Overall I really enjoyed this book. I knew some of his story since he's been such a public figure over the years. I was a little surprised at the numbOverall I really enjoyed this book. I knew some of his story since he's been such a public figure over the years. I was a little surprised at the number of figures, like Jack Klugman and Don Rickles, he was close to from previous generations. He grew up with a solid, grounded childhood, and strong work ethic from his parents. I think that probably has contributed immensely to being able to bounce back from his own personal issues. I didn't realize he did much theater, nor the choices he made for roles.
One thing that did put me off a little was his implication that us rubes in flyover country need to be educated about how good social change is. The quote from Chapter 22 is, "street performers playing gay roles might be accused of appropriation. But at the time it was important for main stream actors, familiar faces, to bring issues of equality to middle America." Now there are certain things I take issue with when it comes to some of the societal values that are prevalent in middle America, on the whole I'd say that middle America does better at family values than the coasts. But in the end, it depends on what type of values you have and want to promote.
The audioBook was formatted well with no obvious skips or errors. Stamos has a good voice. ...more
Overall a pretty good look at one of the truly unique aircraft ever produced. This book presented the XB-70 from initial conception through building aOverall a pretty good look at one of the truly unique aircraft ever produced. This book presented the XB-70 from initial conception through building and flight testing, to its final museum display. The book is loaded with tons of photos of not just the aircraft, but also the principle players as well as diagrams. It's not overly technical, but there are plenty of references for deeper dives if you're willing to spend the time for extra research.
The eBook was formatted OK. It appears to be just an OCR of the physical book, and the OCR software often couldn't distinguish between 1/l/I, or r/n/m, etc., leaving several misspellings. The photos appeared quite small on my eReader, though if using a computer they might have been more easily viewed. ...more
An inspiring quick and easy read. While it's aimed at young women I found it not only interesting but also motivating. It's a world I know nothing aboAn inspiring quick and easy read. While it's aimed at young women I found it not only interesting but also motivating. It's a world I know nothing about other than snippets I've caught on TV/movies.
As she describes her life growing up and the situations she gets herself in I find myself worrying more and more about my own daughter growing up and falling into the trap of the glamorous external world and losing herself in trivialities. It's so easy to get caught up in materialistic things, selfish things, that it can be hard to stay focused on doing right by God. There are so many distractions. I did look up some of her photo spreads after reading the book. She looked almost sickly thin, emaciated really. It's almost hard to see where anyone could ever think her fat, or a "cow", as she was described.
As she describes her experiences it really drive home how easy it is to lose sight of your values and sense of dignity. It reminded me much of China's role in the Korean War regarding POWs and their "lenient policy" that got many POWs to inform on each other. It's starts with small, innocuous things and builds a little bit here, a little bit there, until you find yourself doing things you know are wrong, but in the moment seem to be the only way to get through.
The people she mentions throughout the book as being super excited to meet are not in my sphere of knowledge. High fashion was never my thing. And outside of a couple of names like Heidi Klum and Marissa Miller, I have no clue who they are. Mostly that's simply because we grew up with different interests in different times. I'm sure if we ever met and I spoke about my childhood "idols" like Tim Raines, Rick Mears or Freeman McNeil she'd have no clue either. One reference at the beginning of the book had me shaking my head a little bit. She said she and her husband were in Fargo, but then talked about having to drive 4 hours to get to an airport to fly out to NY. Fargo has an international airport itself. In fact, the Fargo area is about twice the size of Kalispell, which has its own international airport. That seemed more like an excuse to drive down to the Twin Cities and get her thoughts in order.
The eBook was formatted well with only one noticeable spelling/grammar error. I think it might be an OCR artifact as it was switch between if/it. There are some photos included at the end of the book of herself and some of the people she talks about....more
One of the most enjoyable stories I've read in awhile.
The vision of the near future seems quite possible, probable even. Fish and Mara were the only One of the most enjoyable stories I've read in awhile.
The vision of the near future seems quite possible, probable even. Fish and Mara were the only two characters well fleshed out. The rest were somewhat flat, but still quite enjoyable to read about. I hadn't thought about an AI needing to break into someplace because they couldn't just hack in. It was nice seeing something I hadn't thought about before.
The book was well paced. There was plenty of action, both in the game and in the 'real world' within the book. I found a lot of the jabs at Social Justice Warriors and Cancel Culture quite hilarious. This being the book that got the author dropped by his publisher over SJW bovine excrement, I wondered if those digs at it had always been there or not. He told me he got a little bitter over the whole thing and had re-edited it for indy publication. It came of quite well. There's action and humor, even a happy ending. Well done, sir, well done.
