Outliers: Malcolm Gladwell's Success Story (Profile) Upending conventional wisdom has made Malcolm Gladwell famous and successful. In his new book, Outliers, he asks, Why on earth did that happen?
40 Years Later, It's Moon Race 2.0(The Well / Science) Forty years after the first manned lunar landing, the race is on to return. This time, the U.S. faces more competition than just the U.S.S.R. of old. How about China, India and Google for starters?
This story must be told! The public may never be aware of the '...mayhem of Iraq...'. My son Jonathon is the main character in this book. Jon was a US Army veteran, 82nd Airborne Unit, who did tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq. His story is parallel to many other Americans who are attracted to the contracting life in Iraq whether it be for the money, the excitement or the fact that they don't feel they fit in anymore after having served in the war. The United States is putting hired help behind the front lines to ease the burden of its understaffed and overworked armed forces. That's the price we pay for having an all volunteer military. By paying civilians to handle tasks previously handled by the military, the administration is freeing up U.S. troops to do the actual fighting. But the use of contractors also hides the true costs of war. Their dead aren't added to official body counts. Their duties and profits are hidden by closed mouthed executives who won't give details to Congress as their coffers and roles swell. It is estimated that there is one contractor for every 10 foreign soldiers in Iraq; 10 times the private involvement in the first Gulf War in which I served. The bigger the contractor, the more the influence they have to establish the rules of engagement there. Who could have conceived the results factually detailed in this book. You will enjoy it! Jon's story is at www.FreeCote.com.
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I finished reading "Big Boy Rules" last night. I hope the Cote, Young, Munns, Reuben, Withrow, and Nussbaumer families find comfort in knowing the truth is out, and the story of their sons, brothers, fathers, husbands, and friends is being told. The book is very well written. As despicable as the outcome is, Steve Fainaru did a fantastic job of capturing the life of Jon, the strength of the Cote family, and the corruption that led to this tragedy.
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This is a brilliant book. Steve Fainaru puts a very human face on this largely unknown aspect of the war in Iraq after spending considerable time with numerous mercenaries in the field. It is a personal account as well; Fainaru grew close to several mercs who later were abducted and killed, and at the same time he was dealing with his brother's potential incarceration (for refusing to reveal the source of grand jury testimony in the BALCO steroids investigation) and his father's death from lung cancer. The way he dovetails all this is quite skillful and powerful. Fainaru doesn't hide his affection for the victims in Iraq and their families back home, but he doesn't hide their warts, either. Fainaru won a Pulitzer Prize for his stories in the Washington Post on this topic, and it's easy to see why. "Big Boy Rules" is truly an amazing job of reporting and writing--a very compelling read.
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The Public Must Know Private Contracting Engagement Rules, 
(Buffalo) - See all my reviews
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