The Most Beautiful : My Life With Prince By: Mayte Garcia

Another rocker train-wreck story.  Although I always loved Prince from way back in 1980 when he released 'Dirty Mind' there are no books written about the man.  Later I found out what a musical genius he was which made me even more interesting than before.  I must have watched Purple Rain 1,000 times.  Love that entire album.

The irony of someone that built their lives around dancing would be affected by MS is not lost.  These two people's lives were doomed from the onset.  From Prince 'Courting' Garcia at 16 years old to the loss of they son Amiir to his early death.

Mayte Garcia was a star from early on when she appeared on "That's Incredible" belly dancing while balancing s sword on her head.  She was an Army brat and while in Spain was essentially forced to attend a Prince concert.  She sent Prince a video of her dancing to his music and there began this strange courtship of Prince and this 16 year old girl.  The book talks about the horrific news of their first child Amiir which was born with Pfeiffer Syndrome Type 2. It was truly sad to hear that Prince, the man who appeared to have it all, had a son with such a strange disorder.  Amiir died 6 days later when they removed him from life support.  Mayte was not there for his death since Prince had scheduled it while Mayte was home.  After their divorce and estrangement, Prince burned everything in the nursery included Amiir's ashes.

Garcia talks about Prince's faith.  What was extremely enlightening to me was that I always held Prince as this spiritual guru of sorts that talked about the afterlife and spirituality.  I always thought of him as someone outside the main-stream religion world, turns out I was wrong.  He was eventually a Johova's Witness which do not celebrate anything and do not accept most medical life saving procedures.

Prince later courted another woman, Manuela and disconnected from Garcia.  Truly a sad story and disheartening.  Nothing changes the musical genius of this man and I am truly glad that I was able to follow him throughout his career and a lot of his music plays in the soundtrack of my life.  The story is a great story albeit sad.  The book is fairly well written although it was obvious that she held back a lot.

R.I.P. Prince, may your music live on for ever.

Paisley Park Arial View

Inside of Paisley Park

Mayte explained Prince was in a bad mood because of what he was wearing.  They were supposed to Photoshop the boots to match, but never did.

Mayte as a child belly dancer (That's Incredible)

Mayte with her adopted daughter Gia.

Prince's 7 Video


Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Hachette Books (April 4, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316468975
ISBN-13: 978-0316468978
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.1 x 9.4 inches

Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House By. Donna Brazille

I enjoyed this book.  She was rightfully critical about Debbie Wasserman-Shultz and Hillary Clinton. She was not as Critical as Ron Paul was of the Republican Party, but coming from the Democrats, that is a huge advancement.  She seems like a smart woman that unfortunately got played by the Hillary machine.  Not to say that she was NOT at fault.

I do have issues with some of what she says about Donald Trump.  One of the comments was that Trump's campaign was one of grudges towards communities of color.  I found this really appalling.  Aside from the Democratic Party talking a good game about benefitting the "colored community" we saw eight years of Obama and the needle was not even moved in the "colored community".  I think that the colored communities would actually benefit from Republican policies.  The Democrat tend to feed the beast and keep the colored communities in a status quo scenario.  Help people get out of the situation they are in.  She mentions in her book that if Trayvon Martin would have been alive, he would have voted for Hillary Clinton.  Really?  

The book is a cornucopia of buzz words and is peppered with party pleasers such as "Hands up, don't shoot" (even though that was disproven), LGBTQ at least once in each chapter (exaggeration). She discusses much about how the hackers did what they did, however she glossed over what was discovered and whit washes that.  "Here focus on this.. don't worry about that"  Sort of the "Scooby Doo Syndrome"  If it weren't for these meddling kids.

She talked about how Hillary Clinton protestors were attacked at the Trump rallies, however what is absent is how Trump SUPPORTERS were attacked, not at HRC rallies but rather their own.  The Democratic Party for all their rhetoric about the Republicans being violent are more violent than the Republicans by leaps and bounds.

In once chapter, Brazille says she wanted the D's and the R's to get together and protect the ballot box.  There is just one problem with that; the D's are known for years to have more voter turnouts that there are people (live people I mean).  

Regardless, the book was fun to read.  Since I am in the Information Security business, I had fun looking at the breach from a different perspective... the one of the victim.  For those that are not in the "biz" (meaning InfoSec), this book does a good job in telling you some of the issues and challenges they faced layman's terms.  

Short book filled with a great insight into the politico's lifestyle.  Although she tends to whitewash the doings of the Democrats, I recommend this book as a must read in 2017. 

Hardcover: 288 pages

Publisher: Hachette Books (November 7, 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0316478512

ISBN-13: 978-0316478519

The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left By: Dinesh D'Souza

WARNING:  Political Discussion that may offend some of the Snowflake persuasion.