The eBook was well formatted with no obvious spelling or grammatical errors....more
Somehow I missed reading this in junior high when all my friends were reading it. Overall I really liked this book. I was somewhat surprised that a siSomehow I missed reading this in junior high when all my friends were reading it. Overall I really liked this book. I was somewhat surprised that a significant portion of it takes place in a area that I'm familiar with, the border area of North Dakota, Minnesota and Manitoba. I've visited Winnipeg several times.
I liked the characters, I thought the plot line was fine, but the action ran at you time and time again like a blitzing linebacker. Friday was the only really well developed character, the rest of the characters were fairly disposable and transient. At times it was kinda preachy on the issues of libertarianism and, somewhat shockingly, on discrimination. Anyone who claims Heinlein is racist and/or discriminatory probably hasn't read him. Friday ended up having way more sex than I was expecting. She's oddly unemotional about the rape at the beginning of the book. I've heard it said it's because she doesn't regard herself as human. I'm not sure I buy into that. She's a little tentative about kissing a woman at first, but then seems to get quite into it. None of her relationships are what someone might consider 'conventional'.
My biggest complaint was the formatting of this copy. This was apparently a bad OCR, as there were numerous instances of misspellings and improper punctuation....more
An excellent adventure tale. I didn't realize how similar some of the themes were to the Robin Hood and The Scarlet Pimpernel stories. I thoroughly enAn excellent adventure tale. I didn't realize how similar some of the themes were to the Robin Hood and The Scarlet Pimpernel stories. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Most of my exposure to Zorro was through TV and Movies before this. I was a little surprised how little a role Bernard actually had. I was also surprised that Don Alejandro was putting pressure on Don Diego since he was considered a successful man in his own right. Sgt. Gonzales was a bit of an enigma to me - should I be rooting for him or not? Capt. Ramon I thoroughly disliked.
The ebook from black mask online was horribly formatted. It was a bad OCR that no one apparently decided to proof read. I actually ended up reading almost all of the book in Sigil as I cleaned up the bad OCR....more
A wonderful supernatural mystery surrounding a cursed necklace during the silent film era of Hollywood in the 1920's. I liked the characters. I liked A wonderful supernatural mystery surrounding a cursed necklace during the silent film era of Hollywood in the 1920's. I liked the characters. I liked the settings. I liked the pacing. It kept me interested in what was happening and had me wanting to read the next chapter to see what was next. I was pleasantly surprised, though I probably shouldn't have as I've yet to read anything by Hambly that I don't like. But, I hadn't really heard anything about this novel and just bought it on a whim since it was on sale.
The eBook was formatted well with only a couple of minor spelling errors....more
Overall a very good book, well written and easily read, with lots of very useful information. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is fairly long, and with myOverall a very good book, well written and easily read, with lots of very useful information. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is fairly long, and with my current health issues it did take me nearly two months to read through.
Each chapter deals with, primarily, one question in one area at a time. And then makes reference to other chapters either before or after for some more in depth concepts as well as a 'further reading' section at the end for those inclined to dig even deeper into the various arguments.
For the most part I found it fairly even handed in its arguments and provided logical reasoning as to why or why not things happened and why people believe the things they do. I don't buy into all of his arguments regarding climate change but it was still argued well.
Some of the arguments I found slightly off include:
-his argument that half of Montana's income comes from out of state, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. If those were merely general fund taxes rather than entitlements earmarked for people who paid into them he might have an valid argument. And a case could be made that it actually is that way based on the way congress keeps raiding those funds. But why should people who were promised a return on those payments not actually get the payments? It seems disingenuous to me. He doesn't mention the Federal money earmarked for the Federal Highway system (built to move the military quickly) and the military bases within the state, nor the money used to maintain the Federal lands like National Parks, Forests and Grasslands.
-His argument that Montana's First World economy would collapse if it were as isolated as Easter Island falls flat with me. He mentions that it couldn't have developed a First World economy if it were, but doesn't explain why. Of course it would collapse if it had ever started. The mining and timber business would only need to be a tiny fraction of what they were during their heydays, and out of state land holders drastically increasing property prices wouldn't exist. Did he think it was so obvious he didn't need to mention it? Or was that a deliberate omission because it didn't directly support an argument?
