Read any good books lately?

For some odd reason I find myself reading several books at the same time:

The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck
A book that attempts to explain the connections between the psychological mind and spiritual health and growth.

Where is God when it hurts by Philip Yancey
A book dealing with grief, something on my plate right now.

You don't have to have a title to be a leader ( forgot who it's by, have this one at work)
An easy inspirational read about finding meaning in work and life. ( Very Lil-miss-do-gooder)



I've got a few more on my to do list, but have committed to finish the ones I've started before starting new ones.

 

well the "Omnivore" was one of the books i mentioned,

"Crash Proof" (YES DANIEL IT is available on Kindle) is just the opposite... this was written by the son of the guy who went to jail for not paying his taxes (cant remember the guys name and loaned the book out)... but his predictions of what would happen is spooky especially considering the book was released early this year, was finalized in late 2007... he predicted to a "t" everything, collapse, the bailout, what to invest in, what to avoid (wish i had read the book last summer!!)

"the World is Flat" (written by that NY Times guy...the famous one, Friedman??) was also good, but read that a few years ago... probably too old for this list but still a great read that tells us why off shoring is not as bad as we think and that things we think that are not off-shoring actually is.

 

Friedman is getting a bit out there now. his latest stuff is too red for me.

"Crash proof" is by Peter schiff. at home now so did search and guess what!! they now have version 2 out... bummer. now this guy has some pretty outrageous opinions on what to do with your money. heard him on "Bob Rivers" and he is now saying the dollar is going to tank big time and we are headed to another DEPRESSION. he recommends getting into as much foreign currency as you can.

the other book to read is "Big Coal" (should be subtitled "Little Tobacco"...they bought have the same marketing tactics) by Jeff Goodell.

kinda like "Omnivore" in the sense that some of the statistics in the book are simply outlandish. we have the largest deposit of coal in the world... so we are the "middle east" of coal. the problem is, there is several different types of coal and the "clean" (sic) coal that is easily available is in very short supply and harder to get (too deep). the coal that is easy to get is even too dirty for coal.

 

well he is predicting a full blown depression. i have 25% in foreign currency and its currently doing about the same as my "small cap" fund. this is on my 401K so its managed portfolio. i only pick the type or category of investment and fund managers actually get the specific stocks. the small cap is a mix of 20+ different companies. also have 25% in large cap and 25% in bonds.

bonds were the only thing that did not completely tank last year so the other 3 are still recovering. ( i did not move anything so we all know what that means)

now if it werent for the fact that he nailed every prediction in his book version 1, i would write him off as being crazy because most other investors are saying we still have more pain to endure, but will recover. all i can say is read the book. he presents a very compelling argument

 

several things he predicted happened after the book was published which included the bailouts, government spending, etc. that is why i am interested in what his take is on version 2 of the book. the first version what pretty much written in 2007


**edit**

he also predicted the money used to bail out companies would be wasted and would not reform anyone and they would continue to rob the american public blind...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/business/12change.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

 

nope. he predicted that a lot of people with money, would lose it, and be bailed out by people who dont have money (government with existing overwhelming debt) and that they would take that money to continue paying themselves enormous salaries and still collecting commissions on very risky investments...

he also predicted that they would again fail. but this time the government would not be able to bail them out because the dollar would be worth nothing... definitely not "light sunday reading"

 

I got two words for you guys: confirmation bias. You could literally start making random predictions and if they were to come true, maybe some short-sighted people might think you're a genius too.

 

Since Obama was elected, ammunition has become very difficult to buy. For quite a while, those nasty "assault weapons" couldn't be found at all, and were going for up to twice retail. I am a sport shooter (targets) and go to gun shows and frequent places that sell guns and ammo (it's also a great way to keep a finger on the pulse of the true conservative population if you know how to read the signs). The shelves are bare. The conservatives truely believe the election of Obama is the end of the world as we know it. The hording of guns and bullets is astounding. This may be going unnoticed by the liberals, and I have seen little of it in the media. I could certainly see this uneasiness translating into a real blow-up that would lead to a collapse, thus supporting your self-fulfillment theory.

 

I hate to nit-pick guys... but if you want to talk politics, do it in the political forum. Can we try to bring this thread back on topic with some book recommendations/reviews?

 

Here are three recent books I've read that I greatly enjoyed:

Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax" (Philip Plait) :

Pretty much what the title says. I really enjoy Plait's work, both his books and his writings on his blog, Bad Astronomy. In addition to demolishing the moon "hoax" arguments Plait also explains fundamental questions such as why we have seasons, what causes the phases of the moon, why there are two high/low tides per day, etc. He also tackles other urban legends (which I had never even heard of) such as balancing on egg during the equinox and whether or not you can see stars during the daytime from the bottom of a well.


Death From The Skies! These are the Ways the World Will End... (Philip Plait again)

More basic astronomy for newbies. This book deals with all the wonderful violence that's out there in the Universe and what would theoretically happen if the Earth crossed paths (so to speak) with such events. There's nothing like reading - right before bedtime - about how exactly the Earth would be destroyed by an wandering black hole in our solar system or what would happen if we were in the direct path of a relatively close by gamma ray burst.


Shriek (An Afterword) (Jeff Vandermeer)

This is a strange fantasy novel I picked up when I was in Australia last year. I finally got around to reading it. I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It's probably one of those "love it or hate it" type of books.

It's written from the first-person perspective of two narrators (the main narrator, a woman and the secondary narrator, her brother) and recounts their lives and battles in a fictional world dominated by publishing syndicates (who act more like warring nation states) and the influence of underground "fungus" creatures and the brother's obsession with them. That doesn't really do the book justice, trust me. I really enjoyed it and will be checking out the author's other books.

 

daniel...hmmm.

i think we need to take a chill pill here. if foreign capital investments outdo the dollar by 10% over the next few years, would you consider the author to be wrong?

what i get out of the book is that foreign investment is a better strategy. i did not get the impression that he was predicting an "enron" for the US. now, every one takes some "dramatic" license, which only means emphasizing points in their favor and barely mentioning (if at all) points against their views...

besides, no matter how bad it gets, it will take several years to get anywhere near what you are suggesting. the only real thing that would hasten that would be $6 gas. even then, it would not be an overnight thing.

 

ok fine.

 

been off the net for a bit--sorry for the delay but I enjoy these book posts very much........thanks for posting
currently reading:
"The Lost City of Z" by David Grann--
the story of the British Explorer Percy Fawcett (an Indiana Jones type) who disappeared in the Amazon in 1925 searching for a lost city.
I recommend.
regards
Froley