Three fun books, one not so much

I noticed last night as I sat in my recliner that I am working on three books at once, and having a good time at it. I don’t know how this happened, as I’ve been in book desert for some time now. Anyway, these are not book reviews, as I am not done with any of them. These are just my impressions based on the number of 3M flags sticking out from the side of each.

The Final Pandemic: An Antidote to Medical Tyranny, by Drs. Mark and Sam Bailey.

The Bailey’s are Aussies Kiwis who turned up right around the time as Andy Kaufman and Tom Cowan, each of whom has eschewed medical credentials, no longer using the title doctor. Consequently, I was slow to trust. But I’ve grown to respect both Sam and Mark. This book is really an antidote to another that sits on my shelf, Virus Mania, by Engelbrecht, Kohnlein, Scoglio and the aforementioned Sam Bailey. That’s a good book, loaded with useful information, but I often wonder the value of such works in a country where people watch on average 36 hours of television a week and spend an additional twenty hours online. People won’t read it and will remain the wards of television, the vast wasteland.

The Baileys’ objective, as I read it, is to make Virus Mania accessible to more people. What I have read so far is a shredding of the myth of the asymptomatic carrier, the beating heart of the fake pandemic. Coupled with misuse of PCR technology, and we have the makings of a fake pandemic.  Yet ahead to read is the mythology that viruses ready to jump to humans from other species, destroying bat mythology in the process.

I’ll probably write some more after I am done reading it. You ain’t off the hook yet, readers.

Moon Man: The True Story of a Filmmaker on the CIA Hit List, by Bart Sibrel.

I have always enjoyed Sibrel’s work, as he approaches his subject with creativity and humor. His film, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon, can be viewed at his website, Sibrel.com. I will share just a few quotes I have picked up so far (I am on page 27), as they are revealing of a man who knows more than just moon stuff.

Regarding belief in the moon landings: “This is because believing that you will win the lottery, even though you really know you won’t, is a pleasurable fantasy, and who wants to pass on getting pleasure? Disclosing the deplorable truth about this subject is like telling a fan of the team that won the Super Bowl that they only did so by cheating. Even though it’s true, people are ready to punch you in the face for saying so.”

The guy has figured out that football is rigged too!

“This is the sort of thing I am up against, a citizenry perpetually asleep and collectively dreaming an immorally contrived, grandiose, corrupt government agency-driven delusion. Nor do such citizens wish to be woken up to the stark reality of their scandalously-hypnotized state, so they resist and ridicule all those who, like myself, are trying to stop them from sleepwalking off the edge of a cliff.”

Sibrel is probably best remembered by some as the man who was punched in the face by Buzz Aldrin. That, to me, was a huge tell, as they say in poker. Aldrin is bottled up rage on two feet. He knows the truth, and knows he cannot say what is true. It might cost him his life. So he accepts the fame that goes with fake moon landings, but at the same time lashes out at any who question him. (Sibrel asked him to swear on a bible that he went to the Moon.)

If Aldrin reminds me of anything, it is a repressed homosexual, living a lie, having to look in the mirror. Such men are dangerous, in my view. I am thankful we live in a time where gays can be out there in the open. It makes for a safer world. Now, if all the astronots (as Ab of Fakeologist calls them) would come clean, we could move forward as a country.

The Indoctrinated Brain: How to Successfully Fend Off the Global Attack on Your Mental Freedom, by Michael Nehls, MD, PhD.

I posted on this book after reading parts of it on a plane trip we took recently. At that time I was not overawed by Nehls. I have pushed ahead in the book, and will get through it. I really do not know who his intended audience is. Academics? Scientists? Doctors? It is surely not the general public, even as Nehls writes as if he is on a mission of saving us from a bleak future.

However, I have plenty of flags sticking out the side of the book, even in the brief 72 pages I have read. He is insightful.

“What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity to wanting to think for themselves, something they do not know how to do.” (Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860).

Nehls goes on at length about the hippocampus, a memory for time and place and for the content of emotional experience. (I wonder if he thinks they will make a movie of this book?) Indeed we are all familiar with the pasty-faced herd around us, unreachable, even unapproachable at the dinner table. What can effect change?

For me, as a young man, it was the Kennedy assassination. I read everything there was to read on the subject. I wanted to solve the crime, but what I did, really, and only incidentally, was to deprogram myself. That does not mean I became smarter overnight, or wiser. It only set me free to pursue truth, no matter the path it took me down. I am still a work in progress.

This book is tedious, but I know we have among our readers people who know how to absorb large tracts, to patiently plow forward.

