own understanding and desire has made him loved by millions.
Now, Andy Andrews brings his lessons and perspective into the important arena of government, citizenship, and what it means to completely uphold the truth.
If the truth is what sets us free, what does it mean to live in a society where truth is absent? How do truth and lies in the past shape our destiny today? Through the lens of the Holocaust, best-selling author Andy Andrews examines the critical need for truth in our relationships, our communities, and our government.
In this compact, nonpartisan book, Andrews urges readers to be "careful students" of the past, seeking accurate, factual accounts of events and decisions that illuminate choices we face now. By considering how the Nazi German regime was able to carry out over eleven million institutional killings between 1933 and 1945, Andrews advocates for an informed population that demands honesty and integrity from its leaders and from each other.
The future of our country rests on the ability to separate the truth from lies, and Andrews compels each of us to examine our leaders' claims with a critical eye. His question- how do you kill eleven million people?-is provocative, but his warning is clear: "Only a clear understanding of the answer to this question and the awareness of an involved populace can prevent history from continuing to repeat itself as it already has, time and again."
Read
http://books.google.com/books?id=pP7LqDDO5x0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Who's Looking Out for You?
Random House Digital, Inc., Sep 14, 2004 - 224 pages
From the mega-bestselling author of The O'Reilly Factor and The No Spin Zone,
a no-holds-barred exposé of the people and institutions who are letting
Americans down – and what we should do about it.
Bill O’Reilly is mad as hell – and he’s not going to let you take it anymore.
In his most powerful and personal book yet, this media powerhouse and unstoppable
truth-teller takes on those individuals and institutions in American life who are failing
in their duties – big-time. In his inimitable style, mixing wit, pugnacity, and plain
common sense, O’Reilly kicks butt and takes (and also names) names –
from crooked corporate weasels to venal politicians to lazy and/or politically correct
bureaucrats to sexually predatory priests and the Church hierarchy that protects them
to a media establishment rife with political bias and economically hooked on violence
and smut.
At the same time that he calls the famous and powerful to account, he dares to get personal, questioning just how much our closest friends, families, and lovers do look out for us, and delivering a powerful message about personal responsibility and self-reliance in an uncertain world. He forces us to ask just how much genuine altruism is left in a society that thrives on self-indulgence and ruthless competition.
Who’s Looking Out for You? is a book that boldly confronts our worst fears and biggest problems in a post-9/11, post-corporate-meltdown world. Its sage, candid advice on regaining control and trust in these troubled times will resonate with the millions of readers and viewers who have come to believe in Bill O’Reilly as the man who speaks for them.
Think Smart
Think Smart: A Neuroscientist's Presciption for Improving Your Brain's Performance
Penguin, Apr 30, 2009 - 275 pages
A leading neuroscientist and New York Times-bestselling author of Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot distills the research on the brain and serves up practical, surprising, and illuminating recommendations for warding off neurological decline, cognitive function, and encouraging smarter thinking day to day.
In Think Smart, the renowned neuropsychiatrist and bestselling author Dr. Richard Restak details how each of us can improve and tone our body's most powerful organ: the brain.
As a renowned expert on the brain, Restak knows that in the last five years there have been exciting new scientific discoveries about the brain and its performance. So he's asked his colleagues-many of them the world's leading brain scientists and researchers-one important question: What can I do to help my brain work more efficiently? Their surprising-and remarkably feasible-answers are at the heart of Think Smart.
Restak combines advice culled from cutting-edge research with brain-tuning exercises to show how individuals of any age can make their brain work more effectively. In the same accessible prose that made Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot a New York Times bestseller, Restak presents a wide array of practical recommendations about a variety of topics, including the crucial role sleep plays in boosting creativity, the importance of honing sensory memory, and the neuron- firing benefits of certain foods.
