Friday, September 17, 2021

Quit Like a Millionaire: No Gimmicks, Luck, or Trust Fund Required by Kristy Shen

 This was an interesting book.  I learn a lot however she lost me in the later chapters where she talks about outrunning inflation by traveling to other countries where the dollar goes longer.  I like traveling as much as the next person, but I would not like to live months in Malaysia as she mention in her book.  


 She has many good points in this book and it is definitely worth reading.  I am older than she is so I have already done some things that she does not agree with such as paying off my house.  I have invested and have diversified my portfolio.  I have annuities, mutual funds, muni bonds, and after reading this book I have invested in indexes as well.  I am also planning on maxing out my 401K.  My wife just went back into the workforce as a teacher and we are investing all of her money.  Shen is very bohemian and does not want to have kids which is fine.  However I already have two kids that are my life and I could not even imagine being alive without them.  

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Quercus (September 19, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1529407206
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1529407204


The Long Slide: Thirty Years in American Journalism by Tucker Carlson

Some may not want to read this book because of the author, however the author is what led me to want to read it. Love him, hate him or love to hate him, he is pretty up front and equally gives crap to the left and the right. 

The book is a collection of essays he has written in the past. He goes after that corrupt, woke company known as Simon and Schuster (his publisher) which only proves my point about him going after anyone and everyone, for their shady wokeism and how unfair they operate. 

It's funny because Simon and Schuster canceled Hawley's book deal because he was involved with the "insurrection". However now that the FBI came out and said there was no Insurrection after all, I am waiting to see him sue them as well as waiting for Trump's second impeachment expunged from the records. 

One of the most Interesting points of the book is the revelation of his tight friendship with James Carville. 

It's a good book and the ability of hindsight is refreshing.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Threshold Editions (August 10, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1501183699
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1501183690

Intellectuals and Race By: Thomas Sowell

 One of my favorite authors today.  Sowell reminds me of  Booker T. Washington, and his books are essential to understand the real race relations and economics in these United States. 

His books are well referenced and challenges the false narratives espoused today.  I recommend this book to anyone with an open mind that is not a deacon of the woke church.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (March 12, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0465058728
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0465058723
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 0.75 x 9.5 inches

Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam By: Vivek Ramaswamy

This is BY FAR they best book regarding "current affairs" i have read this year. Regardless of the party you affiliate with, this is the book to read. As we have seen recently, even the Democrats are open season for Woke,Inc. Anyone that has read my reviews will know that I am a BIG proponent about making "political affiliation" a protected class. This would fix many problem. The moment that someone takes your MAGA hat or rips off your "Feel the Bern" shirt, that would be considered a hate crime. All we would need is a few sacrificial lambs and people would get the idea real quick. 

Woke is a religion of zelots. Companies, including the ones that employ us or the ones that host our blog sites and our social media accounts can wipe you off the face of the earth for something you do on your personal time and when not even on the social media platform. This book does a phenomenal job in exposing the nefarious and duplicitous tactics of the WOKE, Inc.

This cannot continue. Even leftists today, and I mention them by name because they are almost exclusively the leaders of this religion or cult, are waking up to the delosional ways of wokeness. 

You have people like Bill Maher and recently Nicki Minaj, with 22 Million followers on Twitter which found herself on the wrong side of the woke crowd for daring to question the woke narrative. She posted one of the best response I have seen from either side.

"Right. I can’t speak to, agree with, even look at someone from a particular political party. Ppl aren’t human any more. If you’re black & a Democrat tells u to shove marbles up ur @$$, you simply have to. If another party tells u to look out for that bus, stand there & get hit"

This cannot continue. The "woke" don't even make sense and there is zero consistency. Examples:

1. Only women can have an opinion on abortion, but "men can have babies" and should be cosidered "birthing person".

2. Equal rights for women, but trans women (biological men) can compete for opportunities specifically set aside for biological women.

3. There is a pay gap for women, but you can identify as a man. Do bilogical men that identify as a woman get paid less?

I have always said that in a feeding frenzy, phiranha will kill each other. This is what will happen to the woke as well. The weapons you arm those you deploy to do your enforcing, will eventually be turned on you.

The author breaks down the legal implecations of the "Woke Religion" and how the Civil Rights act of 1964 and 1968 protect from being persecuted for having a religious belief or DONT follow their religiou beliefs. His comparison of Woke Religion and Christianity is on pointe. 

I highly recommend this book. He is a conservative, but only because he slipped it in a couple of times. You can assume he is because he is not WOKE and as I mentioned above, the woke are mostly leftists.


Publisher ‏ : ‎ Center Street (August 17, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1546090789
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1546090786

Hotel Scarface: Where Cocaine Cowboys Partied and Plotted to Control Miami By: Roben Farad

 Another great book that transported me to my childhood surrounded by dopers and dealers. Although I was too young to go to the Mutiny, I do remember a lot of the people (adults) I hung out with going. 


The book is obviously about The Mutiny Hotel in Coconut Grove, but it talks about all the players that made the Mutiny as famous in many cases as Studio 54. A who's who of people that would frequent the Miami spot. 

Cocaine made Miami. I never really saw a problem with it as most people getting killed where the criminals themselves. Although innocent people would get sucked into it as well. However today we still have crime and the gangbangers that really don't care about anyone. Even legitimate business were thriving during that time. I remember going out to dinner at The Forge in Miami Beach and the bill would be upwards of 5k. We would go out in a squadron of 38' Cigarette racing boats. I did not own a car for over 2.5 years. I would go over to my "friend's" homes and take a Benz, Porche, Bronco, 300z, Mustangs, even a Ferrari. 

I was never "in" the business but I did enjoy the spoils. Like a strip bar where we would drop 10k. 

Great book especially if you are from Miami.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (October 17, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1592409288
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1592409280
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.13 x 9.31 inches

Monday, July 26, 2021

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! By: Robert T. Kiyosaki

 I normally do not read these kinds of books.  However this one came highly recommended.  I wish I would have read it years ago.


This was a great book.  It really has a lot to do with common sense.  It gives you information that you normally would not think of until you know it.  Once that happens, you cannot un-ring that bell. Although Kiyosaki is heavy in RealEstate and right now the Florida (where I live) market is a seller's market since the mass exodus from New York and other left run states, I want to look into how best approach it.  The message was crystal clear though regarding assets.  I found myself telling my sons the same thing his poor dad told him. 

Actions I have taken:

  • Mandated that my sons read the book and continue to read it multiple times.
  • Ordered the Cashflow 101 and 202 and will play it weekly with my kids.
  • Moved a sum of money to an investment account.
  • Opened another corporation 

I have other books on my list now that are around investing.  I am at an age where retirement is actually something I need to think about as opposed to thinking that it was decades away.  


ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07C7M8SX9
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Plata Publishing (April 11, 2017)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 11, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 9808 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

 This book has been on my "to read" list for decades. I did the audio version of this book and I will not lie, it was extremely difficult to get through it. Could have been the narrator's fault. I heard the same thing from a friend that attempted to listen to it as well. I pushed through the last chapters last night.

