Books I read in 2016

Last year was my lowest year in ten years for amount of books read.  To be honest, I was working through textbooks and FreeCodeCamp learning to code, which took away from my reading time.  Still, there were a lot of interesting books on this year’s list!
January
1.) 4th Generation Warfare Handbook – William S. Lind and Gregory A. Thiele

 

February
4.) Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoft – by Elizabeth Bear and Greg Bear et al.

 

March
11.) Gorilla Mindset – Mike Cernovich

 

April

 

May
15.) The Circle – Dave Eggers
16.) Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War – P. W. Singer and August Cole

 

June
17.) The Cartel Hit (Mack Bolan the Executioner #438) – Mike Linaker, Don Pendleton (Series Creator)
19.) The Tournament – Matthew Reilly
21.) Scarecrow Returns – Matthew Reilly
22.) Progression – Sebastian Marshall

 

July
23.) Abyss Deep (Star Corpsman #2) – by Ian Douglas
26.) Bitcoin for the Befuddled – Conrad Barski and Chris Wilmer

 

August
28.) Star Wars: The Rise of the Empire – John Jackson Miller et al.
29.) Re-read GIS for Dummies – Michael N. DeMers
30.) The Blood of Gods (Emperor #5) –  Conn Iggulden

 

September

 

October
32.) Head First Mobile Web – Lyza Danger Gardner and Jason Grigsby
33.) The Water Knife – Paolo Bacigalupi

 

November
34.) Public Health 101: Healthy People – Healthy Populations – Richard Riegelman, Brenda Kirkwood
37.) Planet of Slums – Mike Davis
38.) Proxima – Stephen Baxter

 

December
39.) There Will Be War Volume X – Jerry Pournelle, Editor
40.) JavaScript: The Good Parts – Douglas Crockford

MilSats: Medevac

Sometimes, a casualty has to be airlifted to a hospital, stat.

PRT Farah Conducts Medical Evacuation Training with Charlie Co., 2-211th Aviation Regiment at Forward Operating Base Farah
Security force team members for Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Farah wait for a UH-60 Blackhawk medevac helicopter to land before moving a simulated casualty during medical evacuation training on FOB Farah, Jan. 9. PRT Farah coordinated with C Company, “Northstar Dustoff,” 2-211th Aviation Regiment (Air Ambulance) pilots and medics in order to provide invaluable hands-on medical evacuation training. PRT Farah’s mission is to train, advise and assist Afghan government leaders at the municipal, district and provincial levels in Farah province, Afghanistan. Their civil military team is comprised of members of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of State and the Agency for International Development (USAID). (U.S. Navy photo by HMC Josh Ives/released)

MilSats: D-Day

June 6, 1944.  Allied troops storm the beaches at Normandy, and the assault on Fortress Europe has begun.  It was one of the biggest amphibious operations in history.

Today, US Forces still train to hit the beach.

Marines LCAC USS Wasp

MilSats: Afghan Nat’l Army Technicals

A Technical is, per Wikipedia, ” light improvised fighting vehicles, typically a civilian or military non-combat vehicle, modified to provide an offensive capability similar to a military gun truck. It is usually an open-backed civilian pickup truck or four-wheel drive vehicle mounting a machine gun, light anti-aircraft gun, anti-tank weapon, or other support weapon.”

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DELARAM, Afghanistan–Afghan National Army soldiers conduct a patrol in western Afghanistan. (ANA photo by Sergeant Fathe Noori)

MilSats – May Day and the Russians

Monday is May Day and the Russians will hold their traditional parade in Red Square – which, by the way, is not so named because of communism. Here is a picture of some Spetsnaz (Russian Special Ops soldiers) in the snow.

Russian-Snow

In the course of the surprise combat readiness inspection units of the separate Airborne Spacial Task Force brigade is providing tactical assault and blocking the Severomorsk-3 airfield (Severomorsk, Murmansk region)

What I’m Reading – March 2016

It’s been awhile since I wrote one of these, so here’s a look at what I”m currently reading:

Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About American Law, by Jay Feinman.  In my quixotic quest to understand world affairs, I’ve noted that law comes up quite a bit, whether it pertains to international trade, human rights, or even biosecurity.  The law pervades every part of our lives, and even here at home some of the cutting edge issues such as drones and internet privacy are being worked out in law courts.  So I figured that an overview of American law was a good place to start, and I found this book at the library.

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Blood and Earth: Modern Slavery, Ecocide, and the Secret to Saving the World, by Kevin Bales.  I forget where I saw this one advertised, but with the combination of human trafficking and environmental damage, how could I not be interested?

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Foundation’s Fear (Second Foundation Trilogy #1), by Gregory Benford.  I mean, come on, Asimov’s Foundation books are classics.  And how could anybody interested in international affairs not think Psychohistory is cool?  Unfortunately, the master has passed away, so anything that continues his universe is worth a try.

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