By Eric Maddox with David Seay
published in 2009
The title of this book is interesting. Mission: Black List #1. This title explains the method of how fugitives were titled. There is a list of the fugitives called the Black List. There were 55 fugitives for the U.S. Military in Iraq. There are 55 cards in a deck of cards, if you add 3 jokers. Put two and two together and you get a deck of cards with the faces a number of an order of fugitives. These people are described as High Value Targets. The first one is obvious, Saddam Hussein, the main fugitive of this book. Saddam was the Ace of Spades. The book even has a photo of Saddam's Ace of Spades card. His two sons were Black List #2 and #3 but they had died in a bloody shoot-out. Black #4 was his presidential secretary, #5 was his notorious chemical user, #6 was a military advisor, and etc. This list was devised as a way of keeping track to those who had the most power in Iraq. Because of the organization to this information, the events that occurred in Iraq were executed swifter and the connections between people that could lead to Saddam could be made.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Mission Black List #1
By Eric Maddox with David Seay
published in 2009
The slightly different path that Maddox uses came from an interpretor named Jared. Jared describes to Maddox a list, he has developed and kept up to date, that shows bodyguards of Saddam Hussein. Jared's advice that leads Maddox to find Hussein is to “Focus on Saddam's bodyguards. For that reason, this book has so many names that sometimes it gets hard to follow. Anyway, all the bodyguards are related to Saddam and also have sub-tribes. After going over the list with Maddox, Jared makes sure to inscribe some important names into Maddox, names such as Muhammad Al-Haddoushi. Basically, Jared believes that there may be still be a connection between Saddam and his bodyguards. Maddox agrees with this theory and tries to use his skills as an interrogator to find the information he is looking for. Now before you can interrogate, you must first have a suspect. In this book, the way to obtain a suspect was by means of raids. These raids were preplanned by 12 hours and executed by an elite team of soldiers. At first, the team doesn't understand why Maddox wants to obtain certain people that almost have no relation to Saddam, but then as he becomes more experienced, they take his advice. Because he gained that experience, he was able to lead the team to their end goal, Saddam Hussein.
published in 2009
The slightly different path that Maddox uses came from an interpretor named Jared. Jared describes to Maddox a list, he has developed and kept up to date, that shows bodyguards of Saddam Hussein. Jared's advice that leads Maddox to find Hussein is to “Focus on Saddam's bodyguards. For that reason, this book has so many names that sometimes it gets hard to follow. Anyway, all the bodyguards are related to Saddam and also have sub-tribes. After going over the list with Maddox, Jared makes sure to inscribe some important names into Maddox, names such as Muhammad Al-Haddoushi. Basically, Jared believes that there may be still be a connection between Saddam and his bodyguards. Maddox agrees with this theory and tries to use his skills as an interrogator to find the information he is looking for. Now before you can interrogate, you must first have a suspect. In this book, the way to obtain a suspect was by means of raids. These raids were preplanned by 12 hours and executed by an elite team of soldiers. At first, the team doesn't understand why Maddox wants to obtain certain people that almost have no relation to Saddam, but then as he becomes more experienced, they take his advice. Because he gained that experience, he was able to lead the team to their end goal, Saddam Hussein.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Mission Black List #1
By Eric Maddox with David Seay
published in 2009
This is a change in books because I became fascinated as I picked this books from the shelf of the public library, and I do believe I plan on returning to “The Tipping Point” in time. It was immediately fascinating because of the bold letters on the cover that said, “The inside story of the search for Saddam Hussein-as told by the soldier who masterminded his capture.” One of the major words in this is obviously Saddam Hussein. That name stuck out to me, more than it should have for me. The reason that I don't believe it should have sparked interests is that I rarely know anything that is going on in the world. The Iraq war is a war of controversy. Israel is having problems with Palestine. In my mind all I knew of Saddam Hussein is that he is/was a fugitive like Osama Bin Laden, yet another person I don't know anything about. This book must have stood out because it provided information of a topic of interests that I had no idea about and therefore interested me. This book is a story of an interrogator, in the front lines of battle, that discovered a slightly different path to finding Saddam Hussein, a fugitive hiding somewhere in Iraq.