I finally decided on reading it when it was referenced in the "Speechless" book I recently finished. I have read 1984 multiple times and the author of "Speechless" in his book juxtaposes 1984 and A Brave New World from the societal changes and what we are seeing today.

Things that I found interesting about this book:

Delta Babies are conditioned to hate flowers and books. This ensures that they will live the rest of their lives not wanted to advance themselves and stay at the bottom rung of society doing the hard labor work. Sound Familiar?

Also, Huxley describes the over-sexualization of children where they are engaging in promiscuous sexual play. They are also taught to hate family. This too sounds very apropos.
As I write this review, Cuba is consumed in protest against that system. This has NEVER been seen in that country. Waking up and seeing things for what they are is an important step in life.

Ironically, George Orwell was a student of Huxley in Eaton. 

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper (May 9, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062696122
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062696120
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 870L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.93 x 8.25 inches

Earned: My Journey to becoming a Hunter of Man By: Robert Terkla & Nicholas Irving

Interesting book. It's a short book, briefly discussing one man's journey from being a victim to not allowing himself to be victimized.  Against the odds, he is able to become an Army sniper.  Later tried his hand at the legendary Green Beret.  He is injured and eventually leaves the military.  His life is changed  when he is out of the military.  He begins self medicating with alcohol and it consumes him.  He later gets a life-line thrown at him from "Hector" which suggests Terkla to start making YouTube videos.  Now I will be honest, I have never seen his videos but from what I can see, Terkla seems to be ver successful at it and started a very successful company named "Googan".  I am happy for anyone that can "brat" substance abuse and turn their lives around.  That is what I love about this country, no matter how many "L's" you take, there is always a "W" down the road.  

 

Regarding the book, it was indeed short.  He kind of glosses over a lot which I understand, since this was not necessarily an auto-biography.  The book covers his time in sniper school for the U.S. Army.  He talks about the details that made that evolution challenging.  Not that much about "hunting man" so the title is a bit misleading.  I expected a story of someone with multiple confirmed kills talking about the mindset evolution in a Chris Kyle kind of way.  Still and interesting book.  As a person that supports multiple military charities, I wish Terkla the absolute best in his sobriety, his business and his state of mind as he battles PTSD.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ 33 Degrees Publishing (August 22, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0999769782
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0999769782
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.48 x 8 inches

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

The Virginia Dynasty By: Lynne Cheney

Great little book.  This book covers the "need to know" of some of the most influential personas of this Country's founders.  Ironically, many were from Virginia.  I know, especially recently, that the founders get a bad rap.  Like in the book of Matthew (Matthew 7:1-2) “Do not judge other people. Then you will not be judged. 2 You will be judged in the same way you judge others. You will be measured in the same way you measure others" (NIRV) we see about judging others.  Even the wokest of the woke will be judge later in life by their actions or inactions today.  For all the bad things in these men, and there were some doozies, the good they did arguably outshine those bad ones.  


Cheney dives into each of these men's political lives.  Not a full biography of the same however there are plenty of books out there that will give you the upbringing of these remarkable men.  In full disclosure, I feel a connection to Washington more especially because he was a Freemason and one of the reasons, I myself became one.  As for the others, Maddison and TJ were my other favorites. Monroe, not so much.  He always seem to me to be like an SJW today.  Always upset and being passed over or not given all the attention.  That is no way diminishes his contribution.  But having my own presence with would be Washington, Maddison, Jefferson and then Monroe.  

The contribution from Virginia to These United States from the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, The Constitution and the many POTUS' it gave us, was incredible.  You will learn quite a bit from the book.  One of the things is that history does in fact repeat itself.  Much of what you saw in the last election, was something that was an issue to some degree during the founding of this country.  This is why I still have hope for this country.  


Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking (September 22, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1101980044
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1101980040
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.4 x 9.55 inches

Friday, July 2, 2021

Secret on the Tarmac By: Christopher Sign

 Christopher Sign, a Phoenix journalist broke the story of the Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton tarmac meeting.  Had this been any other time in history, it just would have been a meaningless elitist meeting of two people that do not care about us "normal foke".  However Lynch, the sitting Attorney General which was in charge of the investigation into Clinton's wife (Hillary Clinton) which was running for President of the United States against Donald J. Trump and was the sitting Secretary of State.  The investigation was regarding Hillary Clinton's unapproved personal email server being used for official use in her Secretary of State capacity as well as the Benghazi debacle handled by Mrs. Clinton.


The problem with this meeting was that right after the meeting on the tarmac, the AG officially killed the active investigation in Mrs. Clinton.  Now COULD this be a coincidence?  Sure it could have been but if there is one thing I have learned during this past two years is that given the opportunity, the government and the main-stream media will lie to you every time.  I think this story was in fact important.  If 2024 saw DeSantis as POTUS and Donald Trump Jr. was being investigated AND we found out the Donald Trump (45) met on a tarmac in some state and the next day, the investigation into Donald Trump Jr is mysteriously dropped, the left would lose their minds.  I mean the lost their minds for four years and still today, want to continue to go after him.  But the main-stream media and the talking heads will tell you that it was nothing, they spoke about grandkids and soccer. 

The book is OK. He should have gotten a better editor as the book is rife with grammatical errors.  I am not saying I am the best writer (as you can tell from my reviews) but this is suppose to be a professional.  The book covers the activity of the days leading up to the tarmac incident and what transpired after the story was out.  I never played high school or college football so I am not sure how those folks operate but I found it a bit annoying that he kept bringing up the hot football experience.  

The most disturbing part of this book is that just recently (2021) Mr. Sign "committed suicide" (or Arkancide).  From all reports, and all the people who knew him, he was NOT suicidal.  He even mentions it in the book.  I am not saying anything, but I find it strange that so many people that have crossed the Clintons in any way, commit suicide.  

The Obama administration was dirty, everyone knows that.  The only reason it was not publicized is because Barak Obama was the media golden boy.  The mainstream media spent eight years running puff pieces on him when they should have been critical.  The left's answer to everything is and was "I found out about this when everyone else did.... from the media".  

Its disgusting.








Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Speechless: Controlling words, Controling Minds By: Michael Knowles


A fantastic book. We always talk about the PC culture and how toxic it is. But I was surprised just how pernicious the origins are. I know it's very cliché today, but today we are seeing the Orwellian dystopian world from his classic book "1984" coming to life. Anyone who has not read that book should stop reading now and either buy it, check it out at the library or ask a friend and read it.  He (and I mean that pronoun in the general term not the specific 🤦🏼‍♂️) who controls the speech controls the future. 
 


We have seen meanings of words changed, villainized, weaponized and distorted to meet a particular and specific perverted agenda or narrative. Sadly the political left is the main culprit in this attack on words. 

