Right now I'm reading

[Shapecharge]

I'm loath to admit I'm just finishing up, "No Easy Day". This is one of the countless SEAL books out there, with this one specifically about/by a Team 6 guy that was on the raid that killed OBL. I've had the book for quite a while, given to me as a gift, and I just couldn't bring myself to read it but I started it while we were on a little cabin get-away trip and I've enjoyed it.

[baffled]

Did you read it while stretching your nutsack in a TRX? Otherwise, you won't get the full Navy SEAL experience.

[Shapecharge]

Baff...hilarious. Yeah, no shit. That's why I can't bring myself to read any of their stuff. It's the same fucking thing...first half them going through BUD/s and second half whatever the book is about.

[nafod]

My favorite SOF-nuthuggery of all time is Immediate Action by Andy McNab, of SAS fame. Read it twice, many many years ago.

[baffled]

That's why I couldn't finish Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell.

Only so many times you can read about how someone was born for this, it's all they wanted, they used to roll gators etc.

[Fat Cat]

FC, I'm worried about you. The lockdown-induced IR porn binge has taken you in a bad direction.

I'm not proud of my actions, but let them serve as a warning to the rest of you.

[Bram]

Attacking Chess by Josh Waitzkin — actually completely enjoying this! I have read a few chess books, that are always so dry, but this one has fun puzzles (from his own games) and he’s a good storyteller. Ordered a copy for my girlfriend and my nephew.

The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin — nice book so far on learning and teaching, but I’m stuck 1/3rd in. Have read the whole thing in the past.

Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins — horrible childhood, got self-motivated, became a Navy Seal. Enjoyable.

[baffled]

Human Smoke, by Nicholson Baker

It'll change how you see World War II

[Ronald RayGun]

Just finished the fourth and final compendium of The Walking Dead. Really enjoyed this series. Love how it wrapped up. Now I'm onto Hellboy.

I tend to stick to books with pictures.

[Fat Cat]

Human Smoke, by Nicholson Baker

It'll change how you see World War II

Looks interesting, based on the people who attacked it.

[baffled]

Human Smoke, by Nicholson Baker

It'll change how you see World War II

Looks interesting, based on the people who attacked it.

I had a couple of eye opening moments in the first 20 pages.

[Fat Cat]

Human Smoke, by Nicholson Baker

It'll change how you see World War II

Looks interesting, based on the people who attacked it.

I had a couple of eye opening moments in the first 20 pages.

I haven't read the book, so take this with a grain of salt or 10,000,000 but the story that we have been sold about the Second World War is woefully, intentionally distorted and ugly. And I am not at all talking about the Holocaust, I'm talking about the complete narrative, which has been utterly poisoned all the way down the well. It actually goes back to before the First World War, but intensified rapidly during and after the Second World War.

[baffled]

This is an accurate statement. Especially the idea of the Second World War really being seeded before the first.

I remember Michael Malice, maybe quoting someone else, as having characterized World War II as being 3 rival gangs basically in a turf war. Interesting perspective.

A fun extension of this, and which ties in nicely with the book, is a fun little bit of propaganda called 'Hitler Lives.' It's maybe 15 minutes, and basically makes the case for war as being one of self defense in a race war.

I'm certainly not a holocaust denier, but I am interested in the idea that action by the US and our allies caused or at least accelerated its execution.

[Fat Cat]

I'm certainly not a holocaust denier, but I am interested in the idea that action by the US and our allies caused or at least accelerated its execution.

My mom says I'm not allowed to talk about the Holocaust.

And really, it's beside the point. The real idea is much bigger, in that we are all like people in Plato's allegory of the cave. What we have come to accept as unquestionable truth are really just shadowy distortions of the truth. We are just too conditioned to evolve a better understanding. People will look at you like a crazy person if you question that the "good guys won" the Second World War, but how can that be if half of Europe was enslaved for 40+ years by the USSR, the Chi-coms took over China, all Western European countries went into a spiral of decay, and the United States became a cesspool of depravity that has led us to basically lose every military conflict we have had since?

