A load of crap from an idle brain

Picked this book at the library just for the heck of it and it really turned out to be a racy read.  Andy Hayman, Asst Commisioner at the Scotland Yard was in overall command of the counter terrorism offensive at the time of the bombings in the bus and train tunnels in London.

He writes about the way the police along with the MI5, MI6, and various other investigative agencies put the pieces together in the biggest manhunt ever undertaken in the UK to catch the culprits involved in the mayhem.

Andy also goes about his frustration with the inefficient policing and investigative system; the self centered politician who wants his 2 minutes of fame; the ego clashes within the police department which are neatly exploited by the terrorists etc.

Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, CBE, QPM, was in overall command of the UK’s national counter-terrorism offensive, at the centre of every major terrorist investigation – overt and covert – of the past five years. He handled the Metropolitan Police’s response to 7/7 and dealt with the politically explosive murder of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko.

Based at New Scotland Yard, in charge of thousands of Special Branch and counter-terrorism officers in the UK and across the globe, deciding strategy, working directly with the Prime Minister with a budget of GBP500 million, Hayman is able to give unprecedented insight into key top-level crisis meetings he attended with intelligence chiefs and political leaders worldwide. In an inspirational and at times heart-breaking account, he describes how he led a dedicated team of men and women, committed to protecting the UK from dangerous enemies. Hayman lived through the pain and soul-searching when terrorists did succeed – and the pride when intelligence officers prevented attacks.

Andy Hayman leaves no holds barred in his analysis of the way law enforcers tackle terrorism. He outlines his radical blueprint for the future to protect the public, in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games and beyond. If you thought you knew the stories behind the news, you’ll realise you didn’t until you read this book.

The Terrorist Hunters
Authors – Andy Hayman & Margaret Gilmore
Pages – 352
Publisher – Bantam Press

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Am on a reading spree these days.  Actually started reading this book almost a month ago.  Considering the speed at which i read, its a miracle that i managed to wrap it up around 30-40 days.

The book is by legendary investor, Peter Lynch.  Its actually a book for beginners to investing.  Peter writes about the importance of investing early in life, and he puts forth his case of why equities are the place to invest in.  He is more bullish on investing in Equities than Gold, Real Estate, Bonds, Mutual Funds and other investments.

According to Wikipedia, Peter Lynch is currently a research consultant at Fidelity Investments and has a net worth of US$ 352 million.  His other two books, One up on Wall Street and Beating the street are considered must reads for anyone interested in investing.

The book is all about basics of investments and business.  And if you are interested in reading about the origin of business in the US, the reason for America to go the capitalist way, the earliest billionaires in the country…it makes for a fascinating reading.

Though the book is completely based on the American business and economy, the book does give you a lot of much needed information of how to go about investing, how to read the balance sheet, the basis of investments etc in a very easy to read manner.

If you want to inculcate the habit of investments and savings in your kids life while they are young, this should be one of the earliest books for them to be introduced to.  Its a good book for grown ups too who want to enter into the world of savings and investing.

One of the best managers in the history of mutual funds, Lynch is certainly the person to help people choose the right stocks and understand the market. More so than One Up on Wall Street or Beating the Street, this Lynch book is for beginning investors of all ages. Lynch and coauthor John Rothchild are family men who are worried that teenagers aren’t learning enough about the importance of American companies in improving lives and creating wealth. Lynch questions why students are taught that Hamlet was a tragic hero and Napoleon was a great general, but they don’t know that Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart. In fact, Lynch’s grasp of the past is one of the strengths of the book. One of the best chapters is “A Short History of Capitalism,” a witty and homespun look at characters like Karl Marx, the Communist who believed capitalism was doomed, and the robber barons, the shrewd railroad magnates of the late 19th century who amassed huge fortunes by manipulating the markets.

Unlike the robber barons, beginning investors, Lynch says, should stick to the basics: get in the habit of saving and investing and putting aside a certain amount every month; develop a strong stomach because the stock market is going to fall and there’s no way to anticipate it; do a little homework so you can understand the reasons to own a particular stock; and buy shares in solid companies and don’t let go of them without a good reason.