Years ago when same-sex marriage was in the headlines, I had a conversation with my then 80 year old father. He is a Cuban and very Christian man and to him homosexuality was a nonstarter.  I remember telling him "Dad, even if they are not "married" they are still having sex.  This is not about homosexuality but rather equal rights under the law".  I did tell him that the Christians, the biggest group that were against same-sex marriage should have changed the argument. What they should have said is that "marriage" connotes a religious component and thus should be maintained as such but that the legal aspect of two people, regardless of their sex and now (although I do not buy into it) their gender, should be called a civil union and that civil union under the eyes of the law should be equal while maintaining he original meaning of marriage. The argument became a red herring to pint the Christians as homophobic and bad people.  All heterosexual "marriages" and thus the term itself would be maintained by the religious meaning of it while we ALL adopted the civil union status to be "equal in the eyes of the law". 

Today, we have seen how toxic this PC culture has become. These SJWs (Social Justice Warriors) literally sit around trying to find what the new offensive term de' jour is going to be. How they are going to trigger the non-pc crowd

I am always shocked to see the left, which always pushed the narrative that they are much smarter than the right follow along like sheep just to virtue signal. That was very apparent during the Trump administration where saw the Trump Derangement Syndrome become a reality. Never have a seen a group of people go out of their way to discredit ANYTHING that man said regardless of it being true or not; the most notable was HQC for the treatment of COVID.  How many people lost their lives or sent their loved ones to their demise for vilifying HQC and thus making it ALMOST a crime (at least in Social Media law) to even mention it?

Even Bill Maher,  a strong supporter, advocate and proponent for the left has seen the damage done by the PC and cancel culture and now regularly calls it out. Comedy is officially dead.  No longer can we go to a show and laugh about ourselves and others without a bunch of childish  snowflakes making a scene and messing up for us adults. The only thing that can be made fun of these days is Trump, his supporters and Christians and that material gets covered in media everyday. It's old and played out.

If you read one book this year, let it be "Speechless" by Michael Knowles. 

Saturday, June 26, 2021

Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed By: Jason L Riley

 This was a great book.  I feel as though Blacks are being taken for a ride. During the 1800's and before, slaves had physical chains that would bind them. Physically removing those chains gave the slaves a clear indication that they could escape.  However the new, reprehensible form of chains is mental chains. If you buy into why supremacy, then you also have to ascribe to black inferiority; which I do not.  It is a pernicious attack on the minds of Black. 

When I was younger (way younger) I applied at the fire department and there must have been 200 people there.  I remember the guy administering the test saying to me "the passing score is 80%....... oh wait, you are Hispanic right?  You only need to score 70". I remember my 18 year old self feeling insulted by the fact that someone decided that I, a Hispanic male, was incapable of scoring 80%.  

I read a book that talked about Black youths at the basketball courts. You hear Lebron, Jordon, etc.  saying that they practiced, and practiced, and practiced some more. They say that they worked harder than everyone else. If a Black youth goes to the basketball court and sucks, their peers will tell them to practice more and put in the work.  Yet that same youth goes to

School and is doing bad, their peers will not give them the same advise.  What they tell them is that they are oppressed and that there is nothing they can do.  It defies all racional.  

The book covers many of the fallacies espoused by the race batters and the talking heads. He quotes one of my all time favorite authors Thomas Sowell. I recommend this book to anyone looking to see the other side of rubbish being talked about today.  Riley covers Black on Black crime, education, and so much more.  One of the statistics that stuck with me was the one regarding how Blacks were lifting themselves out of poverty at a higher rate when racism was legal (and in some cases mandatory) than now. 

It is truly sad to see Blacks self segregating themselves after the Great Martin Luther King Jr. fought so hard and gave his life to desegregate.  When I hear about Black only dorms, Black only graduations, and the like it truly makes me sad.  BLM has given nothing to the Black community. It has siphoned off the money to enrich the leaders and to pay for white  Democrats campaigns. 

Jason Riley - Author

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Encounter Books; 1st US edition (June 17, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 216 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1594037256
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1594037252
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.06 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

The Deep Rig: How Election Fraud Cost Donald J. Trump the White House, By a Man Who Did Not Vote for Him By: Patrick Byrne and Patrick M Byrne

A short but concise book on the irregularities of the 2020 elections.  In the absence of reading this book, I felt with every fiber that there was outright fraud in the 2020 election. There has never been a doubt for a single second that that statement is true. However I do recognize that the process, although from a foundational point of view was fraught with fraud, did complete Constitutionally and Biden is President*


If there is one thing that I feared before COVID but was sadly and painfully confirmed after this past administration but more specifically 2020, is the level the left will go to obtain and remain with power. Even if you do not agree with me, I can clearly say and believe it that Donald Trump portrayed himself as an A-hole. He was brash, in your face, at times rude, braggadocious  and his delivery left a lot to be desired. However with that said no one can argue that he did more for the American people especially PoC in spite of all the fake news that was spread than Clinton, Bush x2 and Obama did combined. 

The left spent the entire four years doing exactly what they complained about Republicans doing to Obama's for 8 years (which was false) but on steroids. If  the media had any standards, they would have canceled everyone who spread the lies about Russia, Ukraine, Pee-pee report (a la Clinton), and the countless other lies that were told and still told about Trump.  

Regardless of if you are for Trump, Biden, or anyone else the integrity of our voting system is paramount to have a free country.  I wish that the it was Trump that would have won under suspicious circumstances if only for the left to engage the "Moral Superiority" as they did BTW for years leading up to the 2020 election about voter fraud.  Sadly, the left has take the "kissing my sister counts" way of thinking.  For years after 2016, we heard "not my President" and "Constitutional Crisis" and "illegitimate President".  Apparently it was not so much what they believed had happened but who benefitted from the alleged fraud.  I can tell you 100% that if Trump would have won by cheating, I would be the first signature and vote for having him removed and thrown in prison, regardless of how I feel.  

Byrne explains who those key counties and cities were ironically the ones that stopped counting mysteriously, had rogue WiFi connections, traffic to and from those voting machines to outside countries, laws that were changed illegally at the last minute and the worst part is that NOW after President* Biden is President*, the very same that used the media and social media to silence any deviation from the narrative.  If the left was so sure of their win, why not shut the Trump supporters up by allowing and joining in the audit of the election and the ballots?  Why would they fight it every single step of the way and why would they attempt to pass laws that further the strange issues we saw during this election; things that they were concerned about before the 2020 elections.  Why the change of heart?  What changed?

The other is not a Trump fan, if anything the opposite is true.  However he seems to be deeply concerned with the integrity of our voting system which I can appreciate.  I do not want my libertarians to game the system, don't want the Republicans or the Democrats to either.  It should be a mutual thing we ALL want to see.  Mayor Giuliani was not the man to have next to Trump.  He was outside of his comfort zone and it showed.  I use to like him.  I did not though when he was with Trump.  This book only confirms what I always thought about him being a drunk and not up to the level he needed to be.  

This is a great book.  I recommend it to anyone that is willing to at least read a different version from the narrative that was put out by the putrid media and controlled by the putrid social media and big tech companies.  We have seen how astonishingly wrong the media has been on everything Trump.  Why would anyone believe anything they say?  Even on the HCQ.  How many people lost their lives to COVID because Trump made the colossal mistake of saying that it worked.  How many people hated Trump so bad that would have allowed their families and friends to die instead of conceding that maybe, just maybe he was right?

