What are you reading?

I haven't been reading lately since I've been preoccupied by the news, but there are a lot of great suggestions in this thread. Got to get back on that...

 

I’m shutting it all down again. So far the NBA, (Many years ago)The NFL, MLB and pretty much all news sources. Back to reading. Right now it’s We Die Alone. I rate it two thumbs.
Book review: ‘We Die Alone,’ by David Howarth

 

I found a used paperback version of Metropolis by Thea Von Harbou. Yes, that Metropolis from the B&W silent pictures that were originally made with German language cards. I was told the novel was far more into the occult than the movie was- and the movie was loaded with it- and that was back in the 1920's!

 

Most of my current reading is studying for a couple of tests coming up, and one class that I am taking after the first of the year.

Class D water purification license.
Ham radio Technician license.

Technical Diving Class, covering staged decompression and accelerated decompression.

Hope to get some relaxing reading worked in soon.

DW

 

America the Beautiful.

O beautiful for spacious skies,For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thorough fare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.

America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

 

I will do that, thank you!

DW

 

This just popped up in my news feed. I'll have to follow this. Would like to see swift and final judgement.


A 20-year-old sailor with a grudge against the U.S. Navy and a failed attempt at becoming a Navy SEAL under his belt is accused of setting an amphibious assault ship ablaze and singlehandedly costing the Navy $30 million in damage.

According to an NCIS search warrant affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast, Ryan Sawyer Mays aroused the suspicions of investigators almost immediately after the 40,000-ton USS Bonhomme Richard went up in flames on July 12, 2020, burning for nearly five days and leaving dozens injured while extinguishing the ferocious blaze.

Mays, whose identity has not previously been revealed, now faces charges of arson within a special maritime and territorial jurisdiction, use of fire to damage federal property, and making a false statement, the warrant states. If the Navy instead proceeds with a court martial, Mays will be charged with aggravated arson and willful hazarding of a vessel, said a Navy spokesman. Mays does not have a lawyer listed in court records, and could not be reached for comment.



The fire raged through the 14-deck ship after beginning in a cargo hold, with the temperature onboard exceeding 1,000 degrees at times, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday told reporters last summer. The fire aboard the Bonhomme Richard, which was waiting on a $250 million upgrade at the time, was finally tamed by some 400 sailors from 16 vessels, helicopters dumping water on the flames, the Naval Base San Diego Fire Department, and numerous civilian fire departments from surrounding cities.

Every deck above the waterline was damaged, and although no deaths or serious injuries were reported, 71 people were hurt or treated for smoke inhalation. At least 18 firefighters filed workers’ compensation claims following the blaze, specifying they suffered, among other things, concussions, orthopedic issues, and dehydration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last November, the Navy said it would scrap the Bonhomme Richard in light of estimated repair costs of as much as $3.2 billion. The ship cost about $750 million when it was built in 1998, or about $1.2 billion by today’s standards. The investigation, according to the affidavit, is ongoing.

This individual obviously has authority issues and had no problem endangering his ship and crew.

I looked up Hazarding of a Vessel below is what it states:

Art. 110. Improper hazarding of vessel or aircraft
(a) WILLFUL AND WRONGFUL HAZARDING.—Any person subject to
this chapter who, willfully and wrongfully, hazards or suffers to be hazarded any vessel or aircraft of the armed forces shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may
direct.

 

Currently Mark Goodwin's Megiddo series. About time to re-read Lucifer's Hammer as it's been a while.

 

https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/tm750-244-1-5.pdf

It's a short manual. Anybody should be able to grasp the concept after the first reading. So what happened to this manual?

I knew there were manuals that covered the destruction of everything to keep it from falling into enemy hands. I was taught where to place a thermite grenade on the engines of my M109 vans. Dad was taught that a single round of .45 ACP through the radar screen and a fragmentation grenade tossed into the radar van was how he denied the enemy its use.

Looking at the images of all the hardware we left behind in Afghanistan I have to wonder if this training was abandoned. I wouldn't have left a Ford F150 able to operate. It's easy when you're right there. How to fix things now? With no air defenses, and AC130 would be a start in eliminating left behind aircraft and vehicles.

 

That's like shooting a BB gun at a soaring eagle. With the AC130J it's a mistake they only get to make once.

 

Studying for my extra in ham radio. Interspersed with apocalyptic zombie weird stuff. I have to take a break some times. The extra test is a whole 'nother level.

 

Have to save this one here. Looks good. Need time to relax and read it.

Mark Twain's Classic Essay on the Lowest Animal

 

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

 

Re-reading the YA trilogy- The Scythe

 

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/08/why_joe_biden_cant_resign_or_be_removed__or_die.html

 

Army Doctor & Aerospace Medicine Specialist LTC. Theresa Long Calls On Pentagon To Ground ALL Pilots That Have Taken COVID Shots