Bonus: The Watchman, by Robert Crais.

This book came to me courtesy of a friend of the blog, Dave Klausler. I had been immersed in detective fiction, and read most of what was written by CJ Box, author of the Joe Pickett series.

I had grown tired of Pickett, who had grown soft, but was also tired of the formulaic nonsense being put out by Box. I suspected that at some point, maybe after #15 in the series, that he hired a ghost writer.

There were two miniseries based on Picket, the first one riveting, and the second phoned in. I needed something better.

Dave suggested Crais and his series of books, as the lead characters are non-sentimental and true to form. They are Joe Pike, a hardened war veteran and man of few words. He has tattooed on his arms two red arrows, meaning no matter what, always move forward.

The other is Elvis Cole, a less intense version of Pike, who has a juvenile sense of humor and is kind of the public face of the detective agency the two run. I am working my way through The Watchman, not realizing until the female lead was using an IPod that the book was published in 2007. No matter, however, as it is timeless and intense detective writing. I am on page 226. Pike has killed five men so far, and is very worried that he might have killed good guys. But so far, no repercussions.

If you like detective fiction, Crais is a good bet, and thanks, Dave, for the tip.

10 thoughts on “Three fun books, one not so much”

  1. I wrote something a while back bashing the classic detectives – especially Bogart as a tough guy. I think that it was around that time that I mentioned Joe Pike to Mark – THE tough guy – Robert Crais’ creation. What stands out, to me, about Joe Pike and Elvis Cole is that they are well represented by TRAINING – Elvis sufficiently and Joe expectedly a major part of his waking life. You just cannot presume such things go on “in the background”, there must be evidence of such else it is inauthentic. Those skills, hand-to-hand or firearms usage drop significantly (in accuracy) absent routine reinforcement.

    “If I skip practice for one day, I notice. If I skip practice for two days, my wife notices. If I skip for three days, the world notices.”
    Vladimir Horowitz, pianist and composer

    You can find these everywhere – especially RedFin, but I started my own [literary] Tough Guy list. It is very short. You’d think that the authors would know such things – given the volume they have written – and presumably heard commentary [feedback from Dave] on. Anyway, Joe Pike rules them all – an absolute machine of precision skills – and they IS a human in there. A key item stands out to this day, Crais’ description of Joe’s hands… yes indeed: covered with ugly hard calluses. I very much liked the early books of Jack Reacher – Lee Child writes the (former MP Officer) role (and skills) well. However, the 6’5″ 225# Reacher NEVER trains – this is absurd given the play-by-paly of his physical endeavors. But raw muscle has it uses – as Jack (and Child) note throughout.

    Finally, relatively new to my reading is Evan Smoak – my favorite for vigilante justice. This formerly brainwashed child soldier has EVERYTHING as Orphan X and Gregg Hurwitz includes it all in the details. Fine flashback visions color the books well enough to tell you how and why he is what he is. Some incredible storylines and over-the-top insertions of (avoidable) danger – but I roll with that a bit. Once again practice, practice, practice – if you expect to be a [stealth] killing machine and handle ALL comers. Not too big, not too small, not too ugly – a precision tool.

    All have a (necessary) support crew.

    I have read many other detective or “action” writers and their protagonists but

    Joe Pike
    Evan Smoak
    Jack Reacher

    Yikes.

    You can’t go wrong.

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    1. There is a raft of private detectives who are highly skilled in the martial arts and experts with guns to boot. Put James Bond at the top of the list, never an hour working his skills, just having them. 60s nonsense. Bond would stop in to see q or m, one of the two, and greet Miss Moneypenny in the reception area. He would take off his bowler hat and toss it at the hatrack, and hit it almost every time. “Good morning Miss Moneypenny.” Nice writing, grant it. And Moneypenney, though I have not seen them all, was never bedded by Bond. Gu on er.

      Oh yeah, forgot, Bond could never has hit that hatrack with his bowler without tons of practice, which he never undertook.

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    2. Last good pulpy thriller I read was Dean Koontz’ latest. Might not be hard-boiled enough for you guys, lol, but I enjoyed it. He often has a sci-fi element blended in, that ties into contemporary technology and society. In this case, the main character had acquired a “superpower” of being able to enter into, operate or commandeer all tech.. and there are usually nutty villains, sadistic psychopaths, and some sort of shadowy cabal in the background. Big overlap with “conspiracy theory” actually. His strengths to me are: strong plotting, suspense, page-turner quality; a little but of poetic or literary flourishes but not too much; a subtle hint of editorializing or personal viewpoint, but not too much or too overt; and the aforementioned dabbling in “conspiracy” as a theme. Also the characters, both “heroes” and “villains” are engaging.

