Saturday, February 27, 2021

Don't Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles -- and All of Us By: Rana Foroohar

 Very interesting book about "Big Tech" and how they are harming the country and more importantly, the citizens.  Aylin Foroohar is an American business columnist and an associate editor at the Financial Times. She is also CNN's global economic analyst.  This book was published in November of 2019 so she missed even more egregious "Big Tech" overreach during the 2020 Election and even worse yet, what has happened AFTER the election.


Although Foroohar speaks about the $300K Russians spent to sway the 2016 election, she missed the amount of money spent by the leftists to beat Trump in 2020 even though they pushed a feeble man that as of today, is a laughingstock all over the world.  God bless Biden.  I hope he lives a long life. However, this man's administration released a statement saying that Biden "calls a lid" at 7:00PM.  This is insane.  I am in Information Security.  I can tell you without a doubt that I am on call ALL THE TIME.  I do not get to bed until 1:00AM regularly.  The fact that a man that is running the country is going to sleep at 7:00PM is disturbing.  

What we have seen during this COVID pandemic that the big tech companies have enriched themselves and have become literally more powerful than our own government was.... which was too powerful for my  liking.  And it seems there is no one willing to take them on.  The Democrats were suppose to be the ones looking to break them up and as it turns out, as long as big tech is funding their party, they are more that eager to turn a blind eye.  I think there is enough content just since before the 2020 elections to write two more books.  

I do not necessarily agree with all of her suggestions to "fix" the issue we face today, but to be honest, I would like to see action.  I have gotten off of most social media platforms save for LinkedIn, Instagram and Parler.  I have closed all my Twitter accounts, I have closed all my Facebook accounts, I have stopped purchasing Nike, Coca Cola, stopped 90% of my Amazon purchases, cancel Netflix, Disney+ & Hulu.  My new way of approaching this cancel culture and big tech dictatorship is to purchase and support everyone that gets canceled (e.g. MyPillow.com) and stop watching movies of useful idiots that "pretend" for a living, and companies like Coca Cola that have a prejudice for ANYONE based on the color of their skin.  I think it today, and did forever that discriminating against Black people was wrong.  I feel equally strong about what is happening to White people.  It is not the color that bothers me, rather the act. 

I found it amazing that these tech giants do not allow THEIR children to be on the very platforms they have developed.  It is telling.  We should be compensated for the value of our data and be given the opportunity to opt-out of the selling of our data.  I would rather pay a premium to use a service so long as they do not collect or sell my data.  With the amount of data being collected on us these days, I cannot imagine folks running for President 30 years from now and these tech giants having enough info on them to derail any candidate looking to run.  They are way too powerful and need to be stopped.  Ironic coming from someone using a book purchased on Amazon, on a server run in AWS and a mirror to be posted on Goodreads.com a company purchased by Amazon, but nonetheless, these companies need to be reined in and fast.  

Great book, I recommend it. 

Publisher : Currency (November 5, 2019)
Language : English
Hardcover : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 1984823981
ISBN-13 : 978-1984823984
Item Weight : 1.3 pounds
Dimensions : 6.31 x 1.28 x 9.52 inches

Thursday, February 18, 2021

The Perfect Marriage By: Jeneva Rose

 What is up with Adam?  The guy does not know when good enough is enough.  The book started off as a great concept.  I did enjoy the book but found myself wanting to shake Adam and beat him in and about the facial region.  


** WARNING, CONTAINS SPOILERS **

The book describes a married couple; Sarah and Adam.  Sarah is a high powered defense attorney and Adam is a one-hit-wonder author suffering from writers block.  Adam starts a 16 month affair with Kelly Summers.  Sarah and Adam purchased a vacation home.  This house was the location where Adam and Kelly had their rendezvous.  After a romp in the vacation home where Adam and Kelly had rough sex all night, Kelly is savagely murdered in her sleep.  Adam is accused of her murder.  Sarah his wife ends up defending him in the murder case.  

Quite frankly, the book seems as though it ended abruptly and then... the kicker.  Sarah was a real bitch.  She could have done something else.  She could have had him sign off all marital assets and then shown the Sheriff's DNA that would have shown doubt and he could have walked.  Kelly would still be dead and Adam would have nothing.  Instead she killed him.  Then again, she DID kill her mother.   

