Book Review
Read/Post Comments (1)
Having an exercycle in the house means good multi-tasking...I have recently been getting up at 5:15 or so and riding and reading. Here are a couple good ones:
Chasing Ghosts is by Paul Rieckhoff, who I saw speak at UCLA recently. The book was gripping. Mr. Rieckhoff did his time in Iraq and now he is a pro-soldier, anti-war activist.
It's certainly easy to criticize Mr. Rieckhoff--he mentions that he went to Amherst a few too many times, and he is deeply critical of senior officers for not being in harm's way in Iraq...then goes on to say that he wishes he could have (for example) led the charge into Iraqi apartments his team was searching, but his job was to monitor from the hallway. He apparently doesn't consider that maybe some of those senior guys wished they could have been leading the charge as well. However, I can overlook all that stuff very easily. Mr. Rieckhoff is an American hero, for his work at the WTC right after September 11, his numerous accomplishments in Iraq, and his thoughtful, loud, consistent and patriotic criticism of the war after leaving the military.
One interesting thing mentioned in the book is Ross Perot's idea in the aftermath of Vietnam...too bad this was never done: A large stone War Memorial in Washington DC, across from the White House, in easy view of every current and future President, that says in giant letters: "First Commit the Country, Then Commit the Troops."
***************
Feel like a good scare? Or if you don't live in CA, feel like reading a book that may make you feel sumgly superior to all of us nuts who choose to live here?
A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate is a very short read on the upcoming calamitous earthquakes in California, with a focus on how they will disrupt our water supply. But I am not moving. This is home. Every state has its dangers and shortcomings, and if we silde into the ocean, que sera sera.
It was written by the same guy, Mark Reisner, who wrote the semi-classic Cadillac Desert, which gets rave reviews and I plan on reading soon.
Chasing Ghosts is by Paul Rieckhoff, who I saw speak at UCLA recently. The book was gripping. Mr. Rieckhoff did his time in Iraq and now he is a pro-soldier, anti-war activist.
It's certainly easy to criticize Mr. Rieckhoff--he mentions that he went to Amherst a few too many times, and he is deeply critical of senior officers for not being in harm's way in Iraq...then goes on to say that he wishes he could have (for example) led the charge into Iraqi apartments his team was searching, but his job was to monitor from the hallway. He apparently doesn't consider that maybe some of those senior guys wished they could have been leading the charge as well. However, I can overlook all that stuff very easily. Mr. Rieckhoff is an American hero, for his work at the WTC right after September 11, his numerous accomplishments in Iraq, and his thoughtful, loud, consistent and patriotic criticism of the war after leaving the military.
One interesting thing mentioned in the book is Ross Perot's idea in the aftermath of Vietnam...too bad this was never done: A large stone War Memorial in Washington DC, across from the White House, in easy view of every current and future President, that says in giant letters: "First Commit the Country, Then Commit the Troops."
***************
Feel like a good scare? Or if you don't live in CA, feel like reading a book that may make you feel sumgly superior to all of us nuts who choose to live here?
A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate is a very short read on the upcoming calamitous earthquakes in California, with a focus on how they will disrupt our water supply. But I am not moving. This is home. Every state has its dangers and shortcomings, and if we silde into the ocean, que sera sera.
It was written by the same guy, Mark Reisner, who wrote the semi-classic Cadillac Desert, which gets rave reviews and I plan on reading soon.
Read/Post Comments (1)
Previous Entry :: Next Entry
Back to Top