-He references Malthus and his idea that we're all gonna die from starvation because population grows geometrically while food production only grows arithmetically. The problem being that is not true. The world is easily producing more than enough food to keep everyone fed, though there are certainly improvements in sustainability that need to be made in some areas. The biggest problem with various places not having enough food is political (some examples being the USSRs food production techniques or the golden rice controversy). Politicians are generally more interested in grabbing and retaining power for themselves (and their allies) which hinders production. That hindrance is usually what causes food shortages, limits living conditions and in some cases leads to civil unrest. Malthus could never envision modern food production practices and so was blind to the ability of an ever decreasing population of food producers providing such excesses of food, nor the ability to transport that food to far off places at such a rate that locales thousands of miles away from the ocean can enjoy fresh caught seafood, or that packaging can keep food viable for years. Places that don't place the heavy political restrictions on their populations have been increasing their standard of living. There are fewer, as a percentage of the population, people living in poverty now than there ever has been in the history of the world.
-The Club of Rome reports he views as "much more realistic possibilities" have almost invariable been shown to be false. The models and analysis used in the various reports appear to be very sensitive to small variations in certain areas and lack any real world accuracy. While the broad idea of limits to growth is valid, the predictions and any solutions proposed are often drastically unrealistic.
-that our current border controls are unable to stop illegal aliens from poring into the country is a problem. While a long and porous border is a problem that is hard to deal with, the most obvious problem of it is our lack of political will. We have politicians on a national level that actively invite illegals to come here. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have spent decades unwilling to make reforms to the system. Our current political climate is so divisive that if someone from one party makes a suggestion on how to implement change they are vilified by the second party (and the current media) while those same changes are lauded as wonderful if suggested by second party.
-he makes an argument that a good example of societies not recognizing a problem because it is developing slowly like global warming. While the problem on failure to recognize a problem is real, global warming is not a man made problem. The dire predictions that Mann and others keep making have had 30+ years to show something, and they've shown nothing but the slow steady warming or sea level rise that was happening before the industrial revolution. Their only way to show drastic change is to manipulate the data (which they've been caught doing several times) or to selectively pick time frames that are biased to their theories and models (like starting at 1816, the Year Without A Summer. Looking back at various ice cores, tree rings and sediment deposits has shown that humans have lived in much warmer times in the past. Retreating glaciers around the world have exposed ancient forests that were growing on the mountains thousands of years ago when people like Otzi were crossing the Alps. He also makes assertions that many of these societies succumbed not only to practices that damaged their immediate environment but that varying climate exacerbated those damages, like the Classic Maya Collapse and the fall of Ankgor Wat. Which readily shows that long term climate changes were happening well before the industrial revolution.
-His argument on psychological denial I think has another explanation than merely denying that the danger exists. Having grown up in an area that would be in immediate danger (in the middle of an area with two dual nuclear bases, ICBM and bomber) we didn't worry about the threat of nuclear war. Not because we denied it could happen (all the best pundits assured us it was immanent, especially with Reagan as President) but because we understood that if such an exchange did occur we'd be unlikely to survive beyond the first few minutes because we would get hit with the first strike, and there was nothing at all that we could do about it. That's not denial of danger but facing the reality of the situation and deciding there's little reason to spend energy worrying when we're unable to affect the outcome.
-I agree with his premise that "changes in public attitudes will be essential to changes in business' environmental practices." However, the current fad of being "woke" is likely to backfire quite badly. When everything is presented as racist, often without the slightest bit of supporting evidence let alone strong, solid evidence, nothing can be legitimately argued. In fact, being "woke" is just another form of racism. It's simply directed at a different demographic, while being the very definition of racism.
-his contention nearly half the worlds remaining reefs will be lost by 2030 "if current trends continue" seems exaggerated. It looks like, after reviewing some of the literature, many of the reef studies have never been followed up on. And those that did have someone go back to investigate more oftentimes found the reefs in the same shape or better than during the first study. It would seem to be more accurate to state that some reefs are endangered while others are doing fine. I guess we'll find out in another decade if this is another bad alarmist prediction or if it was on the money.
-His contention that oil and gas reserves will only last another few decades reminds me of President Carter telling us the same thing back in the 1970s. Somehow oil and gas reserves have increased dramatically with new and safer drilling technologies. He seems oblivious to also detailing some of these newer and safer drilling techniques earlier in the book. Without political interference the US not only has become the largest oil/gas producer, but became a net exporter for the first time in over half a century.
