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 

Saturday, April 3, 2021

The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple By: Jeff Guinn

 I have always hears and used the term "Drinking the Kool-Aid" however it was not until my adult years did I get the reference.  Sadly, I think today many people do not know its origins.  The reference is to the situation in Jonestown, Guyana (Guy-Yana) where Jim Jones and his cult, over 900 died of a mass suicide. 


Jim Jones grew up in Indiana with an alcoholic, abusive father and a mentally challenged (IMHO) mother.  His mother was not really interested in his upbringing.  He grew up with concern neighbors that brought him to religion in earnest.  

Jones was an avout Socialist.  He "preached" a distorted version of Christianity and prayed on Blacks and low income folks at first. His trajectory mirrors many of the Socialist tyrants we have seen in history.  It is disturbing to see his mindset when he acted like he really cared for the downtrodden and fought for equality when in reality, it was just means to justify the ends which in his case, was tyrannical power over people.  I was not surprised to see the chummy relationship Jones had with Willy Brown, corrupt California politician who is said to be the Sugar Daddy of the current Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.  The constant Quid-Pro-Quo (QPQ) by Brown, Moscone and other in California is ironic since in 2016, the current other California politicians finally got a moral compass.  Unfortunately, the moral compass was short-lived and in late 2020, the reverted back to their old ways.  Hmmmm.  That was awkward.  

I have read about 30 books on Scientology and sadly, you see Jone's version of Christianity morf into the same framework as Scientology.  The People's Temple would disown those that did not follow "Father" (the moniker Jones took on during his "ascend").  They only wanted member to associate with other "believers",  all financial assets should go to the "church", sex and relationships were controlled by "father", etc.  

Socialism is a cult in my opinion.  As most of the Socialist leaders, they live by a strict code "Socialism is for the people NOT the Socialist".  Jones partook with fornication even though he preached against it, he consumed alcohol although he preached against it, he used church money on him self which he punished other for doing, he watched new release movies even though he preached against it.  That is but a tiny fraction of Jones dichotomous behavior.  For instance, he talked a good talk about Black people not being treated equally, yet only 1 black person was in his inner circle.  The Socialist seems to pray on Blacks in this country.  Sadly, they are effective in their doings.  As we are seeing today, the way to keep people supporting a fake narrative is to control the information the people are getting.  To block any dissent towards the narrative.  We see this today.  In the past, you would be able to voice your opinion on anything you wanted to without the fear of anyone silencing you.  Today, you cannot even mention irregularities in the elections of 2020, yet you can STILL repeat at-nausium the "Russian Interference" and "Russian Collusion", essentially any negative information about Donald Trump, true or false is always welcomed in the public square.  However if you dare speak about COVID, Election Fraud, Biden's mental health, etc, you are immediately silenced by the Socialist technology arm, AKA Big Tech, the media does not cover anything negative about the Biden administration..... pardon me, the "Biden-Harris" administration. 

Guinn writes how the Temple starts to lose its luster and people start to see through the lies.  Jones becomes a daily drug user and his conscious time is less and less.  Things start to unravel as they start to see legal action from parents wanted access to their kids now in Jonestown.  Jones' health also starts to deteriorate and people start to doubt his powers.  His weight gain shows people he is losing control of his life.  I say this because I am also overweight, and when I lost 150 lbs, people took me much more serious (don't get offended 😁). In the end, Jones and his followers died for no reason other that Jones' twisted and demented ideas.  Socialism has never worked and never will.  The problem is that Socialism is for the people NOT the Socialists.  


            Ironically, Jonestown would have been very cozy with a Socialist neighbor of Venezuela. 

Here is a link to the people who died in Jonestown.  Sadly, it includes children's name
https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?post_type=who_died


Publisher : Simon & Schuster; First Edition (April 11, 2017)
Language : English
Hardcover : 544 pages
ISBN-10 : 1476763828
ISBN-13 : 978-1476763828
Item Weight : 1.73 pounds






Dimensions : 6 x 1.3 x 9 inches