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08X1Z9FHP
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 17, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 43544 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 236 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Deep Capture, LLC; 1st edition (February 17, 2021)

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

All I Ever Wanted: A Rock 'N' Roll Memoir By: Kathy Valentine

A touching story about familiar failure, youth struggles, success and humility. The story of Kathy Valentine is one that covers the spectrum of emotions. She experiences separation of the family nucleus which starts a whirlwind of youth antics condoned if not fueled by her mother.  Valentine gets pregnant, as insane as they may sound, at 12 years old and subsequently has an abortion.  She becomes promiscuous and starts to abuse substances of all kinds. She starts a band and is active in the band scene of Texas at the time. She soon realizes that California is the place to make it in and buys a car to make the trek. 


In California she struggled to really break into the band scene as a member due to her young age. Finally catches a break with a local band, The Go-Go's.  Soon after, she begins to enjoy the fruits of her labor. She continue to abuse substances which eventually affects everyone in the band.  Anyone that was born prior to 2000 knows how big The Go-go's were.  

Later, the band is dismantled and Belinda takes on a successful solo career, and others in the band follow suit, Valentine struggles to make it.  She finally finds sobriety and it changes her life. Today she may not be a super mogul or a billionaire but she has her sobriety and that is worth all the money and success. 

Great book. I plan to read Belinda's book as well. Valentine seems humble today and is focused on being a mother. Good for her. 

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Texas Press; Illustrated edition (March 31, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1477312331
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1477312339
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 1.3 x 8.6 inches

The Holdout: A Novel By: Graham Moore

A plot twisting thriller about a court case gone bad.  This book will make you rethink responding to the Jury Duty notice you receive in the mail every year.  This book is very "Murder on the Orient Express" esq..... In the end. 


The story centers around a group of jurors who come to a decision somewhat coaxed by one of them.  This  decision has different effects on each of the jurors and even the defendant.  Bobby Nock, a part-time English teacher at a high-school finds himself in a precarious situation where he is in a relationship with a 15 year old student, Jessica Silver.  Silver is from a prominent, wealthy and well known family.  The body is never found but nonetheless, Nock is being tried for her "murder".  

** SPOILER ALERT **

Maya Seale, one of the jurors follows the judges orders to a T.  She is looking to see if there is a "shadow of a doubt".  During Jury Duty, where they were sequestered for months, Maya and Rick, another juror, have an affair against the rules of the court.  

Rick writes a book about his negative feelings about Maya's process to convince the jurors but never mentions the affair.  Rick continues to "investigate" the crime and ten years after the "not-guilty" verdict, Rick oranges a reunion for a Documentary and Podcast. Rick ensures that he has evidence of Nock's guilt. The plot thickens when Rick is found dead in Maya's hotel room.  She is implicated in his murder and that's when it begins the fight to keep her out of jail.  

There are twists and turns in this book that continue until the end.  Just when you think you have it figured out and that Jessica's murder would never be found, BOOM!!!! they twist it on you.  I hope they make a movie out of this book.  

I enjoyed the book.  I recommend it.  

Love how they bashed Twitter with the "F*%k Twitter" line.  

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House (February 18, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 039959177X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0399591778
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.29 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.07 x 9.52 inches

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Bodyguard to El Lider Maximo By: Juan Reynaldo Sanchez and Axel Glyden

This was a great book in more ways than one.  This book, written by Juan Reynaldo Sanches, a former Fidel Castro's "inner ring" of security is an amazing inside look at lies of Fidel's life and lifestyle. 


Just as every dictator before him, Fidel's incognito Capitalist lifestyle was at odds with the rhetoric he spewed.  This is nothing new.  You do not need to go to Cuba to see the lies of this Socialism and Communism rhetoric.  Right here in the U.S.  You had Bernie Sanders that would constantly pontificate about "Millionaires and Billionaires". Ironically, his rhetoric changed when it came out that he owned multiple million dollar homes, made millions on his book and drove expensive cars.  Highly different than the austere life style he preaches about.   Also we see people like the "Trained Marxist" Patrice Khan-Cullors who constantly ranted about the rich 1% and the evils of Capitalism until she spent millions of dollars buy 4 homes for herself with the proceeds of her "organization".  There are countless examples of those who talk the talk, but do not walk the walk. You constantly see these spoiled kids studying in their Ivy League schools paid by their parents that have sacrificed themselves to put their kids through college, sipping their Starbucks, wearing their Birkenstocks, driving their BMWs all the while complaining about Capitalism.  Anyone who tells you that Capitalism is not the best system in the world, you are either dump or complicit.  

Fidel lived the life of a Capitalist billionaire.  He had people waiting on him hand and foot, had multiple homes throughout the island, billions of dollars in offshore accounts, and was a narcissist evil man.  No one, including his family were safe from his brutality.  I personally have family and friends of the family that disappeared during the "revolution" never to be seen or heard of again.  My father left the island when Fidel took power leaving behind several properties seized by the government, money and my mother and two sisters.  He came to the U.S. when there were signs saying "No Cubans" similar to how Blacks were treated.  He worked three jobs to claim my mother and sisters as well as other family members.  They came in legal and worked hard.  They lived in New Jersey, were it was cold and miserable.  They left possessions, family and friends behind to flee this disgusting tyrant.  I think this is why I oppose Socialism and Communism so much.  Seeing what it did to me family here and worse what they did to my family there make we privy to a lot of information the talking heads today conveniently leave out.  Socialism and Communism is a cancer wherever it is tried.  

The book gives you the inside scoop on the methods and procedures Fidel used and how he funded and orchestrated those "regime changes" that our very intelligent Congresswoman Alexandria Ocassio Cortez loves to blame on the U.S.  He was also a gun and drug smuggler.  He had his closes people killed because they "knew too much". Thankfully he died.  Sadly, he lasted a very long time and with it, made the poor people of Cuba and the oppressive Human Rights violation which the media does not report on, suffer and still do.  I would ask anyone that feels that this "revolution" he created is a good thing, go to Cuba.  Not as a visitor with money.  Go live as the Cubans do.  Make use of their "free healthcare" and "free schooling". Doctors in Cuba make more money working a side hustle than being a doctor.  There you get to go to college for free however you do not study "gender studies" or some other useless major.  You study what the government tells you to study.  You are not free at all.  Ironically, those that love to criticize this country would be shot and killed for voicing their opinion in a Socialist or Communist country.  




Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (May 12, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250068762
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250068767
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.76 x 1.01 x 8.52 inches  

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

The Year of Dangerous Days: Riots, Refugees and Cocaine in Miami 1980 By: Nicholas Griffin

A fascinating look at the 1980's in Miami.  I was alive during this time and witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly of the 80's.  In this book, Griffin describes in detail the tragic case of McDuffie who was murdered by the police.  I remember the riots.  I remember them vividly because my father, never seeing something like that was terrified and gave me my 20 gauge shotgun to sleep with in the room.  He told me "if someone comes through that window, you know what to do".  I was mortified.  I never really heard about the details of the case, only that he was in fact murdered.

