Armed Madhouse

Have you ever heard of an "investigative reporter"?

Seriously... have you?

Have you seen one on TV recently?

You've no doubt seen "correspondents" for all different areas around the world. But when was the last time someone was introduced as an investigative reporter (except on your local news when dealing with auto repair scams)?

Greg Palast is a true investigative reporter. That means that he and his team of investigators actually goes out looking for information about the topics he's going to write about. They call people, they confirm stories via the informant's sources... they verify everything that they write about. They don't just ask one person and publish that person's version of events.

Anyway, my point is that Greg Palast has been doing A LOT of investigative reporting over the past few years, and I'd be willing to bet that you've never heard of him and probably haven't had the opportunity to read anything that he's written.

That's because the American Media conglomerates won't utilize his stories. But the BBC does... all the time. Now you might ask why the US media outlets won't use him... well, basically, it's because his stories are so "out there" when compared to the "official word" that the organizations have been fed by whichever single source they decided to go with that they don't have the budget to actually confirm his allegations. Now, Greg Palast has already confirmed everything he writes, but since the American Media can't afford (it would cut into the dividends paid to share holders) to fact check the pieces, they are simply tossed aside.

So what can you do about this?

I suggest you go out and purchase the audiobook of Greg Palast's most recent book... Armed Madhouse.

Currently it's #23 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for paperback nonfiction. Of course, there's no review of the book since it distributes information that the current administration doesn't really want you to know.

I never read this book... BUT I did get the audiobook and listen to the entire thing twice. It's a GREAT book. But it's an even better audiobook. It's read by the author, who incorporates his sense of humor with the facts and figures... so he delivers all the humor as it was intended, something that is often difficult to do if you've never heard a person speak, but yet try to read their jokes.

If you're not that into audiobooks... fine... go out and buy the "paper version". You'll seriously learn a great deal more after reading that book once, than you would if you watched any and all American news channels for 8 weeks straight.

And after you've read it, I strongly encourage you to spread the word... encourage your friends and family to read it too... Hell, lend them the book (if you think you'll actually get it back) so they don't even have to shell out the loot.

Then let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book, the contents, or even the author...

1984

Yes, the book. I'm finally getting around to reading it... okay listening to it on my mp3 player while I ride the train to work or walk around town.

It's a very interesting book that I felt I needed to 'read' at some point. Well, I just realized that I'm only half way through it... DAMMIT!!


I got to the end of the first section of audiobook (they break them up so you can download them faster) thinking that I was almost at the end of the book... nope. I completely forgot that there was more than one section.

I think I might go crazy before I finish this book... I'm really glad I'm not reading it, or I'd have burned the book already.

I love the concept, but it's just soooo repetitive and nothing has really happened so far.

I'll let you know what I really think once I finish the second half in a week or so.

The new age of reading

About a year or two ago I realized that some of my projects at work were quite tedious and had me falling asleep at my desk... sadly this is a side effect of working with databases all day long.

To help keep me awake, and to occupy the right side of my brain, I started listening to radio programs from around the country, most of which I could download and play at my leisure. Having exhausted many of my chosen programming, I got an idea...

why not listen to an audiobook while working???

So I signed up for an account with Audible (since they were offering 3 free books to try the service for one month) and I've been hooked ever since. I'm not currently working on the projects that were putting me to sleep, so I'm not listening to the books at work anymore.

Now I use them to enhance my commute to work, flights to exciting destinations and sometimes long roadtrips if I'm by myself. My commute takes me about 20-30 minutes each way each day. I walk much of it, and Metro the rest. Most of the books I listen to are between 8 and 30 hours long... so I'm usually finishing a book every 2 weeks. I figure it's about the best use of my time... might as well learn while walking to work, right?

I read books on paper, too... don't get me wrong, but I'm able to plow through 2x or 3x more books if I listen to many of them and read a few of them. Plus, my mp3 player is a lot easier to 'lug' around than a book or two every day.

I was chatting with an old friend from high school recently and we were discussing her night terrors. It seems that although night terrors can't currently be cured, reducing stress in one's life tends to severely diminish the frequency of the beatings your husband or wife will take while you're both asleep.

From our discussion I determined that her commute to work (thanks to wonderful city traffic) seemed to be the most stressful part of her life. So I suggested an audiobook for the commute. Her minivan (a necessity for a suburban mother) had a radio had an mp3 input jack, so it was cake. Download the book from the internet service to the mp3 player, plug it into the car, relax and learn on the way to work. It was brilliant!!

Since she started, she's been reporting a MUCH lower number of night terrors... Maybe it's not scientific, but I'll take that as proof that audiobooks can improve people's lives on multiple levels.

Anyway, as I finish my audiobooks, I'll post a short review of both the contents of the book, and the quality of the audio version... sound like something you'd be interested in reading about?