You may not like this author because he is very critical about Hillary Clinton, but I agree with much of what he rights in this book. I will break a few of those down in this blog post.

As for the overall review of this book, I can say that it is repetitive and at some points (many points) in the book, D'Souza is very partisan and very much acts like what he is trying to condemn.

The book attempts to explain how the Nazis, Marxists, and Fascists are more akin to the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.  He makes good points although some of them are far off.  I do not agree with everything in this book but I think it is a good read.


On Race -  Although I do not agree that Lincoln was anti-slave, I can say that the Democratic Party has always been the party of slavery.  They will use the story of DixiCrats which is part of what this book talks about.  The Democratic party, with their policies, do nothing to advance those of different races.  They keep African-Americans (although I disagree with that term since there are "Americans" and "Non-Americans" to me, systematically oppressed by not creating situations where they can flourish and advance themselves.  The teach them that the government needs to provide them support in order for them to survive.

Yesterday I saw Bill Maher and saw Donna Brzille saying that if all the colored people came out to vote, it would be a "Blue Wave".  That is telling of what the Democrats believe.  They believe that Blacks are going to automatically vote D instead of R.  Furthermore, you see Black Lives Matter and how they systematically talk about "White People" and their hatred for "White People" yet it is perfectly acceptable and not only that but Liberals actually back and support them.  The notion of White Privilege is a farce. In an example where a white person lived in the projects, grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same dysfunctional schools and came from the same socio-economic society as a black person and that somehow, they have some "privilege" is absurd.

Take "Affirmative Action" as an example.  Affirmative Action is the most racist thing in ages.  Take the example of a Fire Fighter test I took in the 80's.  If I was White, I needed to score an 80% on the exam, however if I was Hispanic, I only needed a 65%.  How can this be?  Because of who I was born to, I am incapable of scoring 80%.  Also, if I and a White man interview for the same position, and the White man has a better personality, interviewed better than me, and seemed to have a better attitude than me, the employer, ironically would HAVE to discriminate on the White guy to avoid being accused of discriminating against me.  Not to mention that black people think I am WHITE but white people think I am a Spick or a Wet-Back.  I lose either way.

On Homosexuality - The Left will tell you they support LGBTQ (And whatever additional letters are added), however they support Muslims which are on record for throwing gays from the tops of roofs. I support freedom of religion so long as it does not interfere or go against Human Rights.  My right to believe or not believe in whatever religion I want and that my life should not be endangered if I decide to not follow someone's interpretation of religion or non-religion.  Furthermore, I do not believe in "Gay Rights" and normally when I see Gay Rights people looking to sign petitions or collect money, when I give them the support, I tell them, "You should not try to differentiate yourselves from anyone else.  The moment you say "Look at me, I wear THIS label", you are by definition "Not Equal" to everyone else.  I do not believe in Gay Rights, because I believe in Human Rights which includes the right to bed and wed whomever you wish so long as it is a consenting adult.

On Women's Rights - This one is especially egregious.  If I would have said that Hillary Clinton looked too old, I would have been slammed by the Women Rights groups.  These groups are constantly looking to make an issue into a 'woman's' issue, similar to that race bater, Al Sharpton which does the same but on race. However, these groups were absent with the left decimated Sarah Palin.  Full disclosure, I did not like Palin, however there were WOMEN on the left wearing shirts that said "Sarah Palin is a cunt".  There was no outrage, there was no outpour of support for her.  Why not?  Did she not have all the lady parts?  No, what she did not have is a D on her voter's registration card.  Same for Michelle Bachman, Ann Coulter and any other woman that is part of the Republican Party.  If the woman's group want to be taken serious, at least by me, I need to see them protect Women not just Democratic Women.

On Violence - For years you heard how the Republican Party was the party of violence and hatred.  However we have sadly seen that the Democratic protesters and demonstrators make the Republicans seem like a bunch of 1st graders with their level of violence and hatred.  The left CONSISTENTLY discriminate against Republicans merely because they are Republican or non-Democrats.  They are far more violent than Republicans by a long shot.  However the Left justifies it by the old Machiavellian philosophy of "The ends justify the means". It seems that bombing opposition as Bill Ayres did, beating up Donal Trump supporters etc.

On 1st Amendment - It seems that the 1st amendment is only in place and should be respected when it comes to ideas and agendas that advance the leftist's causes.  When a particular non-liberal speaker wants to come to a college to speak, the left will do everything in their power to block said speaker from speaking.  Not only that but if Rush Limbaugh says something, the left will immediately want to get him off the air.  The Republicans are less likely to do the same for an Ed Shultz or someone of the like.  The Right cannot speak it mind without being labeled a racist, sexist or homophobic.  It is sad that the left cannot see things more like their "Classical Liberal" cousins.