Sadly, McDuffie was beaten to death and the police officers were to blame.  Although he was driving over the speed limit, was shutting off the light to try and outrun the police and driving with a suspended driver's license.  Whatever the case may be, the police were wrong.  

As is still the case today, the response to some tragedy is usually worse than the original issue.  This is precisely why I feel that protesting that includes blocking streets where people are not involved, don't want to be involved, and/or don't even care about the issue is so dangerous.  Michael and Jefferey Kulp who ran their car through one such protest leaving a young girl pinned to a wall.  However Michael and Jefferey Kulp were tortured for hours.  Jefferey getting shot, stabbed, concrete blocks slammed on his head, his ear and tongue cut out and much more.  It was truly medieval.   The reality is that families lost loved ones on all sides of this incident.  Violence begets violence begets violence.  No one wins.  The McDuffie riots, in my opinion, did more harm to race relations during that time than any other issue of its time.  Whites and Hispanics remembered the horrific scenes on the streets of Miami. Many families told their kids to be careful around black people as they could not be trusted.  This was not the case at my house but I remember a lot of friends where that was the norm.  I am sure, many Black families also thought their children about the dangers of the police due to the McDuffie killing. It would be nice to all acknowledge this and try to move on.  Seems that is not the case and we have only doubled down.

Never in my days, did I ever think I would be alive to hear about separate black and white graduation, dorms, businesses, etc.  Today we are self-segregating.  Society in the name of "progress" has urged people to identify with a race and create echo-chambers, very much like what we see in prisons where you have Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, etc and they must fight for a manufactured issue created by those in power that have a vested interest in keeping everyone separate and stupid.  Hopefully we can pull through this and stop flushing motion of this society.  

Additionally I learned about Hector Sanyustiz which I owe my family to.  Because of his valiant and desperate move to ram the gates of the Peruvian Embassy in Cuba which was the impetus of the Mariel Boat Lift which is how my wife and her family arrived in this country.  Many people know about the Mariel Boat Lift from either family or even the movie Scar Face but very few that I have asked knew anything about Sanyustiz.  Many of my family members arrived from Cuba during this time and it is probably the only thing I am grateful to Jimmy Carter for.  My former brother-in-law made the voyage across the Florida Straits to Cuba to pick up his brother as well as my uncle and son.  I remember being glued to the TV to see if there were any updates to their voyage.


The truth is there were a lot of mentally unstable people released from the sanatarium and prisoners released from prisons, but most of the folks that came here were hardworking people looking to better their lives and the lives of their families.  I remember being introduced to "El Granizero" (The Snow Cone man) that created a snow cone cart our of a bike and some wood, the "Churro" man that would make Churros outside of the Zayres parking lot in Hialeah, and the "Biandero" which was essentially a mobile fresh market where the "Biandero" would pull up in your apartment building and start yelling "Biandero.. La Bianda barrata, barrata, barrata".  In Cuba, there were no parts for the American classic cars.  The Cubans were so resourceful they would manufacture their own parts.  However there were the drugs that was "the lure of easy money.... it was the smuggler's blues" ~ Glenn Frey.

We had family and friends that became millionaires overnight.  The strip bar trips where we would drop 10s of thousands of dollars, nightly dinner at the Forge in Miami Beach, boats, trips, cars, motorcycles and anything your mind could think of.  I remember that for 2.5 years, I did not own a car.  I would grab one of the many cars available (Ford Bronco, Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham and El Dorrados, AMG Mercedes Benz, Porsche 911 Carrera, etc).  Many smart dealers made money and used it to go legit but most allowed greed to take them to jail or the cemetery.  My father sold airline tickets from the house.  He made a lot of money selling these people tickets for world tours.  The club scenes was crazy.  Walking into the bathroom, you would see cocaine everywhere.  Dude would be snorting lines off of the urinals with $100.00 bills.  Miami Jai-Alai on Saturdays was the normal thing to do.  Thousands of dollars were dumped there.  All the drugs you wanted.  We would go to Broward County as a teen and hit the teen clubs with loads of cocaine.  As ugly as I am, I was like Brad Pitt.  I scored probably more than he did.  I enjoyed the life style but new that hanging with these people would soon bring my life to an end.  When they offered me $10K to go to Haulover marina to trailer a boat that was in the water and once I delivered it to its destination, I could keep the brand new Ford Bronco, I knew I was being set up.  Got away from all of it.  

The reality is that Miami was a shit-hole.  No one wanted to be here unless you were 100 years old.  It was a retirement community.  The drugs built Miami.  Many legitimate businesses made a lot of money.  Best thing was not to ask if it was blood money.  I had  carpet business.  There was a customer that lived on Brickell Key.  I would replace his white carpet in his giant apartment every month.  Regardless of what the situation.  Once, he was traveling the entire month.  No one was even in their apartment after I installed the carpet the month before.  I asked him if he wanted to skip this month and he said NO!!!  Come put some new carpet.  I made 10's of thousands of dollars from him alone yearly.      








Publisher ‏ : ‎ 37 Ink (July 14, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1501191020
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1501191022
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches






Friday, June 4, 2021

Wrong Alibi by: Christina Dodd

I enjoyed the book.  The end kind of came together a little quickly but it was good.   The beginning of the book was out of sequence but it worked out well.  A young girl gets into trouble and goes to prison.  She eventually gets released and gets a job in Alaska where her estranged mother and sister are currently living.  The new position requires Evelyn Jones to run errands, deposit money and all around assistance.  The employer, Donald White, has purchased the home from a couple where the husband has been kidnapped and the wife is trying to get him released.  


** SPOILER **

Since Evelyn was depositing cash money into a Cayman Island bank under her name, was seen in the city driving Michelle's car (Jaguar) all around town and seen at the house; when Evelyn finds the gruesome crime scene of Michelle and her young son, she is the prime suspect.  She is subsequently tried and convicted of murder since "Donald White" is a ghost and no one can validate him.  A freak accident and mud slide kills all except for Evelyn while being transported. Her face is badly injured and eventually she gets taken to the hospital.  Her face is reconstructed and to all outward appearances, she was among the dead buried under the mud.  She hides out for a decade in a fishing camp under a new name of,  Petie.  Michelle's widower returns after being released and has a vendetta against Evelyn after finding out she is alive.  Evelyn (aka Petie) returns to Rockin, Alaska after seeing Donald White, now Derek Green is actually dating her mother.  

The book includes love, betrayal, murder, sex, and relationships.  It flowed well and I finished it in a couple of days.


Publisher : HQN; Original edition (December 29, 2020)
Language : English
Hardcover : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 1335549595
ISBN-13 : 978-1335549594
Item Weight : 1.05 pounds
Dimensions : 6.25 x 1.14 x 9.25 inches

Sunday, May 30, 2021

The Royal Runaway By: Lindsay Emory

 I am not a fan of the royals scene in England. I used to hate everything about it.  Not for the politics or anything like that, it was only something I really did not care about.  I thought they were hoidy-toity, until I started watching "The Royals" on the E! Hollywood channel.  It showed the supposed real life of the royals and how normal and flawed they were.  When I saw this book on Goodreads.com I decided to take a look at it.  As anyone that follows me knows, I will read three or four political books and then need to rest my mind and have some time to release my anger that I normally get reading about that subject.  I would mostly read biographies and memoirs but recently I started reading novels and such.  It is a good change in pace.  