In Think Smart, the "wise, witty, and ethical Restak" (says the Smithsonian Institution) offers readers helpful suggestions for fighting neurological decline that will put every reader on the path to building a healthier, more limber brain.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Vcb9G364KV0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service
Penguin, May 14, 2012 - 352 pages
A legendary CIA spy and counterterrorism expert tells the spellbinding story of his high-risk, action-packed career while illustrating the growing importance of America's intelligence officers and their secret missions
For a crucial period, Henry Crumpton led the CIA's global covert operations against America's terrorist enemies, including al Qaeda. In the days after 9/11, the CIA tasked Crumpton to organize and lead the Afghanistan campaign. With Crumpton's strategic initiative and bold leadership, from the battlefield to the Oval Office, U.S. and Afghan allies routed al Qaeda and the Taliban in less than ninety days after the Twin Towers fell. At the height of combat against the Taliban in late 2001, there were fewer than five hundred Americans on the ground in Afghanistan, a dynamic blend of CIA and Special Forces. The campaign changed the way America wages war. This book will change the way America views the CIA.
The Art of Intelligence draws from the full arc of Crumpton's espionage and covert action exploits to explain what America's spies do and why their service is more valuable than ever. From his early years in Africa, where he recruited and ran sources, from loathsome criminals to heroic warriors; to his liaison assignment at the FBI, the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, the development of the UAV Predator program, and the Afghanistan war; to his later work running all CIA clandestine operations inside the United States, he employs enthralling storytelling to teach important lessons about national security, but also about duty, honor, and love of country.
No book like The Art of Intelligence has ever been written-not with Crumpton's unique perspective, in a time when America faced such grave and uncertain risk. It is an epic, sure to be a classic in the annals of espionage and war.
This page is my scrap notebook where i am still working out details of upcoming projects.
Books I'm currently working on reading/listening/finishing
The Planets
After the huge national and international success of LONGITUDE and GALILEO'S DAUGHTER, Dava Sobel tells the human story of the nine planets of our solar system.This groundbreaking new work traces the ... Google Books
Intelligence in War
John Keegan, whose many books, including classic histories of the two world wars, have confirmed him as the premier miltary historian of our time, here presents a masterly look at the value and limitations ... Google Books
Why We're Liberals
The bestselling author demolishes myths about liberalism in a spirited polemic Thanks to the machinations of the right, there is no dirtier word in American politics today than “liberal”—yet public opinion polls ... Google Books
scrap paper and notebooks notes, and ideas about future writing
my book review
what i learned:
Reading Log COMPLETE
started listening to audio book on 10/3
as of 10/6 on disc 5
10/20 completed all 8 disc
this section still in draft v1.04
oh i have finished reading The Illustrious Dead
About microorganism
The miasma theory held that diseases such as cholera, chlamydia or the Black Death were caused by amiasma (Μίασμα, ancient Greek: "pollution"), a noxious form of "bad air"
I wrote a book review on it, its not fully done yet,
but i would love to share it with you, and discuss it
The French Invasion of Russia in 1812
The Battle of Borodino
Rickettsia
the ancient bacterial microbe, that causes Typhus
the main cause of why Napoleon failed
The burning of Moscow
Total war
all kinds of great history
https://sites.google.com/site/coonbookclub/the-illustrious-dead
plus lots of wikipedia pages to read for more history background
i still can't get enough of learning, lol
this book was so good. i highly recommend you read it, or listen to it on audio book,
i think of Napoleon's Grande Armée of 500,000 Frenchman marching from Poland to Russia,
and how most of them died from Rickettsia
and the awful journey that had on the way back home to F, the terrible suffering of everyone involved in this nasty war
the pillaging and plundering of so many innocent people along the way
it is truly a terrifying story
and the story really personification Rickesttsia,
as if it was a human combatant in this war,
and how truly amazing it is as a biological being
and how they had NO CONCEPT of germ theory,
no idea what it was that was killing everyone
it was body lice that spread the bacteria,
how sad, a tiny insect spread this epidemic
notes
my notes
ideas
brainstorm