published in 2009
This is a change in books because I became fascinated as I picked this books from the shelf of the public library, and I do believe I plan on returning to “The Tipping Point” in time. It was immediately fascinating because of the bold letters on the cover that said, “The inside story of the search for Saddam Hussein-as told by the soldier who masterminded his capture.” One of the major words in this is obviously Saddam Hussein. That name stuck out to me, more than it should have for me. The reason that I don't believe it should have sparked interests is that I rarely know anything that is going on in the world. The Iraq war is a war of controversy. Israel is having problems with Palestine. In my mind all I knew of Saddam Hussein is that he is/was a fugitive like Osama Bin Laden, yet another person I don't know anything about. This book must have stood out because it provided information of a topic of interests that I had no idea about and therefore interested me. This book is a story of an interrogator, in the front lines of battle, that discovered a slightly different path to finding Saddam Hussein, a fugitive hiding somewhere in Iraq.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Tipping Point
By Malcolm Gladwell
Published in 2000
On pages eighteen and nineteen of this book, Gladwell brings up a new concept to help explain his theory of how epidemics are tipped. This concept is described as three agents of change he calls “the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. To prove his agents, he uses sound examples to make his point indisputable. In explaining the Law of the Few, Gladwell looks at a commonly talked about 80/20 principle. This principle explains that in some situations, 80% of the work will be done by 20% of the participants. An example he uses is that 80% of alcohol is drunken by 20% of all alcohol drinkers. This shows that a few people can amount to most of the work in a situation. In explaining the Stickiness factor, Gladwell describes a brand of cigarettes that made good use of contagious messages as propaganda. Winston is that brand of cigarettes, and it was introduced with a sticky message, “Winston taste good as a cigarette should.” This phrase, when added with a small jingle tune, tipped Winston and Winston cigarettes were highly regarded. The Stickiness shows that contagious messages can make a big impact on the subject. In explaining the Law of Context, Gladwell looks at a map that describes how many patients come into a public hospital for treatment of syphilis and gonorrhea in Baltimore. In summer, the cases of syphilis are high. But in the winter, the cases drop because people are less likely to travel from their homes. The Law of Context explains that epidemics are affected by the situations they are in.
Published in 2000
On pages eighteen and nineteen of this book, Gladwell brings up a new concept to help explain his theory of how epidemics are tipped. This concept is described as three agents of change he calls “the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. To prove his agents, he uses sound examples to make his point indisputable. In explaining the Law of the Few, Gladwell looks at a commonly talked about 80/20 principle. This principle explains that in some situations, 80% of the work will be done by 20% of the participants. An example he uses is that 80% of alcohol is drunken by 20% of all alcohol drinkers. This shows that a few people can amount to most of the work in a situation. In explaining the Stickiness factor, Gladwell describes a brand of cigarettes that made good use of contagious messages as propaganda. Winston is that brand of cigarettes, and it was introduced with a sticky message, “Winston taste good as a cigarette should.” This phrase, when added with a small jingle tune, tipped Winston and Winston cigarettes were highly regarded. The Stickiness shows that contagious messages can make a big impact on the subject. In explaining the Law of Context, Gladwell looks at a map that describes how many patients come into a public hospital for treatment of syphilis and gonorrhea in Baltimore. In summer, the cases of syphilis are high. But in the winter, the cases drop because people are less likely to travel from their homes. The Law of Context explains that epidemics are affected by the situations they are in.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Tipping Point
By Malcolm Gladwell
Published in 2000
As a child, I have always considered Hush-Puppies to be a good tasting round bread. This book starts by describing a different kind of Hush-Puppies, shoes. Gladwell uses this brand of shoes to describe its "Tipping Point". "The Tipping Point is that magical moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire." This is the description of a theory that Gladwell explains in his book. For example, Hush-Puppies started as a pair of shoes that made their producer, Wolverine, famous. The trend of these shoes steadily decreased and by 1994, the shoes sold only 30,000 pairs a year. Just when the company was thinking about putting these shoes away, sales sky-rocketed. It became so famous that 120,000 pairs were sold in 1995. In later years, that number would only increase as Hush-Puppies became a staple for the male wardrobe. Gladwell analyzes this statistical data to show how in a span of two years, Hush-Puppies underwent a tipping point that caused them to dramatically increased and became a fashoin statement. He explains how just a group of kids wearing these shoes could have sparked a chain reaction thatcauses the change in the shoe's trend. In this introduction of his book, Gladwell explains his theory of "The Tipping Point".