The book is about a Princess that is left at the altar on her wedding day.  She is banished from her kingdom to keep the press off of her story in hopes of letting the scandal die down.  Finally she returns and little did she know that the adventure had not even started and that now she would find herself in the middle of a royal mess (pun intended).  

** SPOILER**

The princess escapes the palace to blow off some steam and meets a man.  Turns out it was a set up and the man is none other than her runaway groom's brother that is looking for him.  She is soon interested in him in a romantic way since he does not kiss up to her princess status.  She then finds herself in the middle  of a scandal that can bring the monarchy to an end.  A story of betrayal, embezzlement, lust & power.   

I’m not going to lie, I really got into the storyline.  Emory wrote a follow up book and I am contemplating adding it to my list.  Reminded me of the E! Series.  Obviously not exactly the story but very close.  

ASIN : B07CL9FC2C
Publisher : Gallery Books (October 9, 2018)
Publication date : October 9, 2018
Language : English
File size : 1716 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
Print length : 305 pages

Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom By: Catherine Clinton

This was a great book for me.  I learned quite a bit about Ms. Tubman.  The book was not as detailed as I wished it would have been but I found her action truly amazing.  I plan to read additional books about Ms. Tubman and hope to gain much more knowledge.  

This woman was truly a trailblazer and was fearless.  For the time she lived in where men were the dominant ones, she proved to have more guts than many men.  

Publisher : Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (February 1, 2004)
Language : English
Hardcover : 272 pages
ISBN-10 : 0316144924
ISBN-13 : 978-0316144926
Item Weight : 1 pounds
Dimensions : 6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches

 

Friday, May 28, 2021

We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True By: Gabrielle Union

Let me start by saying, I never imagined knowing so much about her vagina and her period.  I have always thought she was absolutely gorgeous.  Sadly I was put off a bit with her obsession with race and shades of colors.  I have dated and been involved with women color of snow and the color of a plum and every shade in-between.  I literally had to sit back and think back to see if there was any in particular I refused to date. I always say that Hispanics are one of the most racist group of people but among each other.  Cubans (my heritage), Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are viewed as the bottom of the barrel from a "latino" culture.  By far Spain and Spaniards feel that they are superior.  I never knew this existed in the Black community.  


Although the book started funny, it does have its dark sides.  Her rape, the racial tension with her step-children and the death of her friend.  I enjoyed the book.  I could not put it down.  She was certainly promiscuous but good for her.  She owns it and I can respect that.  She is a beautiful woman and I think she was her worst enemy and critic.  Funny how she considers herself "dark skinned".  I don't see it, nor do I care.  I think she is stunning all the time. 


ASIN : 0062693980
Publisher : Dey Street Books; First Edition (October 17, 2017)
Language : English
Hardcover : 272 pages
ISBN-10 : 8925598027
ISBN-13 : 978-8925598024
Item Weight : 15 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.93 x 9 inches

 

Saturday, May 15, 2021

The Tyranny of Big Tech Hardcover By: Josh Hawley

This man is hated by the left.  Really anyone that supported or supports Donald J. Trump is hated by the left.  Ironically the party of inclusion and anti-hate.  I even had trouble finding this on Amazon's web site.  They hide the book from regular searches.  Probably due to him outing Amazon as well for their fake woke practices.  


 The book stars off with a history lesson about monopolies.  Again ironic that the Democrats have always been about breaking up monopolies however now that they have found a way to use them for their advantage, they are surprisingly fine with them.  

This books explains the abuse of Section 230 and how these tech giants have used it to corner the power that even exceeds that of the putrid Federal Government, which by the way was already abused.  Since before even big tech's take over, the Federal Government has left the reservation when it comes to powers. In the Constitution of "these" United States under Article II explicitly defines what the Federal Government can do. 

I work in the Information Security Business and when it comes to Phishing attacks, the one constant is an immediate call to action.  They are always telling you, "if you don't click now, your account will be closed" etc.  This is why I do not want to take the vaccine until some more time passes by and we see results.  The government does NOT have the power to mandate that you take any medication.  Figures that Biden, coming from the administration that forced people to BUY healthcare I guess its not a stretch.  

The fact is the Facebook, Twitter, and any other Social Media companies need to be broken up and need to be regulated.  As we saw with COVID and Hunter Biden's laptop, regardless of what experts had to say, there was one narrative, the Democratic Party one and anyone writing anything against the liberal talking points were banned.  Not to be left out, is the Mainstream Media which does the same.  Social media controls even their messaging since they can block any story that SM does not agree with or does not meet the narrative.  New York Post was silenced by Social Media for a story that after the damage was done, finally admitted that it was not the "Russian Misinformation". 

What irks me is that still today in 2021, you are totally allowed to say that Trump's 2016 win was due to Russian interference, even though countless investigations that took place during Trump's presidency and even now that he is gone, are still taking place.  However when the Right demands investigation into the 2020 election, you cannot write about it on Social Media and no investigation are being allowed.  You have Democratic operatives fighting any independent investigations.  I wish that Social Media would be benefitting the Right so that the left would demand change as well.  

I used to think Liberals were people of substance, intelligent, fair, inclusive and anti-war.  However now I am completely shocked that they are nothing of the like. As a libertarian, I have friends that are left, right and everywhere in-between.  On the left, anyone not lockstep with them, deserves to die.  Even the most moronic statements like "If you do not wear a mask to protect your fellow Americans, you should die of cancer". It is absolutely insane.  I blame this on Social Media because of the echo-chambers they create and the fact that they silence one side which emboldens the other side to continue to attack. 

I agree with Hawley on the control of Social Media.  I believe that additionally, if an organization like NBC or Fox makes false statements and does not give the same level of correction as they did with the initial story (e.g. two days of Russian Collusion, they should have two days of "we lied and we were wrong" not a 5 second blurb.). Additionally today if Facebook blocks my content there is no option but delete the content.  There is no arbitration that we can do to plead our case.  

I posted the story of Pete Buttigeg not riding his bike to work and the reasons was that the White House denied the claim and therefor it is fake.  What a change from the Trump administration.  In light of well researched evidence they called him a lier.  BTW, calling a POTUS a lier on media started by the crazy liberal media.  They set a precedence moving forward.  

Even this book, was canceled because they media company did not agree with his views.  I challenge you to look through their thousands of authors and tell me if anyone of them are truly disgusting people.  Trump was canceled from all Social Media but you have the Hammas.  We even having sitting Congress people calling for the destruction of Israel and yet still remain on all Social Media Platform.  

I think society has devolved due to Social Media.  I would be find abolishing all of it if they cannot be fair.  