-Similarly his contention that fossil fuels are contributing to man made global warming we know that the gases that get all the attention, like carbon dioxide, don't actually do much beyond a certain point. If the climate activists were serious about reducing carbon emissions they'd be demanding the construction of new nuclear reactors. Many of the dangers of nuclear power via accidents and storage problems are nothing more than the danger porn of the media and their psychophants. The "green energy" solutions touted, like wind and solar, are anything but harmless when utilizing dangerous heavy metals (which he rails about early in the book when discussing Montana mining) and the wildlife damage.
-While the all the major players insist world population is rising, not everyone agrees like he claims. Many of the third world countries get foreign aid from first world countries based on population size. Many of these countries are also run by totalitarian regimes. They have very strong incentives to show an increasing population as it gives them more opportunities for graft.
-I agree that forest management is an issue in many places. But there are other ways to clear out the dangerous undergrowth and dead wood than merely setting small controlled fires. California's problems with fires are caused as much if not more by politics as they are by the dry and windy conditions.
-He speaks of California's increasing issues with water shortages. Once again, this is a political mess that California has brought on itself. Instead of investing in high speed rail isn't going anywhere they should have been investing that money in desalinization plants along the coast where they have unlimited amounts of ocean water to work with. It seems like California's problems are increasingly related to it's politicians choosing the wrong solutions to their problems, and then blaming everyone else but themselves as things get worse.
-He talks about the problems of CFCs in the atmosphere being persistent for many years after production has stopped. This is a problem. A bigger problem is that China and some other developing countries aren't being held accountable for their production after the First World countries stopped decades ago. Many environmentalists decried the fact that the US pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords (having never actually ratified them). But one of the only, if not the only, country to actually hit the marks for that agreement is the US. That agreement was more about transferring wealth from one area to another under the guise of battling climate change.
-He mentions the benefits of "green energy" and their disadvantages of only being reliable in areas that provide reliable sun (solar) and winds (wind turbines), and that the conversion times for transitioning to these new technologies typically take decades. What he doesn't speak about, as I mentioned earlier, was the dangerous heavy metals required to build these, nor the damage done to the local flora and fauna as they operate and later need to be replaced. Most wind turbines aren't being recycled when they come down, but merely end up in land fills. The growth seen over the last couple of decades in wind and solar is all about the tax breaks and incentives given to these companies and not about them being efficient nor environmentally friendly. As was recently seen with the cold snap in Texas in February 2021 should be a wake up call to everyone that these technologies aren't reliable when not done properly. The resulting widespread power outages around the nation were caused mostly by politics as the reliable fossil fueled plants weren't allowed to ramp up sufficiently by the regulators.
-He talks of his Third World friends lamenting the lack of First World contraception in their communities because the US isn't funding enough family planning in its foreign aid packages. I'm not sure why the US is supposed to be paying for foreigners to not have kids. I'm assuming he's pleased with the recent US Covid stimulus package that got rolled into an omnibus spending bill that gave Pakistan $25 million to fund LGBTQ education.
-When speaking about the collapse of the Classic Maya and the refugees probably having "reached the northern Yucatan, but certainly not Florida" I have to wonder if he just isn't aware that there has been research indicating that not only did the Maya (unknown if from the Classic or later periods) not only reached Florida, but Georgia as well. There are structures and art work nearly identical in the Georgia high lands with that in areas controlled by the Maya, as well as some ingredients being readily available there for the production of Maya Blue, but aren't easily found in the Central American areas controlled by the Maya.
-He seems pleased with the re-evalution of various European countries "cherished long-held values" that have resulted in "subordinating to the European Union their national sovergnties". But this seems to deny the reality that putting people with wildly different cultural values and experiences in charge of policies that affect local populations thousands of miles away in different circumstances often doesn't work out well.
-When talking about what we as individuals can do to help stop societal collapse he lauds Bill and Melinda Gates for their funding of public health programs in the Third World. While the sentiment is worthy, the results aren't always great. There seems to be some evidence that recent polio outbreaks in Africa are a direct result of an oral vaccine the Gates Foundation helped fund. He also says "the simplest and cheapest action to take is to vote." Which only valid in places with free, fair and open elections. Given the current political climate in the US today, there appears to be some controversy over whether or not that is still the case.
While I have indicated some of the various areas I have issues with the book, I do believe it is not only a useful and instructive work, it is also very entertaining even if a bit long. I think many people would benefit from reading it, regardless of their views on politics, economics or climate.
