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What are you reading?


khay
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HF, as a relative layman could I pick up and enjoy this Greenwald book or is it gonna bore me? Cheers.

 

Certainly in the lengthy 3rd chapter I mentioned, it's aimed at folk who didn't go from the Guardian to Washington Post to the Intercept to the NYT etc. as the leaks were coming out and read all the details as they were reported across the board. It's basically a long list of the major documents that have been disseminated in the press already, more of an NSA leaks primer for someone with a passing interest and perhaps goes too far in providing all the details for the uninitiated. If you don't know most of it then it might be shocking what Google, Facebook, Microsoft etc are getting up to with the government, but I've been bored rigid having lapped it all up last year :D

 

I've been reading every word from Greenwald for the best part of a decade so it's difficult to say where my own knowledge fills in the blanks but the other chapters are much more of a personal story of how they got together and the time they spent preparing the stories. No background knowledge required and far more entertaining (if not important).

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There's a link to NUFC in the Greenwald book I'm reading as well....

 

 

At the 2012 Five Eyes conference, the GCHQ presented an interception program named Thieving Magpie, targeting the increasingly available use of cell phones during flights:

 

7a.jpg

 

The proposed solution envisioned a system to ensure complete “global coverage”. A related NSA document presented at the same conference, for a program entitled Homing Pigeon, also describes efforts to monitor in-air communications. The agency’s program was to be coordinated with the GCHQ, and the entire system made available to the Five Eyes group.

 

 

 

TV viewers of the derby a couple of years ago will recognise the picture they've used :D

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Just finished Mockingbird by Walter Tevis.

 

Started out really good and then just went all over the shop, unfortunately.

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Cheers man I'll add it to the list.

 

Finished Project Rainbow the other day by Rod Ellingworth which is definitely worth a read if you haven't read it already.

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  • 1 month later...

This Bloody Mary Is The Last Thing I Own.

 

Watched the 3 part documentary The Gambler last year, it was rebroadcast after the lad who was in it died, in pretty grim circumstances apparently. Enjoyed it, and this book by the same guy is class so far. Talented writer.

Edited by ClubSpinDoctor
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Just started on "Empire of the sun" by J.G Ballard. Will give the film a go after I've finished aswell.

 

One of my fave childhood films.

 

I have just finished 'No White Flag' A book about Leeds Rhinos player Jamie Peacock

 

I now have several books and dont know which one to read first :/

 

The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cyclings Greatest One-day Races

 

Faster: Obsession with going fast

 

or

 

The Sporting Gene

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Better than the film I take it? Quite enjoyed the film.

I like baseball and Moneyball is a great read. I'd probably rate it slightly higher than the film. Probably read it about 4 or 5 times over the years.

 

I think it would be interesting for any kind of sports fan even if you're not at all a fan of the game. Did you finish it Gemmill? And if so what do you think? I know you were over there, but I'd still assume you think baseball is wank.

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I don't like baseball and I certainly didn't like the book. I got the general jist of what it was about but a basic understanding of baseball and its terminology would have helped.

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  • 1 month later...

'Harry's last stand' by Harry Leslie Smith.

 

Probably the best non fiction book I've read. 91 year old Harry remembers his poverty as a child, remembers the great depression and seeing his parents sending his sister to a kind of workhouse to die as they couldn't afford to look after her nor pay for healthcare as there was no NHS. It is a book of his life and a warning that the old elite are once more trying to grind down the middle and working class. He is absolutely fucking scathing on the right wing media and their war on the poor and benefits claimants, scathing on the tax dodgers and the oxbridge elite who run this country. I feel privileged to have shared Harry's life and memories. A superb read and only £1.09 on the kindle. (I'd force CT to read it if he was only capable of reading a book).

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

You Can't Win by Jack Black. No, not that fucking knobhead.

A massive influence on the likes of William Burroughs and should be of interest to anyone who likes their :quotes: dirty realism :quotes:à la Charles Bukowski, John Fante et al. Pure class.

Edited by Alex
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Finished a few books recently. A couple which @@Tooj and @@Gemmill will appreciate.

Faster - A very good read, with some funny stuff in it. Especially when you are nodding in agreement.

 

The Breakaway - Nicole Cooke's Autobiography. Its a great read and its sad also the way she was treated especially by the top powers at BC & the UCI. Shame we have Cookson the prick in charge of the UCI now.

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I've read some reviews of the Nicole Cooke one like and it is meant to be a fantastic read

 

Its one of the best cycling Biogs I have read. Great read. I have chatted with her once at the National Champs when it was held at Stamfordham, she comes across really well.

 

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