Publisher : Bloodhound Books (July 3, 2020)
Language : English
Paperback : 342 pages
ISBN-10 : 1913419657
ISBN-13 : 978-1913419653

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy By: Andy Ngo

Andy Ngo is a openly-gay journalist that started his career in Portland Oregon.  He has been covering ANTIFA for quite some time now.  [Engage Sarcasm Font] The ever centrist "Southern Poverty Law Center" paints a narrative espoused on the "centrist, non-partisan" platform of Wikipedia of Ngo being chummy with Patriot Prayer group during one of the rallies he was reporting on.  Seems to me that to the crazy ANTIFA supporters, you are either with them attacking people or you are against them.  Maybe, just maybe, Ngo did not feel he was in danger and felt more at ease standing around.  But that is an assumption on my part.  

It boggles the mid how Main-Stream Media, and Leftist Politicians and supporters are perfectly comfortable labeling Proud Boys and MAGA people a terrorist organization.  Even as so far as continuously asking former President Donald Trump on numerous occasions to disavow Proud Boys, which he did.  Proud Boys literally started as a literal joke by Gavin McInnes when a feminine co-worker that they hazed about being gay (even though he was not),  and they joked about the Disney Movie song (see link of Joe Rogan show) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3iN8NVJewo
Tim Pool and Joe Rogar grill Twitter on bias banning and "Proud Boys"

Essentially, it became political when they responded to ANTIFA attacks against conservatives.  Ironically the clip in the link above, shows the toxicity of Twitter where they have canceled Proud Boy Account while allowing ANTIFA to remain on the platform and organize events on the same.

Ngo uncovers the inter-workings of the terrorist organization of ANTIFA.  They are absolutely organized and not an "idea" as the supporters like to described them as.  None of the existing Democratic politicians have publicly disavowed ANTIFA and quite frankly BLM since they have allowed ANTIF to hijack their movement.  In fact, you have Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and other cohorts actively collected and posted on social media for the bail funds of ANTIFA people being arrested, regardless of the crimes they had committed to get arrested.  The message was, regardless of what you did, murder, assault, arson, etc.  We don't even care.  ANTIFA and BLM are the Democratic Party's private military.  Imagine for one second that Proud Boys did what ANTIFA has done and Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Matt Gaetz set up and Tweeted a fund to pay for the bail of the arrested Proud Boys, what do you think would have been done?  You would have seen a sham impeachment of all those involved as we saw with Trump's post POTUS impeachment butt-hurt revenge game.  He was rightfully acquitted.  If that stands, then we can go back and impeach Obama for what was proven he did with HIS "peaceful transition of power".

Ngo gives the historical timeline of ANTIFA from Europe and describes the meeting places, and the training syllabus for prospective new members.  These "troops" are trained as military soldiers are.  They are taught hand-to-hand combat, shooting skills, physiological warfare and much, much more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyb2JhysVr4
Andy Ngo on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlCTpywgEQk
Video of Andy Ngo getting attacked

ANTIFA and their off-shoots are dangerous.  They use technology to DOX people, they surveil and attack people.  Now more than ever, the second amendment is of the upmost importance.  I never leave my house without two guns and my AR15.  Love that I live in Florida where stand-your-ground is a thing.

 

Publisher : Center Street (February 2, 2021)
Language : English
Hardcover : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 154605958X
ISBN-13 : 978-1546059585
Item Weight : 1.15 pounds
Dimensions : 6 x 1.45 x 9 inches



Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Washington's End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle by Jonathan Horn


George Washington is one of my favorite Founding Fathers.  He was a Freemason.  When I became a Freemason, while going through my initiation, the one thing that kept running through my mind was “George Washington went through this very initiation hundreds of years ago”.  He was a flawed man as we all are.  His owning of slaves is a dark spot on his history.  However, these days, we do compare people of the past based on the insanity we have today.  I am curious to see 30 years from now, how all these people will be able to escape the ever-changing “standards” of the time.  Progressivism does not stop to see if what has been done is enough.  It is more concerned with continue to “progress” regardless of its success or failures.  During that time, slavery, sadly, was normal accepted.  Similar to anything that is legal today and acceptable that later on becomes frowned upon.  I think it was abhorrent, but the fact is that many men during that time paved the way for what eventually and thankfully became outlawed.  

 
Washington was a man that measured his words.  Due to his oral issues, he rarely smiled and was an astute listener.  I practice the same today; “Listen to understand, not to respond”.  I do believe his Masonic teachings dictated many of the good qualities we read about so often.  The book goes into a narrative I personally have not read about before.  I always knew there was tension between Washington and Adams, but this book goes deeper into the relationships and feelings of his opposers.  In my opinion he was harsh at times when it came to Washington. 
 