In general, the Left contradicts itself all the time.  They behave in a different way than they demand others to behave.  The sad part is that until the members of that party realize how contradictory their actions and their words are, we will continue to see the same.

In full disclosure, I am not a Republican or Democratic Party member. I am an independent and live by the following:

"No groups, No Colors, No Hyphenations and No Labels"
"Fiscally I am more conservative than Conservatives and Socially I am more liberal than Liberals.


Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Regnery Publishing (July 31, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1621573486
ISBN-13: 978-1621573487

Cyber Storm by: Matthew Mather

Not sure this title is appropriate for this book.  It is more of a "preper" book than a "Cyber" book.  The book takes place mostly in NY City where a power outage affects the entire city and from the lack of communication, the New Yorkers do not know if this is exclusive to their city or if it has affected the entire United States.

The book drives home the fact those that fail to plan, will plan to fail. Some level of prepping is necessary.  Especially in this day and age where the liberals push for urban living, it is important to be prepared.  In tight quarters, when things go south, chances of survival diminish.  The book covers some neighboring families that bond together to survive in the aftermath of a widespread power outage and an ensuing blizzard hitting NYC.  Chuck, the avid preper has supplies stored in a storage unit in his building.  When things go south, they soon find that someone has broken into the storage unit and has wiped out the supplies that will carry them through this ordeal.

I found a lot of similarities to the Florida Hurricane Alley way of living. We too have been without power for extended periods of time after a hurricane hits our area.  We run out of water, food, gas, and it is usually within the hottest months of the year where the inside of your house easily hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Thankfully, folks in South Florida have been burned before and have made some  strides to be prepared when a hurricane warning has been issued, but never for any extended period of time.  Usually 3 days.

The scary part about this book is the fact that they were in a gun controlled state and because of that, their circumstances were far worst than they could have been with proper weapons.  Mather writes about the challenges in getting food, logistics in getting the food back to their location and the danger posed by other citizens that were as desperate if not more desperate the Michael and Chuck's family.  I myself have had this conversation with my wife.  If things go South, and people run out of food and/or water, they will come and try to take it or if I am that person that needs it for my family I WILL go and take it.  I am wondering if the author of Zello the Walkie Talkie app read this book and copied the idea of the "Mesh Network".  Recently after Hurricane Irma hit South Florida, it was the hottest app to have.  Neighbors were all communicating.  Even setting up APs meshed together to be able to communicate with each other.

The book showed a lot of promise but quite frankly fell short at the end.  The last chapter seemed like the author had somewhere to go and just slammed something together to end it.  As I stated, the book is more about surviving a natural disaster coupled with a bunch of coincidences.  The title was "click bait" for me since I am an Information Security Practitioner and thought it would be more about an actual "Cyber" Attack against the US.



Paperback: 362 pages
Publisher: PhutureNews Publishing; 1 edition (March 23, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0991677196
ISBN-13: 978-0991677191
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches

Private by: James Patterson

This book is a typical book for James Patterson.  The two page chapters are typical for Patterson.  The book covers four cases.  One of which is a cursory case with very little coverage.

The issues I found were from a technical perspective.  There are many inaccuracies with the technology in the book.  I think they should have had a consultant, or a better consultant to review the tech.

Not a book I would recommend as a MUST read, but if you have access to it, go for it.  Short review because there was nothing ground moving with this one.


Series: Private Novels
Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; Lrg edition (June 28, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316096237
ISBN-13: 978-0316096232
Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.5 x 9.4 inches

Dangerous by Milo Yiannopoulos

Fantastic book.  Sure I am probably going to get hate mail for this comment but it truly was fantastic.  What I loved was his unabashed sense of being and his insatiable quest for freedom of speech even at his own demise.

Yiannopoulos is a self proclaimed "Faggot, Kyke that loves black men" and a Troll Master extraordinaire.  Sadly, he makes valid points and points out the great ignorance by the left.  They are quick to call him a 'white supremacist' , a homophobe and a racist, however he is not easily housed in any of these categories based on his lifestyle.  He is similar to a Howard Stern that is 'shock jock' while Yiannopoulos is a self proclaimed 'troll'.

In his book he shows the inconsistencies with today's SJW (Social Justice Warriors) and the left in general.  The dichotomy of the left when vehemently supporting Musslims when they are completely outside of what the left purports to be against from a LBGTQ and women's rights as well as overall conservatism.  Yiannopoulos also calls out the media and states examples of their bias.  Anyone that watches any of the news channels should be able to see that the media outlets are extremely bias.  Aside from Fox News which is bias for the right, all other media is wholeheartedly leftists.  Gone are the days of media being non-bias and reporting the news as it happens.