Peter Lynch – Learn to Earn: A beginner’s guide to the basics of investing and business.
Authors – Peter Lynch & John Rothchild
Pages – 270
Publisher – Simon & Schuster

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If you are looking at something that goes into the details, you can skip this book.  But if you are just wanting to read a concise and crisp book about what made Madonna what she is and if you want to read her struggles to make it to the top, this is the book.  Not much juicy stuff inside.  A to the point book that chronicles the birth, struggles and stardom of Madonna.

I’ve always admired Madonna for the chameleon like traits she has in her character which makes her re-invent herself to the situation.  At a time when music and musicians hardly linger in your memory for a few days / months, you have a 50 something woman who still makes you groove.  Someone who’se songs still hit the top on the hit list even though she has been around for almost 30 odd years.

250 million albums sold in a career, 27 top 20 singles, earnings of $193 million in 2006 alone,  a networth of $850 million, Madonna is a once in a lifetime phenomenon.

There’s no such thing as the perfect soul mate. Your soul mate is the person that pushes all your buttons, pisses you off on a regular basis, and makes you face your shit.  Its not easy having a good marriage. But i dont want easy. Easy doesnt make you grow. Easy doesnt make you think. I thank God everyday that iam married to a man who makes me think. That’s my definition about true love.

- Madonna speaking about her love and marriage to British movie director, Guy Ritchie.

I have an iron will and all of my will has always been to conquer some horrible feeling of inadequacy…I’m always struggling with that fear. I push past one spell of it and discover myself as a special human being and then I get to another stage and think I’m mediocre and uninteresting. And i find a way to get myself out of that. Again and again. My drive in life is from this horrible fear of being mediocre.  And that’s always pushing me, pushing me.

Madonna – A Biography by Mary Cross

Even though its a small book, i took almost 2 weeks to finish it.  My wife picked up the book in the library, but it was me who managed to finish it even though am somewhere a few pages into other books that Iam reading simultaneously.

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On this trip to Hyderabad, i bought some books from the book hawkers on the footpaths. The ones i managed to accumulate

The Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham

Freakonomics – Steven Levitt

The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid

Straight From The Gut – Jack Welch

Kaoboys of R&AW – B Raman

….and a very sweet friend of mine gifted me “The 80/20 Principle – Richard Koch”

Guess how much the whole stuff cost me? Around 1500 rupees (USD 37 approx). The same books on Amazon would have costed me around USD 150.

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Used up my credit card’s vouchers for a massage session on my birthday. Its been a long time since i went for one and since i was getting a good discount, i took it up. It was quite relaxing and felt, i needed one After which, met up a couple of friends for lunch. Of all the places, we hopped into a Bangladeshi restaurant. Ya, its my first time ever. But, the food was simply fabulous. The dal, chicken and fish were very tasty. Ended up wondering, how come i never ate in a Bangla restaurant even though i have been staying in Singapore for the past 7 years now.

Went shopping after lunch and since i felt i had to reward myself, walked into a bookstore. Browsed through and my eyes fell on a book that i had been wanting to read for a long long time. “The world is flat – Thomas Friedman”. Had been reading quite a few good reviews of the book. So thought of picking up something to keep myself occupied till my India trip when iam going to raid a few bookshops in Hyderabad. I have quite a few books on the top of my mind that i want to buy on my India trip cos books are freakin costly here in Singapore. These are the few iam looking out for:

The Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham
The Reluctant fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid
The Kaoboys of R&AW – B Raman
Freakonomics
City of Djinns – William Dalrymple

There are so many books that i have bought and am yet to read them. Another superb book that i would recommend anytime is “Undercover Economist” by Tim Harford. The book is in one word. Magnificient. The author also writes some superb articles under the heading “Dear Economist” in the Financial Times website.

If anyone of you has read any of the mentioned books and has any comments about them, please do write. Sometimes i wish, the day had more than 24 hours. There is so much to do and so less time.

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