What Are You Reading Now?

[Scott R Nelson]

You wouldn't like working in my organization then. I hate the "hero" or "rock star" model in software engineering.

I was doing hardware/chip design when I used that quote. And if you can get people to document their designs, there isn't the problem of others not being able to understand it. I worked for several companies that had good documentation and at least one (Intel) that was really bad at it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Recently finished Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson. #1 NYT bestseller published in 2015. My daughter, son-in-law, and wife all read it and insisted that I read it. I have to say that this book impacted me more than any book I can remember in recent years. The author is an attorney that has made a career advocating for the poor and oppressed in our judicial system. The main story in the book is his effort to free a man on death row who was wrongly convicted. Absolutely gripping story. Ironically, it occurs in the hometown of Harper Lee. Atticus Finch has nothing on this guy. Discusses a number of other cases. Eventually he argues a series of cases before the Supreme Court.

After reading this book:

1. I am against the death penalty. Too many wrongly convicted people on death row, disproportionately discriminates against black and poor people. Life in prison is an adequate penalty.

2. I am against kids being tried as adults. I have always hated this practice, now I hate it more after learning that we have often thrown 13-14 year old kids in adult prisons, sometimes with life or death sentences. That is barbaric.

3. I believe mandatory minimum sentencing is one of the greatest mistakes we have made as a country.

4. No judge should ever be elected. That leads to a system skewed for long sentences, more death sentences, etc to satisfy our collective lust for revenge.

God bless Brian Stevenson and his organization.

Hurry and read the book, because the movie is coming soon.

[Northwestcoug]

Hurry and read the book, because the movie is coming soon.

I missed this the first time you posted it. I am going to get the book.

Somewhat related to this, if you're not following Radley Balko you should. He is a fierce critic of the injustices you wrote above. He has a weekly column in the Washington post that deals with prosecutorial misconduct and forensic science problems, among other important issues.

The Innocence Project is a great organization. They fight for and fund for DNA testing of those wrongly convicted.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Hurry and read the book, because the movie is coming soon.
...

Thanks for the nudge. Bezos is bringing me the book tomorrow. I've been trending toward all four of the positions you mentioned anyway, so I'm looking forward to having my biases confirmed!

[Pelado]

Thanks for the nudge. Bezos is bringing me the book tomorrow. I've been trending toward all four of the positions you mentioned anyway, so I'm looking forward to having my biases confirmed!

I knew PAC was big deal, but didn't realize he was that big of a deal.

[Applejack]

Recently finished Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson. #1 NYT bestseller published in 2015. My daughter, son-in-law, and wife all read it and insisted that I read it. I have to say that this book impacted me more than any book I can remember in recent years. The author is an attorney that has made a career advocating for the poor and oppressed in our judicial system. The main story in the book is his effort to free a man on death row who was wrongly convicted. Absolutely gripping story. Ironically, it occurs in the hometown of Harper Lee. Atticus Finch has nothing on this guy. Discusses a number of other cases. Eventually he argues a series of cases before the Supreme Court.

After reading this book:

1. I am against the death penalty. Too many wrongly convicted people on death row, disproportionately discriminates against black and poor people. Life in prison is an adequate penalty.

2. I am against kids being tried as adults. I have always hated this practice, now I hate it more after learning that we have often thrown 13-14 year old kids in adult prisons, sometimes with life or death sentences. That is barbaric.

3. I believe mandatory minimum sentencing is one of the greatest mistakes we have made as a country.

4. No judge should ever be elected. That leads to a system skewed for long sentences, more death sentences, etc to satisfy our collective lust for revenge.

God bless Brian Stevenson and his organization.

Those are no-brainers. The criminal justice system in this country is messed up.

I haven't read the book, but Brian Stevenson is an amazing person.

[Northwestcoug]

I missed this the first time you posted it. I am going to get the book.

Somewhat related to this, if you're not following Radley Balko you should. He is a fierce critic of the injustices you wrote above. He has a weekly column in the Washington post that deals with prosecutorial misconduct and forensic science problems, among other important issues.

The Innocence Project is a great organization. They fight for and fund for DNA testing of those wrongly convicted.

Speaking of Radley Balko, he highlighted a death row case in Alabama in his latest opinion piece:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...inly-innocent/

Jaw-dropping cases like these should galvanize public opinion against the death penalty.

[BigFatMeanie]

Just finished Rick Atkinson's An Army at Dawn

I concur with all the previous recommendations in this thread - An Army at Dawn was riveting. I loved how he documented not only the battles, but the politics, the leadership - the interpersonal sniping, in public and private, between the various military and political leaders and the struggles, growth, and maturation process that many commanders went through.

As I read I often found myself comparing the behaviors of the military and political leaders as documented in the book to the executive leadership and the chain of command in place at my current employer and there are several parallels, of both of good and bad leadership practices.

Can't wait to get started on the second book in the trilogy.

[USUC]

Anyone read anything good that focuses on colonial america? I've read a bit about the founding fathers, but not much from before then. Any recommendations?

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[happyone]

I recently finished Rick Atkinson's 1st volume of his proposed trilogy on the Revolutionary War - excellent. Covers the yrs leading up to the revolution through Jan of 1777

I never typed up my thoughts, but I gave it 5 stars on GR

The British are Coming

[USUC]

I recently finished Rick Atkinson's 1st volume of his proposed trilogy on the Revolutionary War - excellent. Covers the yrs leading up to the revolution through Jan of 1777

I never typed up my thoughts, but I gave it 5 stars on GR

The British are Coming

Excellent. This is exactly what I'm after. Thank you.

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[happyone]

Excellent. This is exactly what I'm after. Thank you.

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Another author you might consider is Allan Eckert

He wrote a six volume set of "novels" about the European expansion west of the Allegheny Mountains from the mid 1700s to the eventual defeat of the Native Americans in the 1830s,

I put novel is quotes because the only thing fictional about them is the dialogue. Every character is real and was where he says they were and every event actually happened. I've seen them shelved in both the Fiction and History sections of book stores.

Here's a link to the Winning of America series

I'm currently reading a look at how the Israeli victory in the 6 Day War in 1967 changed both Israeli and Palestinian politics.

His main theme seems to be that Israel can't give back the conquered territories and be militarily secure (the mountains of Judea and Sumeria are key to the defense of the coastal plain) while at the same time they can't have peace if they continue to rule there. In exploring this conundrum, he also looks at how the aftermath has changed the definitions of both the left and the right in Israeli politics

Catch 67

[Jeff Lebowski]

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. Excellent.

[BigPiney]

the sequel to The Handmaids Tale, The Testaments. Most of it was pretty good, but the end felt very rushed and lame. I think it is a joke that this book is a finalist for the Booker Prize.

[chrisrenrut]

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. Excellent.

A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts is a great follow up read.