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AndyC wrote:Lights Out by Ted Koppel:

In this New York Times bestselling investigation, Ted Koppel reveals that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid is not only possible but likely, that it would be devastating, and that the United States is shockingly unprepared.

Imagine a blackout lasting not days, but weeks or months. Tens of millions of people over several states are affected. For those without access to a generator, there is no running water, no sewage, no refrigeration or light. Food and medical supplies are dwindling. Devices we rely on have gone dark. Banks no longer function, looting is widespread, and law and order are being tested as never before.

My mom sent that to me, as she did 13 Hours (Benghazi) and others. Not hugely fascinating as it's mostly his interviews with various folks - gov't, power companies and a few prepper types, but our vulnerability to a cyber-attack on the grid is hammered home.

I work in the industry....the cyber attack vulnerability stuff is mostly hype, either by those who don't really understand how the system works, or those hyping it for their self-interest and/or personal profit. Virtually NOTHING is connected to the internet. There are ways to do some small things if someone has very specific information but their effects would be very limited. Just like when someone says it's possible to have 100% renewable energy...they don't know what they're talking about. All the hyped "cyber attacks" these claims are made for came from people on the inside with direct physical access to control systems...not internet hackers. The stuff on TV and in the movies where someone shuts down parts of the grid..."shutdown grid section 50," for example, is complete unadulterated nonsense.

Actual physical damage to equipment from attacks in the real world are a far bigger threat to the system but the system is so widespread and redundant that it would take many many attackers over a very large area to create any lasting outages. The possibility of a months long blackout over several states is near zero unless the attackers have an highly capable air force that can wreak widespread devastation. Furthermore, most of Texas in not connected to the rest of the country and runs it's own independent grid. During certain parts of the year many major parts of the system are out for maintenance and other activities and things run along just fine. I repeat, our control systems are not connected to the internet, and even if someone took over a control center....while causing a brief outage would be relatively easy, causing any lasting damage or a widespread outages that last for months is virtually impossible.

And btw, the only idiots actually trying to get the grid interfaced with the internet are either in government or work for companies that expect to profit from "smart grid" technology....and maybe some clueless power company executives who have no idea how the system actually works.

"The Complete Story of the Galveston Horror" by John M. Coulter About the September 8, 1900 hurricane that struck Galveston Island.

I'm re-reading "Red River Prosecutor: True Cases of Oklahoma Crime" I knew a few of the people in this book. Thackerville was a tough place.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/reviews/1880090147

About the Author
Former Settlement Conference Judge for the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Kenneth Bacon struggled up from a deprived childhood in the wild and bloody oil fields of mid-America to become a respected attorney and judge, retiring in 1993 as chief judge for all courts of appeal in Oklahoma. Also an accomplished stunt pilot, Judge Bacon is married and has four children.

Product Description
Former Oklahoma judge takes you on a wild journey through the seething hellhole of "The Strip," just across the border from Texas. Bacon tells of his hair-raising experiences with the dangerous and remorseless people that crossed his path in the '60s. This stranger-than-fiction memoir will draw you in and leave you laughing and shaking your head.

Just finished "One Year After", currently reading the Game of Thrones books.

Description

"In Day of the Dead, Gordon has written a frighteningly realistic thriller, a page-turner which paints a compelling portrait of Mid-East combat and espionage, in the age of ISIS and Hamas."

Steven Pressfield, Best-Selling author of Gates of Fire and The Lion's Gate

"Dan Gordon has crafted a tale about the vicious world of radical Islamists, criminal gangs, and their victims. His incredible 40 years of service in the Israel Defense Force, knowledge of the US and the Middle East, and ability to spell-bind enables readers to feel the pulse of terror and see into the dark minds of evil incarnate. Day of the Dead Book One: Gaza is a gripping story as real as today's and tomorrow's shocking headlines."

General Robert Magnus, USMC (Ret)
30th Assistant Commandant of the USMC

"Gordon gets inside the mind of a terrorist like no other author since Tom Clancy."
Leo Hohmann, WND.com

Rex B wrote:Just finished "One Year After", currently reading the Game of Thrones books.

I recently read both "Minute" and "Year". I came away wondering what choices I'd have made were I in the protagonists shoes.

E.L. Doctorow's "Homer and Langlely"

Peter Mayle's "A Good Year" and eventually I'll read all his stuff. Have already done so with Doctorow...

I just finished My Grandfather's Son: The Memoir of Clarence Thomas and would highly recommend it to people from all political backgrounds. It's a marvelous read and eye-opening to learn of the details of Thomas' upbringing and to think how they shaped him. Spoiler alert, he was not always a staunch conservative.

Now I'm on to Freakonomics.

fickman wrote:I just finished My Grandfather's Son: The Memoir of Clarence Thomas and would highly recommend it to people from all political backgrounds. It's a marvelous read and eye-opening to learn of the details of Thomas' upbringing and to think how they shaped him. Spoiler alert, he was not always a staunch conservative.

Now I'm on to Freakonomics.

That should be an interesting read.

WildBill wrote: That should be an interesting read.

I'll tell you this: our country could use about 200 million more people with the work ethic of Thomas' grandfather. It's inspiring.

fickman wrote:

WildBill wrote: That should be an interesting read.

I'll tell you this: our country could use about 200 million more people with the work ethic of Thomas' grandfather. It's inspiring.

Just ordered it from Amazon!

Caro's "The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power". The early chapters are a very interesting history of the settlement of the Hill Country.

Reading the last chapters of The Crossing by Michael Connelly, just in time for Bosch season 2 to start this Friday on Netflix.

Curious to see where the character goes in the next book. Back to LAPD, if he can, or off in another direction.

"Patriot Dawn - The Resistance Rises" by Max Velocity.