Section 230 - Wikipedia 

Section 230 is a piece of Internet legislation in the United States, passed into law as part of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 (a common name for Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996), formally codified as Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 at 47 U.S.C. § 230.[a] Section 230 generally provides immunity for website platforms from third-party content. At its core, Section 230(c)(1) provides immunity from liability for providers and users of an "interactive computer service" who publish information provided by third-party users:

No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

The statute in Section 230(c)(2) further provides "Good Samaritan" protection from civil liability for operators of interactive computer services in the removal or moderation of third-party material they deem obscene or offensive, even of constitutionally protected speech, as long as it is done in good faith.

Section 230 was developed in response to a pair of lawsuits against Internet service providers (ISPs) in the early 1990s that had different interpretations of whether the service providers should be treated as publishers or distributors of content created by its users. After passage of the Telecommunications Act, the CDA was challenged in courts and ruled by the Supreme Court in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997) to be unconstitutional, though Section 230 was determined to be severable from the rest of the legislation and remained in place. Since then, several legal challenges have validated the constitutionality of Section 230.

Section 230 protections are not limitless, requiring providers to still remove material illegal on a federal level such as copyright infringement. In 2018, Section 230 was amended by the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (FOSTA-SESTA) to require the removal of material violating federal and state sex trafficking laws. In the following years, protections from Section 230 have come under more scrutiny on issues related to hate speech and ideological biases in relation to the power technology companies can hold on political discussions, and became a major issue during the 2020 United States presidential election. On December 23, 2020, President Donald Trump vetoed the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 in part because it did not repeal Section 230, but the veto was overridden.[2][3][4][5]

Passed at a time when Internet use was just starting to expand in both breadth of services and range of consumers in the United States,[6] Section 230 has frequently been referred to as a key law that has allowed the Internet to flourish, and has been called, by the cybersecurity law professor and author Jeff Kosseff, as "the twenty-six words that created the Internet".[7]


I say abolish it and let them deal with the fallout.



Publisher : Regnery Publishing (May 4, 2021)
Language : English
Hardcover : 200 pages
ISBN-10 : 1684512395
ISBN-13 : 978-1684512393
Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches









Thursday, May 6, 2021

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI By: Kate Winkler Dawson

Great book. I am a fan of true crime TV.  I watch all of the forensic shows.  This book includes Edward Oscar Heinrich's cases he worked on and how he cut his teeth. He was a multi-disciplined scientist that was one of the pioneers of what was to become CSI.   I sometimes watch cold case files and wonder how these LEO from the past were able to investigate crimes without the advent of video surveillance and DNA.  I would assume that a lot of murders from the past went on and remain open, even today due to lack of the technology we have today.  


The book goes through Heinrich's evolution and the evolution of his techniques.  I was an expert witness many times from a digital forensic perspective and can feel Heinrich's frustration when trying to explain to the jury something that is not in their wheelhouse and not easily understood.  In my case it had to do with checksum of files and the ability to manipulate meta-data on files.  I think Heinrich's challenge was much greater than mine.  I truly believe that this technology and more impactful, are the CSI type shows.  Today's juries expect to have DNA evidence every time and it be available within the hour from any material which we know is not the case.  Heinrich also felt these types of challenges as he was working with bleeding edge technology.  

I think this was a great book and I truly recommend it to anyone looking to see the beginnings of what has been adopted as SOP in many cases today. 

Publisher : G.P. Putnam's Sons; Illustrated edition (February 11, 2020)
Language : English
Hardcover : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 0525539557
ISBN-13 : 978-0525539551
Item Weight : 14.4 ounces
Dimensions : 6.2 x 1.12 x 9.27 inches

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Camsterdam: How I got Caught in the Crosshairs of the War on Terror By: Simon Fidler

This was a very interesting book to read.  I am an American so some of the concepts required me to look them up specifically around the UK Legal System and housing, etc. but since I read the Kindle version, there were great links that allowed me to see the YouTube videos, Tweets, and other digital content. 


I found it funny that Fidler refers to people by the people they look like.  I do that all the time.  My wife and I do that and my father did it while we were growing up as well. 

In this book, Fidler describes the disturbing decade dealing with the various governments gunning for him and doing everything in their power to discredit and destroy him.  A couple of decades ago, I probably would have not believed anything written about governments and their shenanigans however after Snowden, George Papadopoulos, the blatant fraud that went on during our 45th President's time in office and the out route fraud during the 2020 elections, I believe much than I did before.

I enjoyed the book and the links to documents, videos, and documentary suggestions where great and I am looking forward to reading and watching them.  

ASIN : B08M46W1ZZ
Publication date : October 28, 2020
Language : English
File size : 931 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 177 pages

Thursday, April 29, 2021

A Long Way Home: A Memoir By: Saroo Brierley

For whatever reason (I have no idea), I have this fascination with India.  One of my favorite all-time books is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.  I hope one day to visit India.  It is on my bucket list.

This book struck a cord with me.  During one of our many Washington D.C. vacations (still my favorite place to vacation), my oldest son was 10 years old, he is now 21.  But on that day, my wife, two sons and myself were on a train in D.C.  My oldest son was by the door, behind him was my little one (4 at the time), then me and then my wife.  We stopped and doors opened.  My oldest son walks out of the train and the doors immediately close.  I pried the doors open and was ready to jump out leaving my wife taking care of my youngest while I stayed behind with my oldest.  However as I was opening the doors, and the train moving, I realized my little one was in front of me and I would have had to jump with him.  Too late.  My son stayed alone at a train station at 10 years old.  I was like a caged animal.  I must have called 911 one thousand times.  When we got off at the next stop, I was going to have my wife ride back on the train to where my son was and I was going to take a cab.  That did not work out well because there was a bunch of gang-bangers at the station with AK-47 tattoos on their face.  Finally, PD called me back and told me the station police were sitting, watching him from afar because he (my son) would not let anyone get next to him.  I was elated that he was OK.  That same day, actually an hour later, my son had a shinny new cell phone.

What an incredible story of resilience and perseverance; a story of family, love and mourning.  The irony of this book is that in my favorite book "Shantaram" an Australian seeks refuge in India while in this book, an Indian finds refuge in Australia.   I am not a Google fan, not in the least. However in this case, one of Google's products helped this man find his long lost life.  Maybe I give them somewhat of a pass...... probably not. 

I plan to watch the movie as soon as I finish the book as I do not want to mess up any surprises at the end of the book. I thought this was a great story. One that was void of politics and political correctness.  Just a story about someone that I am sure couldn't care less about any of that.  

I can't even begin to imagine how a five year old, literally not even knowing his true name, to survive the savage streets of India.  I would not have wished that on an adult let alone a child. 


Publisher : G.P. Putnam's Sons; Reprint edition (June 12, 2014)
Language : English
Hardcover : 272 pages
ISBN-10 : 0399169288
ISBN-13 : 978-0399169281
Item Weight : 9.6 ounces
Dimensions : 6.25 x 0.93 x 9.25 inches

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

50 Things They Don't Want You to Know About Trump. By: Jerome Hudson

I will just say that this book goes through the throng of accomplishments Trump made in the White House during his first term. I truly think that if anyone would read this book with an open mind and put aside Trump the "button pusher" and simply look at his accomplishments, you will agree that he will go down in history as one of the G.O.A.T. POTUS ever. 