[Grandpa's Spells]

I'm certainly not a holocaust denier, but I am interested in the idea that action by the US and our allies caused or at least accelerated its execution.

My mom says I'm not allowed to talk about the Holocaust.

And really, it's beside the point. The real idea is much bigger, in that we are all like people in Plato's allegory of the cave. What we have come to accept as unquestionable truth are really just shadowy distortions of the truth. We are just too conditioned to evolve a better understanding. People will look at you like a crazy person if you question that the "good guys won" the Second World War, but how can that be if half of Europe was enslaved for 40+ years by the USSR, the Chi-coms took over China, all Western European countries went into a spiral of decay, and the United States became a cesspool of depravity that has led us to basically lose every military conflict we have had since?

You seem like someone who would like Dan Carlin's podcasts, do you listen to them?

[nafod]

...all Western European countries went into a spiral of decay, and the United States became a cesspool of depravity that has led us to basically lose every military conflict we have had since?

I was with you up until this section.

Western Europe exploded into a success story post-WWII, with 75 years of no shooting wars among the usual suspects, and we won the war that mattered, the Cold War.

[Fat Cat]

I'm certainly not a holocaust denier, but I am interested in the idea that action by the US and our allies caused or at least accelerated its execution.

My mom says I'm not allowed to talk about the Holocaust.

And really, it's beside the point. The real idea is much bigger, in that we are all like people in Plato's allegory of the cave. What we have come to accept as unquestionable truth are really just shadowy distortions of the truth. We are just too conditioned to evolve a better understanding. People will look at you like a crazy person if you question that the "good guys won" the Second World War, but how can that be if half of Europe was enslaved for 40+ years by the USSR, the Chi-coms took over China, all Western European countries went into a spiral of decay, and the United States became a cesspool of depravity that has led us to basically lose every military conflict we have had since?

You seem like someone who would like Dan Carlin's podcasts, do you listen to them?

I've heard his name but I have not listened to his work. It's odd, but I haven't really learned to listen to podcasts, with the exception of Caribbean Rhythms.

[Fat Cat]

...all Western European countries went into a spiral of decay, and the United States became a cesspool of depravity that has led us to basically lose every military conflict we have had since?

I was with you up until this section.

Western Europe exploded into a success story post-WWII, with 75 years of no shooting wars among the usual suspects, and we won the war that mattered, the Cold War.

A few points:

1. Western Europe is a basket case compared to what it was prior to WW2. The British Empire gone. The French Empire gone. The German Empire gone. The Portuguese Empire gone. A plummeting birth rate. High unemployment. Empty Churches. Flooded with Turks and Africans. So morally and spiritually tired that even massive, multi-year wars on its doorstep go on unaddressed (see Yugoslavia).

2. Europe, post-WWII, took it from both ends. Western Europe not fighting was because they were colonized by the good old USA. That's like saying "see, Romania and Bulgaria stopped fighting!" Yeah, because they were crushed under Soviet tanks.

3. The Cold War isn't over. The USSR is gone, but that's not really the same thing, since the Chinese have just stepped into their shoes, and the Russians are still there. We didn't win anything, just an ideological lull that we squandered.

[motherjuggs&speed]

One thing that's left out of the narrative of WWII is that England and France (and the US as well) were extremely authoritarian countries before the war and remained so afterward. The wartime propaganda took hold and has been reinforced endlessly. But the war wasn't popular, it was forced upon a reluctant population, it destroyed the economies of England and the U.S., and the societal and legal precedents that the government can do anything at all under the rubric of necessity have been with us ever since.

[DrDonkeyLove...]

One thing that's left out of the narrative of WWII is that England and France (and the US as well) were extremely authoritarian countries before the war and remained so afterward. The wartime propaganda took hold and has been reinforced endlessly. But the war wasn't popular, it was forced upon a reluctant population, it destroyed the economies of England and the U.S., and the societal and legal precedents that the government can do anything at all under the rubric of necessity have been with us ever since.

And have made a powerful resurgence in 2020.

[motherjuggs&speed]

Human Smoke, by Nicholson Baker

It'll change how you see World War II

Looks interesting, based on the people who attacked it.