I believe that political correctness and the identity warfare taking place is going to be the destruction of our society.  Today if you are a black woman, with one leg, lesbian, atheist, vegan, you have more 'value' as a black straight woman with both legs.  Eventually we are going to sub-divide ourselves into so many different groups that your identity will eventually disappear.

I do not identify with any groups, and no group speaks for me.  I am an individual and with that, I am able to think what I want on a number of subject without having to check what my 'group' stands for.  When you allow a group to speak for you, eventually your voice is silenced.  People use labels such as racist, homophobic, sexist etc so much, it has lost the sting it used to.  I would be irate if someone would have called me a racist 5 years ago, however today it is as normal as someone calling you 'dumb'.  It is sad because there are REAL racists, and sexists etc and their efforts and thoughts are being swept under the rug, essentially due to the ignorance of these label warriors.

I do not agree with EVERYTHING Yiannopoulos says, but being a libertarian, I can surely appreciate someone standing up for freedom of speech.

If you read this book with an open mind, you will at the very minimum get a glimpse into how ridiculous the detractors sound like when they contradict themselves.  If you are going to read it with a closed mind, DON'T, you will be trolled.  He will offend you with words like faggot, kyke, etc. He talks about his sexual orientation and his partners.  I recommend you read this book.

Here is a great interview with Bill Maher
https://goo.gl/4nXRCZ


Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Dangerous Books (July 4, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 069289344X
ISBN-13: 978-0692893449

Running with the Devil By Noel E. Monk

This is a great book about the rise and sadly, the fall of one of the greatest bands in rock-n-roll history; IMO.  Anyone who followed this band as it rocketed to the top of the charts knows how this band essentially imploded in the 80's.  Many will argue that "VanHagar" was an equally impressive band, however that argument is easily broken.  Although I enjoyed 5150 and the other Halen/Hagar projects, NOTHING comes close to the feeling I get when I hear the opening riff of "Unchained" and the thundering voice of "Diamond Dave"

The author of this book is none other that Noel Monk, the band's manager for over 6 years during the "best" times of the band.  In this book, he discusses how he came to meet the members of Van Halen and how his role evolved in the "organization".  Monk was the manager for Van Halen from 1978 until 1985.  He was eventually fired as the manager allegedly due to Alex Van Halen's distrust and eventual desire to have his wife's family run the band, although I think there may have been resentment from Alex and his "friendship" with Jan, Noel Monk's wife.

Their on-stage characters are not far from the true characters of the band; at least from David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony's perspective.  Roth is a person that was addicted to the limelight.  I once met him at "The Doll House" in Pompano Beach, FL during lunch in the middle of the day.  He was there with a small entourage and we had no option but to sit with them since ALL the girls were gravitating to his tables.  He was full of himself, but at the time with reason.  He was the former front man of one of the greatest and iconic bands of my time.  As for Michael Anthony, Monk describes Anthony as a low-key, and overall good person which apparently seems to be the case.  I have never heard anything about Anthony regarding scandals or criminal charges of any kind.

The book is more about "Van Halen" the business as oppose to the music.  Monk describes the whirlwind life of the band and antics and quite frankly shenanigans of the band.  The turmoil that would ensue and eventually be the destruction of Van Halen.  Monk describes the substance abuses as well as the sex during the tours, man was there plenty.

In his book, you can see that Monk truly liked Eddie, (Edward as he refers to him) for his incredible talent and was amazed at how Eddie would treat the guitar as part of his body.  The tension between him and Alex is palpable as was his utter dislike of Roth.  Michael was almost absent in the book.  I assume this is because there is not much of anything from Anthony that could make a book interesting.  Monk introduced the band to the lucrative side of merchandising which netted the bank a great deal of money.

As with other incredible bands of the past, Van Halen were able to catch lightning in a bottle and yet their egos and inability to see things for what they were destroyed them.  I am sure, that looking back now, where Eddie, Alex, Michael and David are not really doing anything of value, they probably would have traded the egos for the opportunity to be in the likes of Rolling Stones and even Motley Crue (who were able to make it happen agin).  D

Definitely a well written book and at least for me, it was a page turner. I love(d) Van Halen.  Their music brings back so many memories.  Wishing they could put their differences behind them and make great music again.  Here is an article about Hagar and Roth touring with Van Halen and even Michael Anthony. It would be curious to see the other perspective, maybe of Alex Van Halen of what he perceived that happened.

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Dey Street Books; 1 edition (June 13, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062474103
ISBN-13: 978-0062474100

Van Halen c.1978