The eBook was formatted well with no obvious spelling/grammatical errors. There are several photos/images located at the end for reference....more
ASTOUNDING! I was very, very impressed with this book about the San Diego Police Department and it's development and implementation of C.O.P. So many ASTOUNDING! I was very, very impressed with this book about the San Diego Police Department and it's development and implementation of C.O.P. So many of the things talked about here were apparently quite revolutionary at the time, but are so commonplace today we barely even think about them, at least in the departments around here. I believe Mr. McClure did his research in early '80, maybe '79. In the Afterword is a letter written to him dated fall of '80, and Tom Metzger ran for the US House seat in '80, so I think the research was done in '80.
I really wish my grandfather, who was a Sheriff in ND in the '60's and '70's, was still around as I would LOVE to hear his thoughts on some of the stuff covered here. Of particular interest is the comment in the book about most departments making traffic stops with their guns drawn. That seems so very, very foreign to me. Most of the officers I know that worked in the '70's and '80's are either retired (and tough to track down) or dead.
Some things don't seem to have changed much. Veteran officers are still complaining about rookies (even those who have college degrees) not being able to write an articulate report. A lot of officers still don't like wearing their vests. Officers complaining about the 'bleeding hearts' who keep giving career criminals another chance or the soft sentences convicted criminals are given haven't changed at all. Some things have changed drastically. The implementation of computers and the ability to pull up all kinds of information on someone you're dealing with is a godsend. The flow of information is a huge advantage.
I think anyone who is considering getting into law enforcement should read this. Even though 35 years have passed (30 since publication) and some of the things are a little dated, so much of what is discussed is now everyday S.O.P. that it's still a valuable, useful resource. If I were teaching a course on Criminal Justice I would make this book a part of the required curriculum.
The hardcover was in excellent shape (after 30 years) and formatted well with no obvious spelling or grammatical errors....more
In the future the Earth is "over populated" with food rationed, while the colonies have plenty of food but not a lot of developed resources. It seemedIn the future the Earth is "over populated" with food rationed, while the colonies have plenty of food but not a lot of developed resources. It seemed a little odd, along with how the 1/3 gravity was largely glossed over. And the storyline was rather simple, but this was fine as a juvenile book. The pacing was excellent. There were a couple of items that were untrue. One is the gravity which is closer to 1/6. The surface of the moon, under the ice, is mostly ocean. There is no way for described alignment of the moons to happen. But those are all minor for speculative fiction.
The only character developed at all was Bill Lermer. Pretty much everyone else was just window dressing to show a particular point. The story was well paced, and I liked Bill, along with most of the rest of the cast. The technology seemed dated was well, but wasn't a deal breaker.
Right up until the end of the story it was basically a story of Man-vs.-nature. But at the end there was this incongruous introduction of alien technology. I don't know if RAH possibly had an idea of turning this into a series, but this late introduction was really weird to me.
Along with Kipling's Captains Courageous this would be among the juvenile stories I would highly recommend for all American kids.
The audiobook was formatted well with no obvious errors....more
I very much liked the concept of the story. I liked the characters. But there were things I didn't like about it as well. One of which was the lack ofI very much liked the concept of the story. I liked the characters. But there were things I didn't like about it as well. One of which was the lack of a main character throughout the story, it made the narrative a little disjointed and somewhat hard to get emotionally involved with the characters. The closest we get was Bernard. I also didn't like the introduction of Jerry and John 2/3 of the way through the book. Really, the brothers could have been completely left out of the story. The part with the reporter Upton reminded me of The War of the Worlds radio show. Though I enjoyed the book, I think I liked the short story better. Some of his later works I liked a little better, like Slant and Darwin's Radio. As he has gained more experience his story telling has gotten better.
The eBook was formatted OK with a couple of minor spelling errors. The biggest problem was the lack of control over the type size. It was either really tiny or really large with no in-between.
EDIT: After reflecting on my review/rating I decided to make a change. I originally struggled with deciding between 3 and 4 stars. While I liked the book, I think the flaws were significant enough to drop it down from 4 to 3 stars....more
I LOVE this book. Some of the stuff seems a little dated, but it's so funny I just have to go back and re-read it every so often. It's one of the bestI LOVE this book. Some of the stuff seems a little dated, but it's so funny I just have to go back and re-read it every so often. It's one of the best SF books I've read, let alone in the cyberpunk genre....more
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