(Part 2) Top products from r/CFBOffTopic

My first master's degree was in Intelligence Studies with a concentration in Intelligence Operations.

My two favorite books are supplemental to each other but talk about the the US v. the USSR during the mid 80s to late 90s. One is from the perspective a former CIA case officer and the other is from the perspective of a former KGB case officer.

The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB by Milt Bearden
Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer

A great overview of intelligence history is A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century by Jeffery T. Richelson. Richelson is very knowledgeable about intelligence history and well respected as one of the premiere historians in the field. He has written a ton of other books and I imagine they're pretty good and worthwhile.

Finally, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis is a great book not only about the Cuban Missile Crisis but examining how national security decisions are made.

• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - I loved her book Boink about sex which I read a few years ago. Really funny and informative.
  
  
• [Pretty Little Liars](http://www.amazon.com/Pretty-Little-Liars-Box-Set/dp/0061801313/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411518792&sr=1-2&keywords=pretty+little+liars_ =) - I have read 10 of these in the past couple weeks. My little sister got me hooked on them and the show which we binge watched together on Netflix. Yes they are horrible and trashy but my inner 13 year old girl loves them and I must find out who A is!!! Judge away people because I dun curr.

I strongly suggest The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Wonderfully written book with an interesting take on a sort of time travel.

Hmmm, interesting.

Also this was in the recommended books and it looks amazing.

Yes! I wish the interview was longer. I also just got a copy of [Notorious RBG] (https://www.amazon.com/Notorious-RBG-Times-Bader-Ginsburg/dp/0062415832/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) and her time in law school was so inspiring as well.

I just had a massive dry rub failure the other day....


I stole this from user "Kruger" on the Virtual Weber Bullet forums.

This makes just enough for 3 racks of spares. I don't mix salt into my rib rubs. I sprinkle Kosher salt generously on the rack first, then apply the rub over it.


1/4 c sugar
1/4 c ground Ancho chili powder
1/4 c paprika
1 Tbl ground cumin
1 Tbl onion powder
1 Tbl dried thyme
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp cayenne
2 Tbl green peppercorns, crushed (Duprees Note, last time I made ribs I subbed in Szechuan Peppercorns and they really added a great flavor).
1 Tbl ground white pepper
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger

Usually I steal from forums and alter slightly (or greatly) but I have recently been trying to devise my own rubs, without to much success if I am honest, based Chris Lilly's Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book while most attempts have been "meh" at best the other weekend was awful. Way to salty. Of course it was a sad little grocery store shoulder... I usually hit the local butcher for a nice fresh cut, it's a sight pricier but you can taste the difference.

I haven't read it myself, been meaning too, but Twilight of the Elites by Chris Hayes might interest you. Though I haven't read it from what I know of it, it might not be comforting.

The type of desk would be the ones that modify the regular desk to elevate your monitors and equipment. Something like this.

If you're actually interested in why we don't have a tiered voting system, I'd encourage you to read more about the mathematics of voting; in particular, the chapter titled "There Is No Such Thing As Public Opinion" from the book How Not To Be Wrong.

Won't necessarily answer all of your questions but basically the answer is that a dictatorship is the only pure "election" system.

https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Chernobyl-History-Nuclear-Disaster/dp/0312425848/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481826083&sr=1-1&keywords=9780312425845

Has anyone ever heard of this book, Annihilation??

Only two books this year, but I have such a backlog that it's okay.

• The Fireman
  
  
• Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World

The big one was Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design. All the NCEES test development is done at Clemson and living in SC, a lot of those professors teach prep classes. This one was recommended far and above any other textbook for Machine Design stuff.

I think, in total, I brought in the MERM (heavily marked and noted), the MERM problem guide, the two practice exams, the Machinery's Handbook, Shigley's book, the conversion guide, a couple of the guides given to me at the prep classes (which were mostly focused on HVAC and fluids as my weak points).

The most use came out of the MERM obviously, but there were some questions on the tests that were verbatim out of the problem sets. It was all the right amount of stuff to bring without getting too bogged down in the materials (like the CEs I saw that brought in rolling carts worth of materials).

You might enjoy The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols. He goes over that exact same issue. Check out his AMA. Follow him on twitter if you want the perspective of a sane, snarky, conservative.

So it turns out that you can just go to the bookstore if you want to know the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise

This one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0349104662?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I hate when history books have an obvious bias, it takes so much away from the story telling.

Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa is a phenomenal book about postcolonial central Africa, the Rwandan genocide, and the two Congo wars. If you've ever wondered what drives conflicts in the world this book is a great place to learn.


The next one on my tap is: Ghost Wars: the CIAs Secret History in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to 9/11