Everyone benefited from him; Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, Asians, LGBTQ, businesses, workers, previously non-workers, people with children, manufactures, service industry, the list goes on and on. Apparently he did have a magic wand. I think the media and the left attacked him so much is because to give him credit for what he did, only shows the despotic & useless his predecessor (the media's golden boy) was. 

If you want to read about real achievements by Trump and not the "grab them by the ..." then this book is for you. If you are happy and comfortable with the narrative from the media which has been proven time and time again to be false and deceptive at best, then move along. This one will not be for you.

Publisher : Broadside Books (October 27, 2020)
Language : English
Paperback : 304 pages
ISBN-10 : 0063027658
ISBN-13 : 978-0063027657
Item Weight : 9.9 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.76 x 8 inches

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House By: Alyssa Mastromonaco

 Very interesting book. It is not your normal politician book but a "regular person" that was involved in the inter workings of the presidency. I am not a fan of Obama nor do I think he was an effective leader for this country (although I am sure many may disagree), but her book did give me a glimmer of hope (no pun intended) that Obama wanted to focus on recovery although I think a lot had to do with his re-election. 

Mastromanaco seems like a very down-to-earth person that I could probably have a friendship with in spite of many opposing views. Her book did not hit me as if she was a ideologue although she did make a few comments to the contrary (e.g. Newt Gingrich and the hit and run on her Saab). 

The book is kind of all over the place from a chronological perspective but she addresses it in the book. Still it is a little annoying. I recommend it to anyone that like the behind the scenes look at the inner workings of the White House. I would have absolutely taken that Jon even if I was not a party member of the POTUS. Some people would deny meeting the sitting POTUS because they disagree, I would meet them given the opportunity. I once stood 6 feet from Obama. I did all the networking for the 2012 Presidential debate. Had I had the opportunity to take a pic with him I would have.

Publisher : Twelve; 1st edition (March 21, 2017)
Language : English
Hardcover : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 1455588229
ISBN-13 : 978-1455588220
Item Weight : 12.7 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 1 x 8.5 inches

They Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste: The Truth About Disaster Liberalism - by Jason Chaffetz

What a great book.  I enjoyed it greatly.  I recommend it to anyone wanted to see what the Democratic Party has become.  Long gone are the days where Democrats were staunch 1st amendment advocates and the "liberal" moniker came from the fact that they were liberal about everything.  Now they are nothing but authoritative, anti-constitutionalists and they crazier the idea, the better for them.  Even Bill Maher has on many occasion has slammed the new woke party.  

Incredible how the same group of people who opposed Hydroxychloroquine, even though it has been FDA approved for literally decades and has had licensed medical doctors who treated thousands of patients, are the very same that are pushing, even with the fear of violence, a "vaccine" that has not been tested, not FDA approved and that medical doctors and nurses are refusing to take themselves.

Also those same people who opposed Trump bringing in federal troops into these insane cities (where there was an actual insurrection) such as CHAZ because he did "not have authority" are the same people that were then criticizing him for not acting and not calling for a federal lockdown and helping their sad blue states that were unprepared.  

It used to be that people took a position and then either lived by it or distanced themselves from it. Now the left will switch on a dime and then deny, regardless of the evidence, it and take the opposite stance when it is politically expedient.  Politicos must not know how the Internet works.  I guess since control it. Like Pelosi, did she not remember that while the CORONA Virus was taking hold of this country, she was dead set on falsely impeaching Donald Trump and later went out to China Town San Fran, hugging everyone saying "Orange man bad" don't listen to him and now all of the sudden she is the conductor for all things COVID?

If the people of this country would realize that we were thrown deeper in debt on the auspices of COVID relief but only went to pay off and bail out leftists organizations and politicians, the people would be calling for the heads of the politicians. We need to repeal the 17th amendment and go back to the states sending representatives that have the best interest of the states they represent and not the party. 

When Arizona passed SB1070 where LEO would be required to asked people for their immigration status.  The liberals lost their minds saying that immigration was solely a Federal Government (Obama Administration at the time) mandate and not the states.  Fast forward to the riots on 2019 where the liberals then changed their tune when Trump wanted to send in Federal LEO to protect Federal buildings in Liberal Riot cities.  The Liberals then became the stalwarts for the 10th amendment saying that Trump should be impeached.... Again because he was causing a "Constitutional Crisis" again.  They made it clear that the Federal Government had not authority over the states. And then when you fast forward again, (Biden administration) they again returned to the Federal Government is the ultimate power that should NOW also have authority over states voting.  You see, there is zero consistency.   

Same with the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.  They did not cover it. If they did it was "Russian Misinformation" and Social Media blocked and in some cases booted people for posting anything about it.  NOW, NBC just said "cannot believe we missed it".  Trump was impeached for doing a QPQ with Ukraine based on a "whistle blower" (We all know now and did then that he was in fact a CIA operative with Anti-Trump feelings).  Yet Biden is on video admitting to doing a REAL QPQ telling the Ukrainian President that if he did not fire the prosecutor that was investigating fraud by the company where his son was getting a sweetheart deal of 85K a month for being on the board ironically during the time his then VP father was in charge of relations with Ukraine.  Joe Biden even implicated President Obama.  Yet the media spiked the story and did not run with it.  Today any post regarding election results for 2020 will get you in social media jail.  You posts will be deleted, you will be kicked of the platforms, etc.  However if you decide to write pages and pages about golden showers, Russia collusion, QPQ (Trump Only), Russians stealing the election for Trump, that you can post all day long even though it has all be disproven with zero consequences.  


Publisher : Broadside Books (April 6, 2021)
Language : English
Hardcover : 288 pages
ISBN-10 : 0063066130
ISBN-13 : 978-0063066137
Item Weight : 15.3 ounces

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo By: Jo Koy

I love Koy.  I have watched all of his comedy shows..... multiple times.  He is extremely funny.  I am going to check out the Audio book to see if he narrates it.  I love how he does the Filipino accent.  This memoir is both serious and yet still funny.  Koy talks about his schizophrenic brother and his estranged  father.  


Koy writes about his challenges of growing up with his mom and estranged father for most of his adolescent life.  His struggles to find himself and his talent.  His story is a quintessential rags to riches story of someone determined to make it at all cost.  Along the way, he has a life altering event that made him look back at his childhood and shaped him to become the dad he is today.  Him and his then wife Angie had a baby boy.  Although the relationship fell apart, they remained friends and today they co-parent Jo jr.  

Although the book is written by a comedian and contains many Koy'isms, it also teaches a good life lesson about goal setting and attainment as well as parenting skills.  Koy is a very funny guy.  If you have never seen him in one of your specials, I recommend jumping on Netflix and give it a gander.   


Jo Koy's M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-CgbXD-ejs 

Jo and his mom at the buffet
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155500302582590

Publisher : Dey Street Books (March 23, 2021)
Language : English
Hardcover : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 006296996X
ISBN-13 : 978-0062969965
Item Weight : 1.1 pounds