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      1. I imagine (hah!) that Koontz (I have read one), has an a$$istant or two… Stephen King (dropped for spewing propaganda) has a $TAFF. Mark mentioned Joe Picket from C.J. Box; his description and downward spiral is accurate. I suffered through the last few, and dumped him when he put a multi-million-dollar bitcoin “farm” high in the rugged Big Horn mountains. Ridiculous; I have no idea of his sources – and am not looking them up. Lee Child, also mentioned, for Jack Reacher, handed off “writing” to his fucking brother – at least he didn’t lie about it – and that’s the best I can say. Probably said: “Here you go, want some money?” Weak would be more accurate. I think Lee stepped back in (at least to consult) after a multitude of loyal readers asked WTF?

        I mentioned Gregg Hurwitz and his Orphan X (Evan Smoak). Hurwitz notes his impressive [re]sources in the Forward or Acknowledgements of each of the Orphan X books. Crais has [connected] helpers too. Such sources are not required… wiki, lies and all, is great for weapons – both identification and usage, but first-hand real-life rules for authenticity (law enforcement, military). I drop writers quick if they are just vomiting their dreamland physical conflicts, fights and traumatic scenarios (many “martial arts masters” old-world or not, would crumple under a good brutal MMA).

        Any of you know Texas Arcane? He is of the first-hand opinion that a great many of these “Best Sellers” are almost equivalent to the money laundering of the vomitous “art” industry. Paraphrasing: “10 million copies? Come on, there aren’t ten million READERS in this country.” Few, if any, of my long-time friends read beyond MSM – that presents me with a challenging environment these days. I suppose if you’re holding 2+ jobs to just live, that there isn’t much time to peruse PoM.

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        1. No accounting for taste I guess.. Koontz doesn’t read like a ghost writer to me, but sure, he’s a big name bestseller. Could well be for all I know.

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  2. These all sound interesting, thanks for introducing. I just read “Owning the Sun,” a sort of mildly left leaning history of intellectual property/ patents and the changing business of medicine. Very mainstream viewpoint, taking as given that the “miracle drugs” are such. But useful perspective on how the public, business and scientific community have flip-flopped and shifted over time on the ethics of patenting drugs and procedures. Much else besides on business, medical, science history.

    One of his main points is that the vast bulk of research has almost always been funded on the government’s dime, with ever increasing budgets, then turned over to private companies to profit from. Despite their PR line that their profits are deserved due to their risk in funding research.

    The main takeaway question I have after reading it, is, if they really want to “murder the world” (as Sage Hana has it), or are crazy eugenicists or whatnot, then why are they so tight-fisted about giving “the poors” around the world access to the “miracle drugs”? The actual production costs are not that high, and they don’t have to recoup research costs after all. Maybe it would mess up the Western profit model somehow, I don’t know.

    Incidentally, took me forever to read.. only mildly interesting, but also, I read so much online, it leaves me little time for books. And comments on articles, even on NakedCapitalism, can have little gems that keep me scrolling.. few authors can really justify the book length. You have to either command exceptional insight and research, or else have a great style and voice, to compete with the daily deluge of “content.” Albeit, I know it’s a better medium in many ways, certainly more pleasant reading the page than the screen.

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    1. I have checked moderation, trash and spam. No sign of it. I lose my own comments too … get distracted. Then I decide whether it is worth rewriting. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

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  4. “Nehls goes on at length about the hippocampus, a memory for time and place and for the content of emotional experience.”

    Well now I’m curious, what significance does Nehls see in this? I’m guessing that people with this capacity are more immune to propaganda, in his view?

    I have an old friend who lives in the past much more than most people. He retains strong memories of details of events from childhood, and later, that most of us have forgotten. Or at least don’t have such vivid recall. And he thinks about the past often, dwells on it. He’s very nostalgic I would say, and tends to downgrade the present as inferior in many ways. Of course that’s often just legitimate critique since many things are demonstrably worse now, and were worse then, than in previous generations.

    He is fairly immune to the worst propaganda, mainly out of indifference to “the news” in general. But, at the same time, he still accepts uncritically the broad brush strokes of most official narratives, to the extent they reach him. The Beatles, often discussed here, were a huge formative influence, despite his being born fifteen years past their heyday. And Spielberg’s early ouvre. Plus other notable pop culture.

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