Washington was not a proponent of political parties and regretted the fact that people who in the past worked together, no longer even spoke.  I guess the adage about history repeating itself is absolutely true.  We are the same today.  
 
As most will know, Washington’s death was a freak accident of sorts.  What one would take a ZPAK for today, killed one of the most influential people in our history.  The book is short but interesting.  I love Washington and feel I have a connection with him above and beyond the founding of this country, so I hesitate a bit with they paint him in a negative light.




This Masonic apron was made in France and is believed to have been presented to Brother George Washington at Mount Vernon in 1784 by the Marquis de Lafayette, a former General and close friend of Washington’s, who was also a Freemason.  The apron features Masonic symbols, such as compasses and a square, together with the crossed flags of the United States and France, all exquisitely embroidered in silk and gold and silver-wrapped threads with metallic sequins.





Publisher : Scribner (February 11, 2020)

Language : English

Hardcover : 352 pages

ISBN-10 : 1501154230

ISBN-13 : 978-1501154232

Item Weight : 1.1 pounds

Dimensions : 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches

Monday, February 1, 2021

Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism By: Sharyl Attkisson

Long gone are the days when a journalist had the zeal for their profession.  Where the "character" of the unrelenting, "report the facts at all cost" persona played in Hollywood has sadly passed away.   My son and my money are going to journalism school. My son is one of those "let the chips fall where they may" kind of thinkers. After reading this book, I feel he has an uphill battle. 

This book is precisely what I have been talking about for a decade or more now, but put into a concise book.  The author is a Trump supporter, or at least she may be, but the book is not necessarily about Trump insofar as the decline in journalism since he became president. If you want to read a great book about how the industry has devolved and can put aside someone not parroting the played out narrative about orange-man-bad then I recommend this book. She not only covers the Trump phenomenon with the press but other stories like the Harvey Weinstein, NBC, debacles, etc.

The book covers how the journalists have allowed themselves to be nothing but a propaganda delivery system. When I was younger, you could not tell party affiliation of most journalists both on air and in print. The news was delivered as facts and the viewer/reader could form their own opinions. This is no longer the case. 

The author gives specific example in her tenure of inexplicable canceling of stories that were fact-based and outed corruption at all levels, all parties and all people.   She discusses the language that has become acceptable by reporters that would have never been allowed in the past such as liar, no proof, etc. 

Journalists have become nothing but political pundits with zero integrity and zero respect for their craft.  She discussed the devolution of CNN under Zuckerman's rein as well as other previously respected news outlets. This is not partisan either. Viewers and readers from both parties are disillusioned with media today.  

I came out of the book having a much better knowledge of the "narrative game" and how it's played. It's bitter sweet because knowledge is indeed power but ignorance is bliss. Knowing that it's all a sham is disheartening and a sad day for us as people wanting to see/read news based on facts and not propaganda.  I would love to see a media outlet purchase the failing CNN and have a policy to report the news based on facts. No opinion shows, just facts. Any journalists that lets their biases show or wears there party on their sleeves will be asked to resign or put on stories that have zero political spin such as baby alligators born in a zoo.  I assure you that network would crush everyone out there. 

I hate authoritative dictators trying to tell me what I should be feeling. I am a libertarian and sometimes I like what one party does and sometimes I like what the other party does. 

A very interesting portion of the book is how social-media is able to manipulate real media because of the mob mentality we have allowed to take root in this country.  All speech, yes even hate speech, heck hate speech more so than non hate speech should be protected. The media should report the facts regardless of corporate sponsors and political connections.  I despise what social-media has become. It has become a bully pulpit for a small group of loud people that force others to act like they want or suffer the wrath of the mob. I would hope and think that every American wants to be free to voice their opinion as hurtful, offensive, or misinformed as it may be.  No one person or group is the aborter of speech. What is offensive to you, may not be to me.  What is hurtful for you may not be for me. I would not assume to know what is best for you, I don't want you controlling me based on what YOU feel is best for me. 

Amazing, Amazing book and very apropos.  


Here is a great YouTube Video by Attkisson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bxI803q6i8


  • Publisher : Harper (November 24, 2020)
  • Language : English
  • Hardcover : 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 : 0062974696
  • ISBN-13 : 978-0062974693
  • Item Weight : 1.04 pounds
  • Dimensions : 6 x 1.05 x 9 inches




Resist and Evade / Protect and Serve By: Lee West

 Finished the final two books.  It was OK however a little anticlimactic.  Would have liked to see more elaboration.  It seemed that the final book was pushed.  The series is OK.  I would read another series from  West but need to give it some time.