Published in 2000
As a child, I have always considered Hush-Puppies to be a good tasting round bread. This book starts by describing a different kind of Hush-Puppies, shoes. Gladwell uses this brand of shoes to describe its "Tipping Point". "The Tipping Point is that magical moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire." This is the description of a theory that Gladwell explains in his book. For example, Hush-Puppies started as a pair of shoes that made their producer, Wolverine, famous. The trend of these shoes steadily decreased and by 1994, the shoes sold only 30,000 pairs a year. Just when the company was thinking about putting these shoes away, sales sky-rocketed. It became so famous that 120,000 pairs were sold in 1995. In later years, that number would only increase as Hush-Puppies became a staple for the male wardrobe. Gladwell analyzes this statistical data to show how in a span of two years, Hush-Puppies underwent a tipping point that caused them to dramatically increased and became a fashoin statement. He explains how just a group of kids wearing these shoes could have sparked a chain reaction thatcauses the change in the shoe's trend. In this introduction of his book, Gladwell explains his theory of "The Tipping Point".
Sunday, October 18, 2009
WWW:WAKE
WWW:WAKE
by Robert J. Sawyer
published in 2009
“And then Webmind added one final word, which she heard and felt and saw: “Together.” I hate this ending. The main reason is that I expected more. I expected a journey with both Caitlin and Webmind, the proposed name of the entity, in which they work together to do something incredible. Instead, the pages to the end of my book disappeared and I felt that Sawyer just ends the book too soon. Fortunately, once I finished the book, I actually read some of the author information and discovered that this book is part of a trilogy. Unfortunately, WWW:WAKE is the first and only book to have come out so far and the next one, WWW:WATCH comes out sometime in 2010. I never had patience but this first book was great, so I expect the second to be better.
by Robert J. Sawyer
published in 2009
“And then Webmind added one final word, which she heard and felt and saw: “Together.” I hate this ending. The main reason is that I expected more. I expected a journey with both Caitlin and Webmind, the proposed name of the entity, in which they work together to do something incredible. Instead, the pages to the end of my book disappeared and I felt that Sawyer just ends the book too soon. Fortunately, once I finished the book, I actually read some of the author information and discovered that this book is part of a trilogy. Unfortunately, WWW:WAKE is the first and only book to have come out so far and the next one, WWW:WATCH comes out sometime in 2010. I never had patience but this first book was great, so I expect the second to be better.
WWW:WAKE
WWW:WAKE
by Robert J. Sawyer
published in 2009
The Web can connect people from across the world together. It was the only way a connection could be made between Caitlin and the entity. What I didn't understand was why a manifestation of the internet in China's internet would be interested about signals from a blind girl's only chance at seeing. The signals it would have received would be mixed and not interpretative at the comprehension level of the entity at the time. There is also little to describe why the entity would be interested with signals coming from around the world. Only after Caitlin can see is there a plausible explanation for the presence of the entity. The signals from her Eye-pod device would be transferring video signals which could be interpreted be the entity. This is how the entity connects to Caitlin. Through this and Caitlin's ability for complex math, the two are able to connect and form a bond that ends the book.
by Robert J. Sawyer
published in 2009
The Web can connect people from across the world together. It was the only way a connection could be made between Caitlin and the entity. What I didn't understand was why a manifestation of the internet in China's internet would be interested about signals from a blind girl's only chance at seeing. The signals it would have received would be mixed and not interpretative at the comprehension level of the entity at the time. There is also little to describe why the entity would be interested with signals coming from around the world. Only after Caitlin can see is there a plausible explanation for the presence of the entity. The signals from her Eye-pod device would be transferring video signals which could be interpreted be the entity. This is how the entity connects to Caitlin. Through this and Caitlin's ability for complex math, the two are able to connect and form a bond that ends the book.
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