The criticism of the book is similar to the criticism of Lincoln Unmasked. People don't like what the documentary evidence shows, so they attack the author. There is a narrative, and that must be protected. I used to think that such imposition of beliefs was driven by powerful interest groups, and it often is, but people willingly join what Eric Weinstein calls the Distributed Idea Suppression Complex.

[Croatoa]

I just finished the Stand last week. Enjoyed it for the most part but the ending felt kind of rushed.

[newguy]

Finished the Count of Monte Cristo before the holidays. Thank you for the rec good people. Loved it.

Read the first book in The Wastelanders omnibus by K.C. Merbeth. It's fine. I wouldn't call it great, but it kept me entertained. Set in a future wasteland world is a desert apocalypse. Young girl on her own falls in with a crew of raiders. Violent hikinks ensue. With her becoming part of the crew, the crew facing an enemy, and the resulting chaos. Well written, in that it the pace moves, never bogs, never a slog. The book knows what it is and does it well. Mindless action with some decent heart and violence. Quick fun read and nothing more. Plus it was 1.99 when I bought it. I would NOT read this for full price.

https://www.amazon.com/Wastelanders-K-S ... 194&sr=8-1

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno Garcia - this one sucked. Set in Mexico City with a group of outcast teens. Woman's father dies and she returns to Mexico City for his burial and is reunited with some friends. As teens they discovered magic. Something happened that broke their group apart. The book weaves between their adult lives and them as teens. Think something like It. I am a sucker for books that weave between childhood and adult and show that things that happen as kids don't really leave us. But this one sucked. Boring adults. Boring kids. Nothing really ever happens. The reason they all stopped talking is stupid. Plus the author spends way too much time name dropping bands. (The magic is centered in music.) The whole thing felt fake and contrived.
Not even going to put a link.

Currently reading -
Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol - HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Not done yet but this is a very well written book on our thought processes and how engineering can help clear mental clutter and see problems properly. Really good, great stories, examples and quotes. Nothing exactly "new" but everything is presented well and makes sense. Never panders. Example - chapter on going to first principles. Well written. Talks a lot about how to see things fresh you need to get back to basics. (Duh.) But then uses a lot of examples from rocket building to apple to Steve Martin to show how this really looks and then gives ways and ideas you can do that. Smart guy writing about smart concepts in a very readable way.
https://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Rocke ... 228&sr=8-1

A Brightness Long Ago - Guy Gavriel Kay - GGK might be my favorite author of all time. Just started this so it is too early to call, but I can't imagine it's not great. Any of his books after the fionavar tapestry (which I didn't like) are outstanding with the Lions of Al Rassan being one of my all time favorites.
On sale for 4.99 right now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQ ... UTF8&psc=1

[Bram]

New Guy, you might enjoy "The Black Count":



The story of Alexander Dumas' father, of the same name. Won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013. I loved it.

And I ordered the Rocket Scientist book you suggested.

----

Finished "The Rise of Superman" by Steven Kotler. It had some very interesting stories, including a white water kayaker who believes that hand paddling gets you closer to the river. And it makes a good argument that action sports, which are often life/death or safety/high injury, reward and invoke a flow state more than other things. Shooting a basket at the buzzer with a championship on the line isn't the same as making a 40 foot gap on a bicycle in terms of consequence. Also, there are some takeaway's to be aware of in your chosen activity. 8/10.

2/3rds through "Breath" by James Nestor. Nestor's previous book, "Deep," was my favorite book the year it came out. This one is a bit of self-help, a bit of history, and a bit of science. Definitely gets you thinking about your breathing. Enjoyed the beginning enough to get a copy for all my personal training clients. 9/10 so far.

"Peace Talks" by Jim Butcher. Book 16 of 17 in the Dresden Files novels. Chicago's only wise-cracking wizard/P.I. for hire. Been a fun series and compulsive reading, with a few gems and a few missteps. Thoroughly enjoyed book 16. Book 17 arrived from the library yesterday.

[Fat Cat]

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy