Russian Roulette

The Book List 1970 - 2020

Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, 2018

The story of Russian interference in the 2016 election of Donald Trump and the ongoing influence of Putin with the president. Follow the money. What is Trump hiding?

How much more will come out in the years to come?

RTF @ Temple

It was 40 years ago this month that I graduated from college at Temple University. Class of 1978.

In December 1973  I had received a three month early release to start college in the spring semester of 1974. I had initially applied and got accepted to Montgomery County Community College and went there for one semester in January 1974. I took one course in a review of how to study and be a success in college. I had then also applied to Temple University, got accepted and enrolled full time for the fall 1974 semester. Temple is a state school and in Pennsylvania they had a program for Vietnam Era veterans which gave us complete free tuition. I only had to pay for my books and fees. I also had the federal GI Bill program that gave me a lump sum in a check every month for about $350. I was living in the family house on Seymour Street in Philly that I purchased from my great aunt's estate. I would be in that house from early 1974 until the spring of 1979.

I would be at Temple University from 1974 to 1978. I would enroll in the School of Communication and Theater's Department of Radio, Television and Film. I took a lot of courses in studio production, writing and broadcast history. I also took courses in a variety of other subjects including business marketing and statistics. I found out that I really liked American Studies and took a lot of courses from that program and almost changed majors. I think I liked those courses best of all. 

I was also one of the older students in my freshman class and a military veteran. There were actually quite a few vets at Temple and their was an active veterans group. Overall there were many non-tradition students at this university which made it somewhat easier to attend. It would have weird to be in classes with just a bunch of 18 year old students.

I've wondered over the years if the RTF program was what I really should have done but I did enjoy it at the time and I think it did help me overall as I went through life. I guess I thought at the time that I wanted to work in the media somewhere but when I finished college there was a recession and not a lot of job opportunities anywhere in any field. 

I wasn't real excited about graduating from college at the time and didn't attend the graduation ceremony. Never wore the cap and gown. Just give me the diploma and I was out of there.

Trash in the Ocean

There was a time when my job was to throw trash into the ocean... everyday. On my first Caribbean cruise aboard the USS Portland in 1971 I and other sailors of my rank were required to gather the trash throughout our departments on the ship and take the trash cans, sometimes overflowing with trash and garbage, up on deck and toss it overboard. It was very important to know which side of the ship to throw the trash from because of the wind. There would be hell to pay if any garbage blew back on the ship. There would always be a ship's whistle followed by an announcement over the intercom as to which side of the ship, port or starboard, to throw the trash from.

However, a few months later it no longer mattered which side of the ship you tossed the trash because the Navy introduced plastic bags into the fleet as trash can liners. Then it became a relatively simple thing to throw the heavy bag of trash directly into the ocean from anywhere on the ship. I can still visualize the line of floating plastic bags following the ship after trash call. There was always a certain time and announcement made when the ship was far enough at sea to throw trash overboard during operations along a coast for several days of war games and maneuvers. The trash bags would float along behind the ships and eventually sink. It's probably still happening on Navy ships and also especially cruise ships even more so. Disgusting.

Johnny Got His Gun

The Book List 1970-2020

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, 1939

Read this in June 2018.

This book had been on my to read list for probably 50 years but just never seemed to get around to it. I should have just bought it decades ago because if it was on my shelf I would have gotten to it. I finally read this classic anti-war novel about the war that was supposed to make the world safe for democracy. It was also going to be the war to end all wars.

It was a very powerful and grim book set during World War I that was written on the eve of World War II by an author who was later black listed during the Cold War for his anti-war views by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. He was also known for his Hollywood screenplay writing.

This was a very memorable book and I'm sorry I took so long to read it although I've always had his views on war but I really didn't know how horrible and disturbing the story was and the trauma of that wounded soldier. I read the book in about five days.

I had heard about this book during the Vietnam War and again in college where I almost read it in the mid '70s. It was considered as using art as a weapon to make a point. 

The Silk Roads

The Book List 1970-2020

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan, 2015

Read in June 2018

I've always been fascinated with the history of Central Asia and in particular the Silk Road. It seemed to be a blank spot in our studies of World History in school and just seemed to be glossed over if barely mentioned. It was a place where the Mongol hordes came from but it was so much more. We were consistently exposed to the bias of Western Civilization.

I've read several books on the Silk Roads and this is just the latest and it was very well written and researched. It was unbiased, interesting and thoughtful account of the many countries of the region. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. 

Neal Stephenson & Cryptonomicon

The Book List

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, 1999

This was the first book by Stephenson that I read in October 2004. I loved it and went on to read all of his books from before and since. He has become one of my all time favorite authors.

This would be the book that I would recommend to someone looking to try out one of his books. I enjoyed this book very much.

The books of his that I've read:

• Snow Crash, 1992
• The Diamond Age, 1995
• Cryptonomicon, 1999
• Quicksilver, 2003
• The Confusion, 2004
• The System of the World, 2004
• Anathem, 2008
• Reamde, 2011
• The Mongoliad Book 1, 2012
• The Mongoliad Book 2, 2012
• The Mongoliad Book 3, 2013
• Seveneves, 2015
• The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., 2017

Update... 

• Fall, or Dodge in Hell, 2019

A Rumor of War

A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo, 1977

I finished reading this book in November 1978.

This was a classic Vietnam War memoir that seemed important to me at the time when it came out. We were still reeling from the defeat that America suffered in that war and veterans of that time like myself all knew people who lost their lives fighting that mistaken war. This book has gone on to be known as one of the great classics in the literature of wars throughout history.

I read this book shortly after I finished college which I attended using the GI Bill. I was also fortunate to have gone to a state college where in Pennsylvania the state required no tuition payments for Vietnam Era veterans. That was on top of the federal GI Bill check. Reading this book was an attempt to put everything in perspective.

The author, Philip Caputo, would go on to be a prize winning author and journalist and this would be one of many books I would read about the war in Vietnam. The first one was actually a 1974 novel set in Saigon during the war titled Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone that I read in 1976.

6/5/18

The Human Stain

The Human Stain by Philip Roth, 2000

Read this in June 2003. 

That was 15 years ago now. I like Philip Roth and have read several of his books over the years going back to Portnoy's Complaint that came out in 1969 which I read in 1972.

I particularly liked this book because of it's academic environment setting. It had an interesting storyline of racism and identity.

The movie of this book was pretty good too.